The Portland daily press., 1884-12-27
TERRIBLE TALE.
Wreck Of the Brig A. s. Ell. while
on the Passage to Boston.
TAILS TOLD BY THE ONLY SUR
VIvOR.

HALIFAX, N. S., Dec. 25.-The story of an
other wreck comes from Sable Island. 1t Is
one of the saddest yet reported from the grave
yard of the Atlantic" The brig A. s. H.,
Capt. Lemsrohand, owned by Omeger & Co.,
OF st. Pierre, Miquelon, sailed from that place
on the 18th inst, with cargo OF dry fish for
Boston and a crew of seven men. Daring the
great gale OF Friday night last she was dashed
to pieces on Sable Island and only one man
survives to tell the terrible story of the disas-
tar. This was the first mate, who arrived
here in the Dominion government steamer
Lansdowne. tonight, and made the following
statement TO the correspondent OF the Adver-
tiser:
"The day after leaving st. Pierre we encountered
heavy winds from the Southwest which continued
and changed next day to North and Northwest, ac-
eompanied by heavy snow. At o'clock that after
noon we made out West End Light,otf Sable Islcnd,
ana few minutes later the vessel dashed upon
sand bank. The crew hao suffered terribly from
exhaustion sduring the cold and hurricane of the
previous 36 hours and were thoroughly dishearten-
ed when the ship struck. The first dash against
the sand bar knocked the bottom out of the vessel
aud she soon became matchwood and the beach
was strewn with debris. Three of the crew were
washed overheard when the vessel struck and
-four speedy relief from their sufferings by death.
Four OF us were left on deck rigging spais, etc.,
this position for nearly an hour. Darkness was
setting IN and the snowstorm raging vita great
violence and the snow was driven about with blind
ing force by the heavy winds The prospects of our
being saved were gloomy indeed. The steward be-
came frenzisd and preferring death to further suf
tering gashed his throat from to with
razor and then jumped into the surf.
After floating on the debris for an hour Captain
Lemarchand sailor and IN self were washed
ashore; but we had only escaped the horrors Of the
deep to face the terrors of the frost king. The
Thermometer was 100 below zero. Our clothes
were wet through and frozen stif, and our hands
and feet were frostbitten. Almost completely ex-
hausted, in the darkness, in heavy sDowstorm,
aud every grain of sand dashing against our faces
like pebbles, we were in despair. We could see the
rays of the lighthouse three miles distant
the sand bar. The three of us started on q dismal
journey toward the light but after going one nile
the captain and the sailor lay down from exhaus
tion and despair, and were soon frozen to death.
pressed on toward the light. God only knows hsw
got over the sand. l cannot begin to describe it
to you. / shall never forget the horrors of that
night. When within quarter of mile of the light
but after few minutes aroused myself and made
final effort TO save my life. crawled the rest Of
the distance on my hands and knees, reaching The
lighthouse at O'Clock in the morning, six hours
after leaving the frozen bodies of my comradss.
after wh;ie recovered from exhaustion sufi-
ciently to tell the story of the wreck AT daylight
the officials started for the of the disaster but
could only find the debris covering the beach, The
bodies of the captain and the sailor were found and
inferred in the sand where they fell. The stewards
body was washed ashore and buried near were the
vessel struck"
Capt. Guildford of the Lansdowne, who has
had over 40 years experience on the coast, SAYS
the late gales were among the worst he ever
saw. The snowstorn of Friday night was SO
thick that he could not see the first officer at
the other end of the bridge. The vapor from
the water and cold at Sable Island rose to
height OF 30 feet.