The Portland daily press., 1884-05-22

And now occurred one of those wildly ex-
citing episodes seldom seen by any mortal,
unless under the same calamitous circum-
stances, and which it had never been nv
fate to witness before, nor have I seen its
| like since. The scene on the deck of the
ship it is utterly impossible to portray, it
was so appalling and awful. The fact of
the snip having struck submerged rock, or
| somewhere upon the bottom, was of course
| instantly known, and a rush of passengers
from all quarters Immediately began. The
gangway ladders were thronged by emil
grants; the staircases and passages leading
from the state rooms were crowded with
saloon passengers, most of them in their
night dresses with only rug or blanket
wrapped around them, they all having been
in bed when the ship struck. A short time
only was taken by them to dress, and pick
| up what they could before hurryng on deck
Nothing satisfactory was known to these
| people OF the position of the ship, or the
coast we were on, as no land could be seen.
BY some 1t was suggested that Sable Island
must be the scene of our disaster, and if so,
then hard indeed would be our fate, and
few our chances of ever regaining the shore.
| We knew the fate of many a stout craft
which had been imperilled among the break
ers, quicksands and insidious currents of
that wild and dangerous mass of sandy hill
locks, stretching far out to sea,-a line
bristling with the wrecks of hundred
| years. This uncertainty was intensely ago
/ niziDg, as every life was in peril, and no one
| seemed inclined to answer the question, or
/ give any information of an assuring kind.
| whereby the passengers could feel confident
| of being rescued. Anxiety and fear pervad-
ed the whole throng Of upwards of $50 souls.
| In the dead of night to be aroused sud-
denly from ones sleep is always startling;
| but when that awaking is on board wrecked
i hau Eun lad Of rbo
habits of sailors, still less of the strange cir
cumstances in which you are placed land none
at all OF your chances of saving your life, it
| is indeed appalling, and quite enough to fill
| the stoutest heart with terror.
As the moments wore on the passengers
were running about the deck in a frantic
| state of excitement, rushing here and there,
backwards and forwards, some with chill
| dren in their arms, and others bringing up
their wives and sisters upon deck. Some
crouching in the darkness, and others,
| again, seeming to abandon all hope, and give
| themselves up to despair. Fatal night! the
recollection of which has haunted my mem
DRY ever since. There we stood peering into
| the dark expanse of the ocean, with Its dim
CLEANS of flashing phosphorescent light
broken occasionally by the ripping of the
tiny waves Above was an impenetrable
gloom, with large flakes of snow falling and
covering everything but the sea with thick
white mantle, while the wind swept dismal
ly through the stiffened rigging.
The presence OF mind so necessary on oc-
casions of this kind, was entirely lost, the
passengers running and jostling one against
the other, or grouping together in any place
they considered safer than another, or
crowding into the boats in a most danger
Gus manner, none of them cool enough to
render any helpful assistance.
The nnoinaarg Wara driven 10 tho ranidIu
rising water, from the engine room and
stoke hole, with the firemen and the stokers
who were on duty in TIE coal bunkers. Pre-
vious to leaving his post the engineer in
charge of the watch opened all the valves to
let the steam escape, and to prevent an ex-
plosion of the boilers. This was bold and
courageous act, and deserved the gratitude
of all on board. / am sure it must have
been satisfactory TO himself to feel that he
had been the means of preventing another
calamity, which would have been most de-
plorable. 1t was a sufficient weight upon
our minds to know that we were in peril of
being drowned without having to fear being
scalded or blown up.
The ship was now lying quite still upon
rock which must have been sharp and conf
cal pointed. When she first struck the keel
no doubt was broken on the reef which PEN
etrated one of the large compartments and
held her firm.
Daylight was long coming on; but when
the morning dawned the ship was found to
be about two miles from the mainland of
Nova Scotia, or rather that distance from an
island called Barren Island. The coast was
somewhat steep, and right abreast of us, to
the north, was a precipitous cliff fully 100
feet in height, while stretching inland a
smah range of hills was observed, varying
from $50 to 300 feet high The whole coast
was fringed with small islets, rocks, and
reefs, and the ship must have passed through
and between number of them in the most
miraculous manner. They were nearly all
more dangerous than the one we we're
wrecked upon, and think that if she had
struck any of them the chances of saving
any life would have been exceedingly small.
Some of them were rounded and smooth on
the top. Any unfortunate vessel running
upon submerged rock of that description
with full force would probably have gided
over the top, after having seriously damaged
her hull, and sunk in deep water.
The first boat that put out was filled with
people, who made rush for it as it was be-
ing lowered; but others got into it over the
rail of the ship, and so it was overcrOwded.
Remonstrance was of little avail, they were
too much alarmed to listen to reason from
any source. After the boat reached the wa
ter, the people moved from side to side in a
restless manner. The result was that the
boat was capsized aud most of them were
precipitated into the water. Then the shout
ing and screaming for help were awful. We
saw them struggling to regain the ship,
while the tide was carrying them swiftly
away, and as they foated on their heads
were seen above the waters and their arms
we're raised, ready to clutch at anything.
Ropes and boards were thrown over in the
effort to save some; but it was of no service;
nearly all of them persisted.
AS was near by when this boat was low
cred, l had seen the mysterious passenger
climb over the rail and get into it, and sup
posed of course that he was one of the vic
tins. But later found that he had pre-
served his life by climbing up one of the
boats tackles, which was left hanging TO the
iron davits, after the boat had been de-
tached therefrom. He must have been near
ly exhausted when he got on board. One of
the men told me afterwards that he was
dragged up more dead than alive.
Soon after this another boat was success
fully lowered. I was appointed to take
charge Of her by the captain. There was a
safe number of people placed ON board, and
we started for the shore. Immediately after
lowering crossed the reef, and the boat and
all on board marvellouslY escaped being
swamped. We pulled away, daylight not
yet having come in, and passed some ugly
reefs. Then some small islands came in
view. | was inclined to select one of these to
land upon: but as had mostly women and
young children with me thought they might
suffer starvation; and should our boat strike
hidden rock in landing, and get damaged,
there would be no chance of our commune
eating with the mainland. Therefore l
pushed on until we came to an opening
which led into beautiful little sandy bay
1t was in the shape of semicircle, and not
far from the shore we're some trees, and a
thick wood ran the boat in here, and by
giving her good way, all the men pulling Wig
orously with the oars for minute or two,
we went well up on the beach and safely
landed. All were suffering from cold and
thirst. They took han6fuls of snow which
they dissolved in their mouths to quench
the thirst. Most of us then knelt upon the
sandy beach, and put up silent prayer to
the Almighty for our preservation.
In the distance some smoke was perceived
Concluding that 1t must be from dwelling,
we passed thrc ugh the forest and on coming
to its edge found there was small river or
| brook between US and the house. We were
obliged to cut down two trees and make a
bridge to cross it. One of the seamen for
| tunately had brought the boat axe with him,
so this operation was soon performed, and