Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-02
The Capsized Yacht.

The Thrilling Story of the Peril and
 the Rescue Of the Survivors-SeektnE
 the Bodies of the Dead.
 The capsizing of the yacht Sophia, with a party of seven excursionists. and the loss of five young lives in the storm which overlook them on Long Island Sound last Tuesday, is given further sad interest in the thrilling tale of the waiting for help and of the rescue just as night was closing in. The Herold says: Captain Alexander Bonsey, of the schooner Senator, of Ellsworth, Me-, who rescued the survivors of the terrible disaster, tells the following rhic story. He says:
 'tAbout two o'clock on Tuesday I was on the schooner Senator, lumber laden, of which am captain, about four miles west-south- west from the Middle Ground. The mate, my brother, Fred Bonsey, called down to me in the cabin, where was taking nap, as I had been up all the previous night, telling me he thought we were about to have squall and that we had better take in sail. I went up at once on deck and ordered the mainsail and jib to be taken in, which was at once done. It was then laundering and lightning, and the black clouds were rolling up from windward. Just then noticed at about two miles distant, about west-south-
 west of us, yacht laying to under bare poles, evidently waiting for the squal1. I said to one of the men, That mans under
 pretty snug sail. guess he's getting ready
 for the storm to come up This was about
 an hour bsfore the squan struck us. About
 three o'clock it came upon us from the
 north It was now thick all around the
 rain was pouring down in torrents and at this time we could not see the yacht Then as quick as lightning the wind shifted and struck us on our bow as we were heading due west. In my twelve years at sea I never knew the wind to chop round so suddenly; but we were prepared for it and suffered no damage. For an hour and half after this the hail and rain poured down on us in continuous stream. AS for the hailstones, I never saw anything like them before; some were fully an inch long, and the men had to huddle together under the foresail to save themselves from being injured. I lifted my sou 'wester to break the force of the hailstones, or they would, be-
 ieve, have stunned me, and I got with my
 back to the wind so that I could keep look out. All this time we were under bare poles and was at the wheel. The sea was run ming very high, choppy and awkward, and
 the wind kept coming in nasty gusts from all
 points of the compass. Gradually the
 weather moderated and I made sail. hoisting
 the foresail, mainsail, jib and flying jib, and
 shortly before five o'clock, when we were
 running at about six knots an hour, another squall came up from the northwest. and I
 thought we were in for it again. I then be- gan to take in sail second time. While the men were forward taking in the flying jib I
 heard cry from the south. I have heard cries for help at sea before, but there was something so agonizing and mournful in this vail that came floating across the water that
 I felt sort of certainty that something
 dreadful had happened. In an instant the
 little vessel I had sighted just before the storm came into my mind and I hastily looked on all sides for her, but she was not visible. Then called the mate and asked him if he had heard the cry, and he replied Yes. indeed, did, I then let my vessel come right too, for the cry appeared to come from the south, and we all mounted into the rigging to take good look round. I soon made out something about mile away that looked to me like box, but which afterward
 turned out to be pail.
 "As soon found that could not reach it with the vessel we lowered boat, and two of my men, James Crowley and the mate, Frederick Bonsey. got into it and started right off. The boat was half full of water, which she had taken in during the storm, but time was too precious to stop to bale her out. k6pG our vessel n0aQ1QS SGra1SQG TOT the spot where saw the pail, and this en- abled the men in the boat by watching us to steer straight for it. It took the men nearly three quarters of an hour to make their point, as there was stills choppy sea running and the boat was waterlogged. When she got within 0 hundred yards of the pail the rowers saw two men clinging to an icebox close by about four feet long and two and a
 half feet wide. One called out, Hurry up, for Gods sake this man is drowning !! You may be sure they pulled with 8 will that last hundred yards, and when they reached the box they took
 Captain Tompkins into the boat without much
 difficulty, but Mir. Palmer had a death grip on
 the lid eand it was with the greatest
 trouble they got him to let go and dragged
 him into the boat in state of insensibility.
 Captain Tompkins told the men that MI. Eddy
 had about fifteen minutes earlier let go of
 the oar and pail on which he was supporting
 himself, completely paralyzed with cold, and
 had gone down, and he said that the others
 were all drowned. My men pulled the boat
 back to the Senator as quickly as possible
 and we got the half drowned and thoroughly
 exhausted men on board. As I handed Pal
 mer up over the quarter he opened his eyes
 and looking wildly at me said :-'What have
 I done that you should hand me up here like
 this p He was quite delirious, his limbs were
 stiff and you could no more bend them than
 you could bar of iron. don't profess to
 be doctor, but as it was easy to see that he
 was full of salt water did what l thought
 was best under the circumstances
 and we rolled him across barrel
 for nearly fifteen minutes. After
 that we took him down stairs, got
 on his wet clothes and rigged him out in a dry suit, then lit fire and made him as com
 fortable as possible. Captain Tomkins, when
 we had furnished him with change of clothes, did not seem to be much the worse for the terrible ordeal he had passed through
 He told us that he had told his party that he thought a squan was coming up, and wished
 to put into Huntington bay; but they did not approve of this, and he felt compelled to go on, though it was against his judgment to do so. He said when the squan caught the yacht she was under bare poles, running be-