New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-01-21
Vol. XLill...N 1851.
THE GAY HEAD DISASTER.
A VISIT TO THE SCENE.
rpY rrLrGRAPH TO rHE rWBuNE.l

srrKIyG THE DEAD-THE STEAMER GRADUALLY
BREAKING Up.
fry TELEGRAPH THE TRIBUNE]
Nrv-BrpFoRp. Jan. 2O--Not until to-day
.roro the friends of the victims of Fridays
o.os,ronhe and the newspaper reporters
,bo are investga ing it, able to appreciate ne rea
horrors of the City of Columbus shipwreck' 10
picure them is impossible; and little else thah 'ne
nla,n recitals of simple men, from which the ORA
matte nara i've be put toget er, can ne sent TO-
night The places which figure in the story OF TINS
wreck are miles apart, and little communication
EXISTS between them. Not until to-day was
Cav Head visited by persons from the man land;
% not until to-day the incidents OF the neroic
rescue by the natives of the point learned len VI
dozen friends and relatives of the lost, and small
marty of newspaper men, visited the spot Daklng
The voyage in the tug Nellie, commanded by Mr.
Hart The air was bleak and a wind that cut like
a knife blew over the congealing waters OF
the Acushnet River and Buzzard's Bay. Two
hours and a-half were spent In gong doWh
10 the wreck which was found unchahgeu III
position, but plainly breaking up under the pou'u-
ing of the waves One shore of the bold pronlon-
.orv called Gay Head loomed up, covered WIN
white but bleak and uninviting The JlD Oh tue
Citv of Columbus futtered and cracked III
the wind. Coats and shawls swung III 'le
rigging empty OF the WeaIefS, SOHo VI FNNAA-
nerhaps. on the black rocks and boulders OF the
shore; some in rudely constructed flsh houses
farther ND from the waters edge; Others in little
Raptist meeting house whose tower could Just De
soon over the hill and others still in the dark
waters of Vineyard Sound.
THE HEROIC IsLANDERs-MoRE VICTIMS FOUND
The population of Gay Head is less than Zoo III
number and is composed of seamen' 1ahhnS' WIZ
are spoken of hereabouts as "Narves." This means
that they are mixed race. few are WmVe; d
few more are half-breed negroes; the majority are
halfbreed Indians. The men are whalers' Ihoueh
their lives are humble in the extreme, and their
mental cnlture as limited as their MEANS
tber actions in this terrible calamity
have been heroic enough for song
There were religious services III the
cburch The population of the Point were oc-
cupied in the melancholy work which is the seduel
of that of Friday. They spent the day wandering
m and down the coast. looking for the bodies OF
tbe dead. Several were found Four lay in the lit
tle chuIch and seven in a hsh-house IN the cove
east of the wreck. Two lay all day on the shore
one an unrecognized sailor. a wealthy mer-
chant of Boston, Eleven we at Vineyard Haven;
five women five men and child.
Those u ho were identified were Henry l.. Batch
elder of Dorchester, prominent Free Masonlde
fled by his brOtheT-in-law, the Rev. Charles u
Dunning, of Lawrence; Mrs. Batchelder, George IL.
Kellogg, of Fitchburg; Mrs r. b. Belyea, of Wood
stock New-Brunswick; Mrs. J. Atkinson, her
daughter, Charles James and James A. Merrill, OF
Boston. Four of them were brought by friends 10
New-Bcdford. man supposed to be a Mr. Robln-
inson, who has not been included hereto
fore in the lists, is at the meeting house;
and the fifth body brought here by the Nellie on
Saturday, and described yesterday, has been iden-
tilted as Mrs. Darius Small, of southampton, Mass
FXACTIY ONE HUNDRED LOST.
With the corrections made by the discovery OF
the survivors who escaped by the only boat that
got away from the wreck, the results of the caam-
itv as they effect life are as follows: The Official
passenger list has 81 names; the crew numbered
45. CT these 1875 persons, 100 are dead. and 26
alive. Among the survivors are 10 passengers ana
g seamen. Among the dead are 81 saloon pasgen-
gers Ii steerage paSsen AID 29 officers and sea-
men A statement which cannot be verified tonight,
fixes the number of dead at Woods HOll at eighteen
Thirteen have been brought to New Bedford.
Eleven lie at Vinevard Haven There is rumOr
also that several bodies have been washed ashore at
Cbilmark few miles southeast of Gay Head; but
with the lack of teleQaphic cOnveniences the ru-
NOR cannot be verified. Out of all tins number SIX
teen have been identified by their dress lhe one
in tue church ut Gay Head is IN all probability the
Rev c. A. Rand of HaveThill, Mass. The absence
of puSivencSS all points is almost wholly due To
tbe utter absence of all system III the search The
friends who come here must charter then own tug,
If they wish to visit the shore where the bodies are
most likely 10 be found. Once there, communca-
ton is cut of for day at least. The Savannah
Steamship Company does nothing; The county and
town authorities seem paIalyzed. The poor ma
tiyes of Gay Head do not know what to do They
have never had a word of instruction from the
Medical Examiner who has confined his attention to
tile dead brought here, although ali the localities
that have been mentioned are IN his district lhe
laIfbreeds have worked heroically for the love of
humanity alone. and have shown themselves as
honest as they are brave and humane. Their OK
carts have been the heaIses; their wives an
daughters the m0urners. The degree of credit
which they merit can he read in in the rcctas OF
the purser and lighthouse keeper.
mn. L 1cnrIrnt-.L, L.L,EDrn,S N APp AIINE