Year: 1872

arms length away. NO expectations were INDUCED
in altar ten O'Clock, ana the watches turned In to
their hunks and enjoyed sound slumbers Before
daybreak, however the hoarse signal saluted the
ear, sleep was hastily banished, clothes were hur-
ried on, the rowboat was quickly lowered from the
davits and men were sent to make out the new
conner. On their return it was announced to be
tae MORO Castle. The HERALD representative en-
barked in rowboat, and was pulled easily along
the sullenly swelling tide in the direction Of the
"Monumentv near which she was lying. Afew
passengers were peering over the gunwale OF the
black vessel, and Captain Morgan stood at the
Shook warmly by the hand as they ascended the
steps.


Almost the first passenger encountered was


CAPTAIN JEFFERSON MAURY,


and cheerful countenance. Captain Morgan intro
duced the HERALD representative to him, when he
"Ahl nom the HERALDs I knew you would be


Captain Maury is Of pleasing appearance and has
o quiet, gentlemanly manner. He is Of medium
height, with light brown hair, mustache and i'm
vest and pants, and wore loosely woven Havana
saved ire@ the Bisnss sGns the rest 81 s bought in
Cuba" walking the deck he reccunted in an un-
embarrassed manner, as follows, the story OF


THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE FATED SHIP:
for Messrs. livingston, Fox & Co., OF New York.
She was very good steamer, about as large as the
Moro Castle and similar to her. short time be.
fore her sailing she was chartered by the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company and placed under
thorough repairs. New boilers were put into her,
! insisted before took command OF her. Her boats
were all put in order and her pumps examined and
tried before she left port She was 4se tons bur.
feet depth of hold and drawing 16 feet OF water.
She was loaded with cargo Of general merchan-
mate and the stevedores not to place anything
over her boilers except dry goods so that am sure
there was nothing stored in the quarter where her
mable nature. There was


NO POWDER ON BOARD;


and In this respect think that the despatch sent
from Havana must have been garbled, because
never made such q statement. did not leave. the,
It Was Secoming too hot on board to remain longer
But more of that hereafter


aa o1 on our
Waiting Waiting 1ssnd % which % IS directly; north Of Cape
Mayz point that marks the turning OF vessels to
make directly for Aspinwal


THE NIGHT CLOSED IN


and the passengers retired. There was nothing to
disturb the general quiet OF the vessel except the
steady sound OF her engines as she moved swiftly
along the waves The trade wind was blowing
from the east, which ruflied the sea somewhat but
the stars were visible overhead, beaming brightly
through the mellow haze, which was not dense
otGne' time at " which one C could scarcey dream Of
danger. And nothing came to alarm us until just
before the break Of day. We were IN latitude 25
utes, a little before four O'Clock. At this time


TIE FIRE WAS DISCOVERED


by the Issue OF smoke from the hatchway below the
deck OF the steerage, accompanied by the odor of
the necessary instructions in regard to taking pre-
cautions for saving lives. We stopped on our
course and had the forward hatch raised SO that
could ascertain the progress OF the names. The
volume Of smoke was so dense and strong that no
one could venture below and we closed the OPEN
ing then ordered all the matches to be battened
1nVV
was turned into the hold. The fire by this means
was partially smothered and hoped that all dan
os sosts p'epa erSsrns them to 'ARs Se proSlsonea
snS Of
into the cabin to allay little the apprehensons
which had been excited by the alarm offir Every
seemed quite collected in mind Several women
were seated about and were weeping, and to these
impaired the Information that the ship might be
saved. n


and from that time saw few lose their selfposses-
sueh appng danger ali their sSo Shortly
afterwards the donkey. engine broke down and we
Hs fss little with wh taen to cas n
ON one deeS we worked the mi hand ne Pumps ' and
used S the 5 Tss
the danger was increased hundred fold, and we
had to be contented with letting the mercfess mon
wood work that we could reach wet with salt
water. There would have seemed to any one not
on Soara 'S9 but esss the anxiety and


THE AGONY OF SUSPENSE


were deeper the less II was betrayed. On the upper
deck the passengers were served with their break
boats. Some Of them, with such Of the passengers
stationed in a line, dowiT which buckets Of water
were passed continually Sometimes the fire
seemed to subside, the steam that was poured into
the hold almost srnothering IT. but the decks grew
hotter and hotter despite the deluge of water that
was thrown upon them. knew that the fire was
accident had not happened to our main pump, I
think it might have been entirely subdued. AS 1t
was we were r,c,r,,o .,v.r r.r,.


the imminencc OF tho danger grew and grew upon
US; but the boats were meanwhile preparing
S n aer
first boat was then launched and was loaded
with as many Of the ladies' ana as children .S as
each being manned with good seamen to manage


sin one Of these was Mr.. Rufus Mead, the United
States Consul at Nicaragua, who displayed great
bravery in commanding the boat and kindness in
booking after the welfare of the passengers It con.
tanned fourteen persons, and was the smallest craft
contained the ladies, was loaded with thirty
Sns nosn %seRs Cd sSs was 0eSs
starboard quarter-boat, and was in charge Of Mr.
bst ow an to put OF ere
remained only the port quarter-boat and one which
had been capsZcd IN


ATTEMPTING TO LEAVE TIE STEAMER.


'his boat, through carelessness on the part OF the
men who attempted to ball her out, was stove in
against the ships side. There was after this acct
dent but one boat left for the remainder Of the
passengers and crew. She could not carry
all, and therefore took some to the other
boats, which were still In sight. She
gave the starboard quarter-boat compass,
written Instructions like those which had given
to all the others, as they were likely TO become
separated. She put on board the starboard boat
three more men. Immediately afterwards it he.
came evident that the number OF her passengers
was too great and before she could be reached for
she righted some were clinging to her sdes others
were doating or on their life-preservers and the
condition for some time, when they succeeded in
reaching f.


THE BROKEN BOAT,


from which, after the quarter boat was bailed out,
they went on board her again.


the fOur boats left a hOat