The herald., 1893-12-09
AN OCEAN TRAGEDY.
THE TERRlBLE FATE WHICH BEFEL
THE CENTRAL AMERICA.

A Contest Between Angry Waters and n
Cowardiy Engineer-A Bird Guided
the EHen to the Rescue.
And who that remembers can hear
without thrill the name of the steam
ship Central America, which sank in a
great storm on Sept. ~, 1857, with most
of her officers and crew. nearly 400 pas
sengers and 81, 800, 900 in gold?
The Central America was crowded
with treasure laden people from Cali
fornia on their way to New York. Aft
er leaving Havana on Sept s she ran
into a storm. The steamer began to
leak, and Captain Hernden called upon
the passengers to form lines and pass
the buckets. Hour after hour the tenn
pest howled, and the huge vessel groaned
as the immense seas broke against her.
Hour after hour the men with the buck
cts toiled for their lives; slowly the wa
ter gained on them.
The officers exhorted the bucket gangs
not to pause for moment If the ship
was to be saved. The wind roared and
the storm increased in fury. Every pas
senger stuck to his post and worked un-
til he fell to the deck exhausted. Then
the women offered to take the places of
their wornout, fainting husbands and
brothers, but none of the men would al
low it. AS the horror of the situation
gradually dawned on the minds of the
women and children the air was filled
with sounds of terror. but above the
raging hurricane and the cries of lamen-
tation rose the chorus of the bucket
men:
Heave, oh. heave, OIL stamp and go,
Wen be jolly blather. oh!
All day long they sang this song and
fought for life against the steadily ris-
ing water. Mrs. Easton, bride on her
honeymoon trip, passed bottles of wine
to the heroic men to strengthen them in
their desperate work. All night long
the struggle was continued, and still the
ocean gained inch by inch. The women
begged, with tears in their eyes, to be
allowed to help. They cheered the brave
fellows and wept when they saw them
fall to the deck with white faces and
trembling limbs.
During the next day the peril of the
steamer was increased by the lack of food
and water. The hurricane tossed the
sinking hull about and shattered her
spars and masts. While the tired and
sleepless men stuck to the buckets the
women knelt and prayed to God for as
sistance.
About o'clock in the afternoon sail
-
and signals of distress hoisted. The
strange vessel, which turned out to be
the brig Marine of Boston, answered the
signals and tried to approach, but the
gale blew her about three miles away.
Then the boats were made ready, and
the women and children prepared them
selves. They had to strip off nearly all |
of their clothes and put on life preserv-
ers. Many of the women had gold,
which they could not carry with the
them. Two of them went to their state |
rooms and took out bags of SEQ gold |
pieces, which they threw down in the |
cabin, inviting the others to take what |
they pleased. The money rolled and !
jingled about on the floor, while the two
weeping women explained that they were !
returning home to enjoy the fortune
which they had made in California, and |
that they would be beggars if the ship
was lost None of the women dared to
take more than two pieces of gold lest it
might weigh them down.
The men still remained at their work,
saying that they would remain on board
until another ship arrived, as the Marine
could not take all the passengers, and
the women and children must be saved
first. Among those heroes was Billy
Birch, the famous minstrel.
Two of the lifeboats were smashed by
the sea, but three boats were filled with
and children, many of the latter
being infants. The last boat to leave
carried the chief engineer. He solemnly
promised the captain to return, but the
he got into the boat he drew
Knife and threatened to xiii any one who
him. Later on, when the woin-
N and children were put on board the
Marine, the chief engineer, like the cow
ard and liar he was, refused to return.
Now the sinking steamship was so low
n the ocean that almost every wave
wept her deck. Some of the passengers
,ot into the rigging, while others tried
10 build raft. Night came on. The
torn continued to rage. The ship quiv-
red and careened. Rockets scared up
nto the believing, angry heavens. Slow
y the vessel filed with water, and the
loomed host clinging to her deck and
igging prepared for death. There was
10 weeping and no shrieling, no wiring
ng of hands. The captain stood at the
Wheel to the last.
All at once the ship, as if in an agony
f death herself, made plunge at an
ngle of 45 degrees, and with an appall-
ng shrek from the engulfed mass she
and nearly 500 human be-
ngs were left struggling among the
erce waters The scene was horrifying,
nd many who were saved afterward
ainted at the mere memory CO it.
A few held on to planks and spars all
through the wild night, and as the day
roke the Norwegian bark Ellen arrived
nd picked up 49 of the men.
81 was forced out of my course just
efore | met you," said the captain of
ne Ellen to the rescued passengers,
and when l altered my course bird
ew across the ship once or twice, and