Year: 1873

mands TO the men to keep BACK ana allow
the women to get to the side of the vessel,
but apparently without success. Rock
cts were fired and blue lights burned.
The gun was loaded, but the screws
of the ramrod became detached from the
handle, and the piece could not be dis
charged. The signals of distress
were seen by several vessels, but appear
to have been regarded as signals for a
pilot, for no assistance was rendered.
Meanwhile the scene on deck battles de-
scriptlon. The Captain, finding the men
determined to leave the vessel, went be-
low, armed himself with revolver, and,
ascending the poop, declared his determi-
nation to shoot the first man who tried to
leave the vessel before the women were
saved The first boat launched was
lowered by the passengers, by cutting the
ropes. There being no ladder at hand,
the cnly way to get into it was by leaping
or dropping some twelve or fifteen feet.
AS there was terrible rush towards the
boat, the scene was one of distressing
confusion, and man and boy fell into
the water, and were drowned The off,
GERS did all they could, to force the men
who first got into the beat to leave it, that
the women might be saved, but to no
purpose. Even firing with blank cart
ridge, it is supposed at first, was unavail-
ing. About thirty persons, having got
into the boat, put off, Not one of the
crew was in it. Another life-boat was
launched. A man got into it, and was
| ordered to leave. He refused, and the
| Captain shot him in the calf. Then Cap
tain Knowles placed his wife in the boat,
and said to the 5oatswain, who had al
ready got in, Here's a charge for you,
Boatswain. Take care of her and the
rest, and God bless you" Wringing his
wife's hands, he bade her goodbye, say
ing, 81 shall never see you again" 1t is
impossible to describe the panic that
ragged all this time. Heartrending scenes
were witnessed on all sides. One of the
passengers, seeing the Captains wife in
the boat, threw his own wife in, tossed
the baby to her, and entered the boat
himself. A little girl was thrown into the
boat by her fathel, who tried to save the
rest of his family, but the seething, mad
dened crowd pressing toward the side of
the vessel prevented, and with his wife
and two other children he went down
with the ill-fated vessel. The engineer
made frantic efforts to save his wife and
children, but was iammed between the
cook-house and the gunwale, and re-
ceived such dreadful injuries that,
although afterward rescued, he is
in a precarious state. Only two OF
the seven boats aboard we're launched, ,ow-
ing, no doubt, to the panic, and they were
seriously injured, as the tackle was cut
and they fell into the sea. When the Sec
ond boat had got off, it seemed to become
question of moments. The quarterback
was still crowded by men, women and
children, some crying, swearing and pray
ing. The captain and pilot were together,
and the latter was heard saying, eff you
want to save yourselves, make for the
topmast" To this many poor people
rushed. In a quarter of an hour tug
picked up the second boat with thirty oc-
cupants, and then steamed for some time
around the spot where, about three-quar-
tiers of an hour after being struck, the
Northfeet went down head first, with aw-
full suddenness, with 327 souls on board.
At that moment the first boat was one
hundred yards, and the second only twen-
ty or thirty from the vessel The
crew of the first boat, after landing the
women, rowed around the scene of the
wreck, and saved five men try
ing to swim to shore. A lugger
took off the occupants of the sec
ond boat, thirty-four passengers, and a
pilot-cutter rescued the pilot and ten men,
who, having gone down with the vessel,
rose to the surface and clung to the main
topmast rigging. The vessel lies in elev-
en- fathoms of water. The survivors say
the Captain displayed the greatest hero
ism, and maintained his presence of mind
from first to last, strove hard to put an
end to the panic, and did his duty bravely
| to the end. He was, at the last moment,
| going across the wreck in hope OF en-
abling some Of the crowd, crushing round
the boats on that side, to get away from
the ship. The survivors say other boats
got adrift when the ship sunk, and express
the belief that if the passengers had al
lowed them to be lowered properly, there
could have been saved at least one hun
dred more lives. Unfortunately the wo-
men could not climb the masts although
we did all in our power to help them;
consequently all the women and chill
dren, with the exception of the captains
wife and another and two children, were
drowned.