Morning journal and courier., 1882-10-20
Wreck of the RendigO.
From the New York Herald. l

Twenty-two of the crew of the steamer Bendigo have arrived in Liverpool and gave particulars of the disaster to their steamer | and the subsequent terrible adventures they went through From the statement of the men it seems that the Bendigo left the Mer- sey on the 29th ult. for Demerara and she l had not got beyond Holyhead when the wind l began to freshen. It steadily increased in l severity until it blew a perfect hurricane. l Several seas dashed over the vessel on Satur- l day, and did not cease until the vessel wont 1 down. Every movable thing was washed overheard, and number of the vessels fit tings were carried into the sea. On Sunday morning matters were fearful gigantic seas breaking over the vessel, rendering it impos-
 sible, with safety to go to the forward part
 of the vessel. One sea smashed the mann
 bunker hatch and part of the wheelhouse,
 and the vessel was completely at the mercy
 of the sea. One boat was stove and washed
 away, containing some little provisions the men had accumulated, knowing well that their only chance of safety lay in the boats. A second boat was being got ready, but be- fore it could be launched sea came over and washed it between the bulwarks and the l bridge stanchions, where it remained jammed. 1 There was now but the port lifeboat, and | this was successfully lowered, twenty-four 1 hands getting into her. It was then seen that l the vessel would founder In few minutes, | and this surmlse unfortunately proved cor | rect es the vessel disappeared with slight | explosion. The small boat, though but a short distance off, was fortunately sufficiently | far to avoid being drawn down by the suction l of the steamer as she sank. When the boat had got safe distance off 1t was then for the first time found that the cook and the
 only passenger the vessel had-a man named
 McLeod-were left behind Mcleod was
 seen olutching the bridge stanchions. and
 seemed to be quite paralyzed, apparently un- able to do anything toward his own safety.
 The cook was seen going in search of some l of the loose fittings to sustain himself with. ! The captain of the Bendige wanted to ge to the ship in the small boat to try and save the
 two poor fellows, but the crew would not
 assent, as they considered the danger toe great.
 The cook was seen in the water afte,
 the vessel disappeared, but the passenger ! was not, and it supposed that he haG
 I gone down with the vessel. Every effor , was made to the cook, but it wa
 only occasionally, when he appeared on tn crest of 8 wave, that he could be seen The boat cruised about but could not sav
 him. Usually when a vessel founders 3 large quantity of debris is for som
 time floating near the scene of the disas ter |; but in this case, owing to the turbu
 ! fence of the sea, scarcely vestige of tn ] { wreck could be half an hour after tn
 disappearance of the Bendigo. The ship
 | wrecked men, in their small boat, mad
 for the Irish coast-14O miles distant. The , l soon found that their tiny craft was 8
 excellent sea boat, and by keeping her head t } l the sea she behaved we'll The men ha E ! neither bite nor sup. They threw the mas
 ' overheard, not to cucumber the boat, and too ! spells of about two hours each in pulling an , | watching. AS night drew on bark wa } ! sighted and the men gave 8 loud shout. Tn , ! topsails of the bark were backed, but tn
 ! shipwrecked men say @ rescue could nc
 1 have been effected even if the bark had be r near. as ths sea was fearfully rough. Tn
 ! sic nf n a l tance. It was believed that she had lain t [ all night, with the hope of rescuing them i the morning. She was now too far off to d s l anything. Day succeeded night and returne
 again without bringing any change to tn
 men except thai they were rapidly approach
 1 ing 6 fatal state of weakness. On the Mon
 ! day one of the firemen commenced to drin | the salt water, and as @ consequence becam
 1 delirious. On Tuesday night, notwithstand
 l ing the watch kept over him, he jumped int
 \ the sea. He was caught by the hair by on of the sailors and hauled inte the boat again ; The man had to be strapped down ill tn | ! boat. All the men were now getting terribl : exhausted, but on Wednesday morning the
 were fallen in with by the schooner Richar 1 ! Golden. Several of the men were too mucl
 exhausted to help themselves and had to b - I helped on board the rescuing vessel. N , l sooner had the shipwrecked men gained tn
 ! deck of the Richard Golden than those wh : I were able to made rush for the water casks ! one of which WAS very soon emptied. Tn a captain and crow of the rescuing vessel treat - ! ed the shipwrecked men with the utmos } kindness and attention, landing them a | Swansea, where the fireman who jumpe n overheard had to be left.