Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1884-04-24
A FATAL COAST.
Nearly "a Thousand Lives Lost I'm a
Dozen Years.

There seems to be a strange fatality
connected with that part of Nova SEQ
tia coast where the Steinmann was
wrecked. Daring the past eleven or
/ twelve years there have been nearly
as many disasters in the immediate
vicinity, and the total loss of life
which has resulted from them can
not be much below a sound thousand.
1t was just off Sambro Light that the
greatest loss of life by shipwreck took
place. The fated steamer was the At
| lantic, one OF the largest and finest of
the White Star Line fleet, on which
occasion between 500 and 600 lives
were lost. The few particulars which
/ have been received of the sinking of
the Sieinmann reveal many striking
condolences in connection with the
loss of the Atlantic.
Not only is the locality of the
wreck of the steamer frsnl Antwerp
almost Identical with that where the
steamer from Liverpool went down,
but there is only lacking an interval
of couple of days of the last ealami-
ty coming on the eleventh anniver-
sary of the one in which the greater
number of lives were sacrificed The
Atlantic struck and went down on the
morning of April 1, 1873, and about
the same hour that the Steinmann was
wrecked ON the morning of April 3.
1884. The total loss of life by the
Atlantic wreck was $50 out of total
of 97S. The captain of the Atlantic,
like the captain of the Steinman, was
saved. Meagher's rock was the precise
point where the Atlantic was lost, and
and almost within stones throw was
Cape Prospect, a small village inhabit
ed almost wholly by fishermen. The
Atlantic sailed from Liverpool on the
goth of March. During the first part
of the voyage favorable winds and
fair weather were experienced, On
the 24th, 25th and Goth fell in with
heavy.
SOUTHWEST AND WESTERLY GALES,
which blew so violently that only
about 100 miles per day was made.
On the 31st of March the engineer re-
ported to Captain Williams that his
stock of coal had diminished to- about
1877 tons. The Atlantic was then 400
miles to the eastward of
with Sandy Hook, the wind
southwest, high westerly
swell and a falling barometer. The
ship was steaming at the rate of eight
knots per hour. The captain con
sidered the risk too great to push on,
as he feared he might, in the event of
a gale, he shut out from any port of
supply, and under the circumstances
he decided to make for the port of
Halifax. at 1 p. NJ. he calculated
that Sambro Island was distant about
ITO miles. AT midnight the ship was,
according to the estimate of Captain
Williams, forty eight miles south of
Sambro. The Captain then went be-
low, leaving orders that he should be
called at o'clock, when he intended
to put the ships head southwark and
await daylight. The second and
fourth mates were in charge. At
about o'clock the man on the look
out reported breakers ahead, but be-
fore the vessel could be stopped she
had struck heavily on the rocks. She
began to labor heavily and immense
breakers swept the decks. Before
the boats could be cleared the ship
keeled over toport, rendering the
starboard boats useless. Then en-
su;d
SCENES OF HEARTRENDING HORROR.
The decks were thronged by help
less passengers, who sought in vain
for succor. Besides these many were
instantly drowned in their births and
stateroOms. Those who We're awak
ened and had escaped to the saloon
and deck-men, women and children
chung together IN groups IN the
murky darkness, which was illumina-
ted every now and then by the glare
of rockets sent up for assistance.
Soon the helpless beings began TO be
swept off the deck as the vessel sank,
and some 200 were crushed to death
by the foreboom, which broke loose
from the fastenings and dashed to
pieces all who were on the deck-house
at the time. The officers of the ship
did all in their power to get the pas
sengers into the rigging and outside
of the forward rails, where there was
the least danger, the ship being high
est there and least exposed to the
waves. Not woman was saved, and
only one child-a lal named Hanley,
about Is years of age, who was made
a hero of in Boston as he passed
through here on his way home The
w0men behaved heroically, and one in
particular, a Miss Scrymser, of New
York, climbed into the rigging as the
steamer went down, and was frozen
there in the morning. Most of those
who landed were rescued by life
line, which third officer Brady tied
around him and swan ashore with.
The point where the steamer went
down was scarcely 100 yards from
shore. With this fact in view, it
would seem at first incredible that so
many would perish. The chief reason
is that most of the lost were asleep
and were drowned before they had
time to escape. Many who actu-
ally succeeded in gaining the deck
were so frightened and dazed as to be
powerless to resist the heavy sea
which swept over them in the inky