Year: 1875

OF IS Souls Aboard, only Five known


to be Saved-The Statement Of a Sur


VIVOF.


New YORK, June 10.-The steamship
State of Georgia which arrived this morn
ing, brought five seamen of the Dominion
line steamship Vicksburg, from Montreal
for Liverpool, which was sunk by ice Tues
dav, June 1. The men were picked up
since then have been rapidly improving.
They tell fearful tale of distress. Other
boats were launched with a large number
of persons, but the greater number were
seen to perish without getting on the boats.
The Vicksburg went down in the midst Of
ice and the boat was surrounded by ice
bergs and field ice when picked up. The
other boats are not yet heard from.


The five men rescued had their feet and
legs very much swollen, so much so that
their boots had to be cut from their feet.
They are still suffering from their great ex-
pOsure to wet and cold, but are recovering
as fast as could be expected.


James CrOwIey's Statement:


We left Quebec on Thursday morning.
May u, with ship crew, sixty men all
told, and eight saloon passengers, fve gen.
tlemen and three ladies, and about twenty
in steerage, of whom four were females.
The weather was fine until Q o'clOcS Sun
day evening, May 30, wien we fell in with
a field of ice, and were soon surrounded by
it. The ship was stopped until daylight,
when we proceeded again with little ice
in sight. At $50, p. NJ, Monday all hands
were called to shorten sail. The ship was
stopped amongst heavy ice and headed to
the South, when we proceeded at full speed
to get clear of the ice. AT u O'Clock at
half speed we struck the ice. The en-
gines were Immediately reversed. The
ship struck heavily aft on the port quarter,
carrying away the fans of the propeller,
and hole was knocked through the plates
on that quarter, through which the ship
made a great deal of water. Yet the sail
Ors stopped the hole up so that but little
water came in. All hands were employed
in heaving the cargo overheard. The
second officer and myself were taken from
the cargo to clear away the boats. This
was about A. NJ. Tuesday, June l. The
Captain ordered the forward wells TO be
sounded and six inches Of water was found,
the after steeTage then being full Of water.
The main hold wells were also sounded,
and five feeC and half of water was found.
The Captain called me on to the bridge
and told me not to mind the boats, and
then called everybody aft and told them 10
have no fears, as he could take the ship to
St Johns, New Foundland. Il was then
discovered that the fires in the engine
room were drowned out. The Captain then
gave orders TO launch the boats with their
respective crews, and told them TO mind
that the distance from st. Johns was one
hundred and twenty miles northwest. l
proceeded to launch number one which
was my boat, and it was capsiZed, in low
ering, losing its chrOnOmeteT watch, charts,
rudder aud part Of the provisions. She was
full of water. O'Brien and l biiled her
partly out, when GOgan, Wilkinson and
Williams jumped in. We could. not hang
on to the ship owing to the sea and the ice
about. O'Brien saw the captain on the
bridge beCkOning the boat back, we having
drifted about 80 yards from the ship. We
saw the second officers boat lowered all
clear with nine hands and himself in her.
She came round the bow and pulled to
Windward about sixty yards. The ship
sunk about ten O'Clock, floating boat No. ?
from her ChOcks, with the chief officer and
about thirty people in her. She got clear
and pulled to windWard. O'Brien, after
the ship went down, saw the captain and
some prisoners floating on a bale Of hay
among the Wreckage. We tried all we
could to pick them up but, owing to the
boat being half full Of water and the ice
about, were not able to do So We ship
ped our mast, Kept company with the other
boats about two hours, and then lost sight
Of them to the westward. We decided
then to steer south to get clear Of ice. On
Wednesday morning we had in the boat
about three gallons of water, forty pounds
of raw beef, fourteen pounds Of bread, wet
with salt water, and a compass which did
not fall out when the boat capsized.


think that forty odd people, with the
captain, went down with the ship. We
had blankets in the boat for the three
ladies and steward, which were lost when
the beat capsized. We saw no ladies in
the chief or second officers boat.