New-York tribune., 1881-12-02
rypEp1RNcE nF TIE CITY OF CHESTER.

EXPERIENCE OF THE CIl1 VI CHESibh'
DELAYED FOR DAYS by EXTREMELY TEMPEsfUoUs
wEATHER-THE STORY OF ONE OF THE PAssEN-
GTRs-OrHER STEAMSHIPS OVERDUE.
The steamship City of Chester, of the lnman Line,
arrived in this city yesterday afternoon, fourteen
davs from Liverpool, being four days overdue. An
account of the voyage which was very tenpestuouS'
was given by one of the passengers as follows:
I'VE left Liverpool at o'clock. THURSDAY
afternoon. November II, with seventy-two cabin
passe ng ers and over 400 emigrants aboard ne
first evening out was very windy and the weather
began to promise badly. The ship made goOd neau-
way. however and reached Queenstown the follow
ing morning, which WIS very cold and rainy We
were obliged to remain at Queenstown neal ear
there we also took aboard over 100 more steerage
passengers. We left Queenstown about oeioch'
Early in the night began season OF eHcep.iht peioht
ally rough weather, which continued LOT eiehe M
days under varying conditions. Part OF tno
time the sky clear and the sun sni,,i i
ing. at other times we had raj II, snow ana
baiI storms. Int all the time the weather was eX-
ceedingly cold, and the wind blew violently, one
palc following another in quick succession faiSins
waves which swcpt over the vessel and tosSeu her
about as if she feat her. and keeping the ma
ioritv of the passengers in state OF seasickheSS
and terror during the greater part OF the Voyaso or
"On Saturday November 10, the water cams oEoI
the decks SO constantly that Il was Impossible 1T
one to V nturc outside without becoming Thoroughly
wet This state of affairs continued l0r nq'o d and
n week On Sunday the ship pitched ana rolc9
about so violently that it was cOhSldeic"
lmpoSsihe to hold religions serNteSl
all the officers and men peing l1quliW
ON deck The next day the storm Increased, "llh
rain and hail The wind tore the miZzen- boom "o;
from It's fastrnugs and swung At around SO u'L u ~ ~
struck the after port lte9oai Wlth Nuch T lU' g. ,,
thc davits were bent anj Tie heavy spar and lastu
inqs which supported the boat were BROKEN lnu'
allowing t to fall upon tho stauchons OF the gu I
chains, which broke ihTonsh the 10 nG't"u aa' All
the bow and rendered the b0at utterly useless Al
this while the vessel pitched 50 violently tnat every
few moments the TaI5oh out 81 me Wil'l'
The speed of the ship then reduced. FROM
M nd a Tuesday noon the run ni ilt NtN,'i
was only 1G2 miles. Tuesday afternoon ana hiBn,
the storm kept steadily increasing iia u,lo
About o'clock Wednesday morning
fresh gale struck The ship ana then began .S,n- %
pest Of unusual violence winch la'tH Iov i'"' '''
thirty hours. Wave after wave dashel over lhe HVa
sell and the bow and stern alternately dlppcd Ihl9
the sea at frequent intervals. The deck was coNtfeu
yC Tia rushing mass of watcr, which swept away
CvcrVthing that not securely aShc'l. IN t' i'1
ward part of the ship, number oI hreah WlU'ls "a
hecu constructed of heavy beams oi Wool 20 ru''l
the forrcastle. These tmpeIs we're eighteen lntneS
wide ana nine inches thick, yet luc loIc' vi WI wi
waves was so great that one of them VAS snapp'H
oil like a reed, and whiried about " IN such ior'e aS
70 shatter another one IN pieces. ne waves ~ ,'
time were 40 high that they struck the captain
bridye-twenty feet above the main deck -aE"lh
and again. breaking the top OF the GmnacIe OoNi
twisting the thick iron rallugs oi the. bridge ana
tearing some of he standards from their iast'ningS
Captain Watkins remained on the bridge thIohsh-
out the whole OF tins storm. LOT thi,Iy hoHis'
taking rest and scarcely caIhg' Inc ",i'rlS
and men were all kept at work Tor many houIS
without rest. The bOatswain was struck by wave
