, 1890-11-22

The iron screw steamer Porfuense, owned
by he Arm OF SiuglehurSt & Co, of Liver
pool, lett Baltimore, U. s. A., on the 2lst
of August on a voyage to Para in the North
BrazilS, and was lost six days afterwards
III Ole OF those revolving, progressive
StOtms commonly known AZ cyclones. She
was a littl over nine hundred tons register.
and carried a c W of twenty-nine hands all
told. Her cargo consisted chiefly of flour and
other dry goods, and was u valuable one.
AS far as every one on board knew, the
vessel was in thorough sea-g0ing order at
the time of her departure, aud every
thing went on we'll till tie night Of the 9th.
Two lays after leaving Baltimore there
were certain atmospheric signs which led
as to believe that something unusual was
going to happen before our voyage came to
an end. On Tuesday the Goth the baro-
meter began to show unmiStakably that
sOme great disturbance was at hand, and
on the same night the wind and sea began
to rise, and by III idnight it was blowing u
moderate gale. The day of the 9th was
spent by the crew in putting extra
1ashings on everything movable on deck,
Il generally making everything as Sc
cure'as possible for the coming night, az it
had every appea rance Of being an unusual
Iy wild one, and so il turned out TO b..
AT six in the evening OF the 9th the
hurricane struck che ship in all its power.
and that night was one Of the widest ever
experienced Us the oldest sailor Ou board.
1t was a night of horrors. The force OF the
wind was such that the ship steaming full
speed against it could make no headwav at
all. The storm being a revolving one, the
wind blew from nearly every point of the
compass, and caused u sea which is indies.
cribaDle. By ten o'clock that night every
thing movable was smashed up and wash
ed overheard, and not G. vestige of the
bulwarks remained. Her heavy iron
stanchi0ns and rails we're bent and broken
OIL like reeds, and all her boats with the
exception OF one We're complete wrecks.
At eight o'clock the captain ordered oil TO
DE poured on the water aud the order was
execu'ed in n manner familiar to sailors.
aud III the course of the night over thirty
gallons of oil were used for this purpose.
1t was the firm 'nvictiom OF every ono
that it was this that kept the ship ahoat
till daylight the next day.
The crOwniDg disaster, however, did not
take place IL within an hour of midnight.
when the hurricane was at its height and
1t was a matter of i~mpOssib:lity to face il.
About this cine a terrific sea broke on
board and carried away The n Tin boom,
which was a heavy one, breaking it into
two pieces. This falling on the main hatch
stove all the matches in. There was no
possibility of repairing this serious disaster.
as it was fOOlhal iy to venture on to her
NUN deck. The consequence of this was
the subsequent laundering OF the ship. as
every sea that broke on board poured dOwa
the now open hatchway and filled up the
main Eold. The cargo floating about the
hold and the heavy Iaboming Of the vessel
caused the iron bGlkhead to burst in, the
consequences Of which d few hours later was
most disastrous, as the water rushed into
the'hre-rOOm and engine-rOOm like q cata-
ract and ex%tinguiShed the fires, the fremen
who We're below at the time narrowly es-
Gaping with. their lives. The same sea that
did all this damage washed the man at the
wheel overl Hard, smashed up the wheel.
and carried away half of the upper bridge.
The man ciingiDg to some wreckage manag-
ed to scramble on board again. The ship
was now perfectly unm0nageable and COM
pIetely at the mercy Of the hurricane.
About this time the boatswain of the ship
was killed by a heavy wafer cask that got
adrift and knocked him against Nie iron
bits. Both his legs were broken aud his
skull fractured.
An attempt was now made to- Nlight the
nrrs, and the men working up to their
Waists IN water succeeded in lighting two
fires hnf fhov vvoro ovt;,cu1.LoI