The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-04-13

VI U1lS
wy 10 passengers, many
w. OF them helpless
. in the face 81
danger, is we'll nigh hopeless. At such
times all depends upon the GOODNESS and
bravery OF officers and crew or chance
heroes who may come from the hold or
the cabin.
The Atlantic, bound for New York
from Liverpool in March, 1878, ran out
OF coal off Nova Scotia and turned to
put III at Halifax for a supply. At mid
night the 30th Captain Williams, Chief
Officer Smith and Third Officer Brady
left the deck, giving the second and
fourth officers charge Of the ship. She
was supposed to be off Sambro light, 80
miles. Orders were to run a certain
distance, then call the captain. He was
not certain of his position, but depend
ed on his reckonings. The prime condi-
ton of speed exacted by the owners.
however, kept him from lying to for
daylight.
At 8 o'clock Fourth Officer Brown
gave orders that the captain should not
be called, as the ship had not run the
distance required. An under officer
proposed to 60 eloft and look for land,
hut Brown told him it was too soon for
that. Brown then went below to inspect
the steerage, leaving Second Officer
Metcalf on deck alone. Metcalf went
down III the disaster. Brown returned
to the deck about $3.50, and shading his
eyes with his hands looked for Sambro
light, but could see nothing. He could
not hear the ''rote'' of breakers. The
ship was running at seven knots, or less
than half her rate of speed. She struck
between $3.50 and 4 O'Clock, while all
who survived, with scarcely an excep-
ton, were below in their berths. There
were on board 1000 souls, SO Of them
cabin passengers. Out Of all less than
half escaped, and these mainly through
the energy and GOODNESS Of Captain Will
llams and Officer Brady, both of whom
were aroused from sleep by the shock
Of the vessel on the rocks.
Brady was locked in his room, the KEY
being in the pocket of his mate, Officer
Brown. He broke out, and the first man
he met on deck cried: my God! The
P SoAo o'AoAS. AHIIIIuS 10 the
captains boat, he cleared it with an Ak
and put two women in. A number Of
men made a rush to get in, but wero
held back by Brady, who insisted that
the women and children be saved first.
The Wrangling and confusion caused
delay in launching. Some of the men
jumped in in spite of Brady, and at
that moment the vessel reeled and fell
on her beam ends, carrying the boat
and its load down. When the ship roll
ed over, Brady scrambled across the
,watery decks to the mizzen rigging,
then made his way forward, where he
saw a rock just ahead. He unrove q
rope from the foretop sail and the sig
nal flag halyards and sent a quarter
master off with one end toward the
rock. The man couldn't reach it and
was hauled back. He afterward drown
ed on the ship. Another under officer
jumped in with an end of the rope, and
seeing that he was making Roadway
Brady followed. The two reached the
rock and hauled off q stout rope, which
they had made fast to the ropes they
carried ashore, before leaving the ship.
BY this rope about 25 men were landed
on the ro~ck--enough to crowd it.
At this point. the volunteer hero of
the wreck gave a hand. This was Will
liam Hoy, also a sailor, but crossing in
the Atlantic as a steerage passenger.
He lay asleep in his bunk when the YES.
sci struck. The shock seemed to him
like the letting 60 of an anchor sud-
denly, and waiting awhile he heard the
bottom strike heavily. When he got on
deck. he was confused, because he did
not know the way about the shin and
expected the masts to fall. A heavy sea
was coming in over the ships rail, and
he climbed into the lower rigging, al.
ready filled with people. In five min.
utes the ship fell over, and the heavy
seas washed at least 100 of the people
the rigging overheard. Hoy, however,
maintained his hold and soon saw Brady
and his men working at the rope.
Climbing forward, he heard Captain
ask for some one to see if
there was any communication between
the rock and land. Hoy volunteered,
and following Brady's rope got upon the
rock. There were seven or eight men
ahead of him. The quartermaster who
first got the line to the rock was hauling
The men up from the water, and Hoy
took his place, releasing him, as an off,
GER of the ship, to look out for commu-
nication. with the land. Hoy remained
at the rock three hours pulling people