Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-11
THE GALE OFT LABRADOR.
PuRrHsR DETAILS.
It's Drsusen,e wsrk -ssirsr'ss, Of the saip
wrecked crew,-riersse Deeds.


A St. Johns (SewfoundIandl letter
to the Montreal Gazette says: A ter
rible calamity has befallen this colony
entailing very heavy loss Of life and
destruction Of property and inficsine
great suferings on many hundreds-Or,
l may say, thousands--of our popula.
tion. No disaster so serious has occur
red since the destruction Of ST. Johns
by fire in 1916, but that involved only
the destruction Of property. In this
case seventy-fiye lives are known TO
have been lost, and when all is known
it is probable many more will have to
be added 10 the death list.
/ send you brief telegraphic sum
mary Of the sad news received from
Labrador on last Saturday night, to the
effect that in terrific storm which
swept that coast on the llth and 18th
OF October so vessels had been wreck
ed. 20 lives lost, and 1000 persons
driven ashore on that savage coast,
where most Of them were without shell
ter, and but scsnty supply Of food.
The news was first brought by the
steamship Panther to Brigus, where she
arrived from Turnayick, Labrador, on
the oath Of October, late in the eve
nirg. The next day the barkentine
Nellie arrived at St. Johns from Smoky
Run, Labrador, having on board $40
shipwIecked men, women, and chill
dren. The intelligence brough. by these
two vessels showed the fearful extent
Of the havoc wrought by the storm.
1t appears that the gale commenced
on Sunday morning, the llth October,
and continued to rage With increasing
fury till Monday evening at sunset,
when it began to abate. Those who
passed through it describe it a. the most
awful hurricane ever witnessed even by
the hardy fishermen who frequent that
storm-beaten coast. 1t first blew from
the southeast, continu ally increasing
in violence, then it suddenly yeered to
the northeast, and the cold became in
tense. The fierce blasts began to hurl
the snowfakes on their wings Of
gloom, and at intervals the whole
atmosphere was darkened by the drifts.
1t was a scene Of awe and terror,
which the Imagination can but family
realize. The sea rose in tumultuous
pillows mountain high" the watery
battalions hurled themselves fiercely
against the dark cliffs, and when flung
back gathered their strength for fresh
assaults. In the midst of this war Of
elements a feet Of little fishing vessels
were struggling for life; some were
caught in the tempest on their home
ward voyage, laden deeply with the
product Of the summers toll others
lay at anchor, loading in the exposed
roadsteads and harbOrs, where there was
no sufficient shelter. On board were hun
dIeds Of fishermen. many of them with
their wives and children, for il is their
custom to take their families with them
TO aid in handling the fish. As the
storm continued and increased in viO-
lence the vessels were pressed nearer
and nearer TO the fatal rocks, where the
white breakers were visible. Others
were torn from their anchors and began
to drift shoreward. One by one they
approached their doom. Fancy the
awful condition of the survivors, flung
out here dripping with brine, blind
ing snow-storm raging around them.
perhaps no human habitatiOn or
shelter near. They pass the dreary
night shivering and wretched. When
the storm abates and the sun shines out
new terrors await them. The strand
is strewn with the drowned cOrpses Of
their comrades, friends, or relatives
cast up by the pitiless sea, and on that
dreary shore they must scoop out
shallow grave in which to commit
- earth to earth" As the sad task is
begun women are weeping and wringing
their hands over the loss Of husbands
or sons, and heart-broken parents
are taking the last look a.
the lifeless forms of children COM
mitted to this lonely grave without
shroud or coffin. This IS no imaginary
picture. 1t was. alas sadly realized
in many an instance in this terrible
tempest, in which from seventy to eighty
souls persisted and over eighty vessels
were flung on the rocks. The suffer
ings Of the shipwrecked crews were
terrible. While some were driven
ashore where there were huts to shelter
them. others were wrecked on desolate
islands. where they had to await re-
lief. with scarcely enough to sustain
life. and some found themselves miles
away from any human habitation.
The saddest scene of all was at
White Bear Islands. Here two vessels.
the Release and Hope, with all their
anchors out, were struggling to ride out
the storm. They held on till Monday
when the moorings gave way.
The Release drifted on an island to lee
ward, and was speedily dashed in
pieces. Twenty-Five Of those on board
were drowned, all but six being women
and children. The Hope was carried
on a ledge Of rock near the shore.
Two punts were launched and filled with
those on board, who reached the shore
IN safety, but before the remainder
could be rescued the vessel broke up,
and fourteen met a watery grave, most
of them being women and children.
The scene is said to have been appall-
ing. Poor mothers were seen clasp
ing their children to their bosoms in
speeches. agony, and children crying
for aid and clinging TO the hands that
were powerless to save. The merciless
pillows rushed on them and Gov
cred all with a winding-sheet Of
foam. Thirty-nine in all persisted
at this single spot. One man lost
his wife and four children. At
Black Islands a schooner belonging to
Conception Bay was lost with all hands.
At Ragged Islands man named Alfred
King lost his wife and two children. A
girl named Thistle, who was brought
here in the Nellie, had narrow escape.
The vessel in which she was struck
and went to pieces; she was hurled
into the waves and washed ashore,
fearfully bruised, one Of her fingers
having been taken off and one of her
legs badly cut. She was carefully at
tended to on board the Nellie and is