Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1894-04-14
AN OCEAN TRAGEDY.
rHE TERRIBLE FATE WHICH ssFEL
rHE CENTRAL AMERICA.

Bucket Line. ~ Nbteu tnr hNtt*f f<'~*-
cswaraly Enginssr-A BIRD oaided
the ellen to the Rescue.
And who TINT remembers can hear ,
without thrill the name OF the steam
ship Central America. which sank In :
great storm on Sept. n. 1877. with most
OF her officers and crew. nearly 400 pas |
sengers aud 81 800. 900 in goldf
The Central America was crowded
with treasure laden people from Cali
fornia on their way 10 New York. Aft
err leaving Havana on Sept. she ran
into a storm. The steamer began to
leak. and Captain Hcrnden called upon
the passengers to form lines and pass
the buckets. Hour after hour the tenn
nest howled. and the hinge 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 II the ship
was 10 b. saved. The wind roared and
the storm increased in fury. Every pas
senger stuck TO his post and worked uE-
til he fell to the deck exhausted. Then
the women offered To take the places OF
their WORKOUT, fainting husbands and
broth but none Of the men would al
low II. As the horror of the situation
gradually dawned on the minds Of the
women and children the air was filed
with sounds Of terror, but above the
raging hurricane and the cries OF lamen-
tation rose the chorus Of the bucket
men:
Hea.e. oh. heavc. obi stamp aud 20,
Well be Jolly hlafher. OIL
All day long they sang tins song and
fought for life against the steadily ris-
ing water Mrs. Easton. a bride ON her
honeymoon trip. passed bottles Of wine
to the heroic men 10 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 10 help They cheered the brave
fellows and wept when they saw them
| fall TO the deck with white faces and
7, 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 a sail
| was seen to windward. Guns We're fred
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 hal to strip off nearly all
of their clothes aud put ON life preserv-
ers. Many Of the women had gold,
which they could not carry with the
them. Twoof them went to their state
rooms and took ont 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 tine fortune
which they had made in California, and
that they would he beggars II the ship
was lost. None of the women dared to
take more than two pieces of gold lest it
might weigh them down.
Tho men still remained at their work,
saying that they would remain on board
until another shiparrived. 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 ifeboats were smashed by
the sea. bat three boats were filed with
women and children. many of the latter
being infants. The last boat TO leave
carried the chief engineer. He solelnnly
promised the captain to return. but tho
moment he got into the boat he drew a
knife and threatened to kill any one who
followed him. Later on. when the woln-
en- 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
in the ocean that almost every wave
swept her deck. Some of the passengers
got into the rigging, while others tried
to build raft Night came on. The
storm continued to rage. The ship quiv-
cred and eaYeened. Rockets SCARED MP
into the believing. angry heavens. Slow
| ly the vessel filled with water, and the
doomed host clinging TO her deck and
| rigging prepared for death. There was
no weeping and no shrieking. no wiring
ing Of hands. The captain stood at the
wheel to the last
| All at once tine ship, as II in an agony
Of death herself made plunge at an
angle Of 81 degrees. aud with an appall.
ing shrek from the engulfed mass she
disappeared. and nearly 600 human be-
ings were left struggling among the
fierce waters. The scene was horrifying.
and many who were saved mfterward
tainted at the mere memory OF It.
A few held on to planks and spars all
through the wild night. and as the day
broke the Norwegian bark Ellen arrived
and picked up 20 Of the men.
II was forced ont Of my course lust
before ! met you. said the captain of
the Ellen to the rescued passengers.
''and when ! altered my course a bird
flew across the ship once or twice. and
then darted into my face. A few min.
utes later the bird repeated its move
ments. thought IL an extraordinary
thing. and while thinking on il In this
way the mysterious bird reappeared. and
for the third time flew into nay face.
This induced me TO alter my course back