and disabled. and several OF the srainen were
"0n wednesday afternoon there were very sharp
lightning and loud thunder. The SKY grew almost
black. the wind wildly whistled through thc rlg-
riur and the ocean was covered with foam aS tIrhS
the eve could reach. The ship tossed about more
then that at any other time. ne waves naH pf3Ach
the windows of tar cngihc-ro ~ ltAicHulhE ioo'c
the dcck), damaged the roof OF the smoking
room, aud broken number oi the SKY
lights. The smoking room was Hooded;
and nourcd through the ceiling of the greater por-
lion of the aiter-part Of th" vessel attaining -
depth OF several inches IL the PASSAGES anH so"r %i
the aft statcruoms. ne topoi Ih' hl"o" l'7''II
leaked in places, the water coming through so freely
in the nclghhoThood of the S'YJght tlai meals
could no longer bee served 10 the middle tables. IN
other parts of the saloon II was found necessary Ia
cover the ceiling with blankets. Nearly every
statcr1om in the vessel was more or less wet, aud
some Ot them were thoruu -uly Water->oaked mat
they could not ne occupied Tor NOR thaii week
From Wednesday noon until thursday noon
the run of the vessel was only eighty-tlr'c mics
On L hanksglymgDay the severity OF thr tempest
somewhat abatcd, hut the sea was stlll very rough
After the danger seemed 10 be over tl" ohccrt adj
mittcd that the ship had been in situation oi Ga"
greatest peril. The captain said that be had never
IN his life been IN more Nioirnt STORM ana one ot
the officers said that id an lnntc experience eN-
tending over thrjy-onc years hr had never en-
cuuut,tcd its equal. Ga Friday aud saturday the
SEA was rough but there was ittlc storm. Ga sun
da, the weather cleared suihcirutY Tor the paos'i'
ger, to 90 deck again, aud rel" Hous services were
hc ii in the saloon a- usual During tie last four
days of the voyage the sea was comparatively
smooth and the weather clear most of the time,
there beng only Il glt fog7 On d" bluk9:
The vessel arrived OFT sandy Hook ou Wednesday
evening but, owing 10 q dense iag was Obliged to
anchor over night The fog raised 80 hat the ship
was able to start again al about 10 O'Clock IN the
morning About an hour after the start there was
a cry OF man overheard! one oI the sailors had
fallen from the for'-tOpmast into the SEA. here
was good deal OF delay IN getting ont the hOats,
and the man was not found. His name was Muir
phy and he leaves n wife and seven children IN
| AZ Ion lfuF IL Lao
ships tender was about 10 leave Liverpool, Of
the lircmcu Ol the City OF Chester falling from the
per"
The steamship ATagon arrived from Gibraltcr
Yesterday, after stormy passage of twrnty-threc
! DAYS. On November % Richard ChcItham, the en-
piuccrs steward, fell overheard and was drowned.
| some anxiety was expressed at the uou-arrval OF
| arrives on Wednesday. As she broke two of the
blades of her propclor on Ecr down trip, II is posi-
! bic that she may not arrive before tomorrow.
The following steamships are now overdue at this
| port but they have all encountered very stormy
weather no apprchcnsiOns are yet felt for their
safety: From LlycTpoOi-thc Arizona, two. days
later than the City OF Chester, winch arrived
| tcrdayJ. November - the Coptic and the Italy.
! November 10; the Lake Winnipeg, November IL,
and the Parthia, November 10; from l.Ondun--the
City of London, November l3, and the Holland No
| ycmbcr q from BrlstOl-the Bath City, November
| 10, and the Somerset, November II; from llayrc-
! the Labrador, November 10. and the llcrmod, No
yember 20; from AntWcrp--thr Nacsand, N0vcm-
bcmbcT ~, and the DE RuytGr, November lO; the
| Castor, from Amsterdam, November 10; the Allc-
| mania lr rjm Hamburg, November 10; the Rhein
from Bremen, November l3; the Othelio, from HULL
November Ii, aud the AnchOrla, iiOm Glasgow, No
Vembcr II.