A TERRIBLE TALE OF THE SEA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1245, 5 May 1884, Page 4

A TERRIBLE TALE OF THE SEA.

A terrible disaster occurrea on januon the coast of Massachusetts, ft'Jttvefviog the loss of a fine steamer and -.the’lives of more than one hundred of fiv'lhe persons who formed her crew and The shipwrecked vessel jflrjiag the City of Columbus, which sailed ff.frg.rn Boston the day before for Safejßahnah, to which port she belonged, filter burden being upwards of two thousand tons. She had not been long at Irlea-before a heavy gale sprung up and throughout the terribly cold night. Early next morning she struck if- the rocks at Gay. Head, at the westerly ifcbgrner of Martha’s Vheyard, the largest nf the group of islands lying off the B(pth£tn .shore of Massachusetts. The j* Stories related by the survivors describe X. scenes of infinite pathos. Soon after vessel struck the captain ordered passengers to prepare for an effort get. to land .in the boats. But they, |r /seeming to be paralysed rather than and perhaps not realising the remained below until the rising iv/,'‘Water drove them upon deck. At that Cti moment a white mass of roaring water upon the,doomed vessel, and to use the steward’s, words, it literally P,’/swept the deck of every human being, felai you would sweep the dust off a floor.” In this way sixty per-llV-.stmVincluding every woman and child I^CtOrboard, perished ft once, without one shriek or, one uttered prayer, for there bo- time for either. Many bodies have been found upright, with ly*;life-preservers attached to them, showjng that a fingering death from exposure has been suffered. v rAfter this there began for the few ij£|-Who then survived a frightful and weary fe#atruggle. Several boats left the ship, fe|but their-management being underby inexperienced passengers all met wit!} disaster. Some were capsized, others'Vere stove in by being driven - the . rocks or portions of the iSfWrefciic j’and the■ result was that not a SWtngle -life ■ was saved by the boats. i|| r ßy«*this time the rigging was dotted V'v wftft Human beings: As the gale caused llifthe wreck to careen over, the waves |(£.Swept through the cordage, and one js* l married couple were seen to kiss and one another, then they fell into the seething waters. Two brothers y.u * were tup in - the rigging, the elder one actually.cuffed his younger brother as scolded him into courage, and so f;/ kept .the, boy’s heart until, eight or hours ’ later, the boats brought It?’'*deliverance. , Then the lads plunged f?r;;int6 the waves together, and swam to ij «vthe boats as gaily as if they were on jjSj their annual excursion to Conwey Is-®|J^tnd.-:.'Every few moments someone from the rigging, either from explibaastion or because death had already ff£'comej while some, even after death plrClijadL.ended, their sufferings, remained jj&i -frozen to the ropes. When this ghastly 'scene came to an end, out of eighty ipiljasseDgeES, t who had started to seek or health in the sunny south, jj&only nine survived ; and of the crew of forty-five, thirteen alone remained alive, ig^.,. The heroiras of Lieut. Rhodes, of the M%eVCnue' cutter Dexter, was remarkable. Sgirwice. he swam . through the freezing 'billows to carry a line to of Columbus. On the first ggpfempt he was beaten back, bruised The protest against a ®^3secdn'd ’attempt went almost as far as Jfe*4lie employment of force; but the noble /fellow repeated his effort, and sucEvery officer and man who |gi|jwas- oq ftjeck when the vessel struck ®’;;lost his life, and therefore, in all prothe cause of the disaster will be known. After an hour’s exthe inclement weather, and seen ■ the vessel safely through chief dangers of the coast, the capbad, according to custom, gone .l||B|tow, and ■ the catastrophe happened jfc-s'very shortly afterwards. A survivor qpjtfksserts positively that, while they were # } /clinging together to the rigging, the him that, having fixed the of the steamer, he had lashed ••g'Sit’he wheel and gone to warm himself at ® N »tho frinael, and that in twenty minutes ■ji; .’they were on the rocks. All seamen familiar with the locality - affurmAbattbe steamer must have been £;,*i.very much out of her course when she The survivors assert that while |b|they were in the rigging they saw two Igyjfiteamersi but both failed to notice the ?|f- wreck. The mate of one of the S-s*;‘steamers . referred to declares that, *!• ’'although; be inspected the wreck with a 3‘Vglass, he saw no sings of any human The hull of the City of Colum•i’ ‘ : bus is intact, and it is expected that fejioany Jjodies will be found between the |||k|xieckSr A number of those who were effiin the-rigging- were frozen to the ropes which they clung. The night was |i7f/clear, and all lights were visible. The fej'disaster is attributed by all the newsBii papers to gross ignorance or careless|:'.pess, and a rigid inquiry is demanded. I’jyCThey.especially condemn the captain’s in going below before all danWj&lgEX ■ was > passed. The captain asserts both the second officer and the were in the pilot-house ffl-at the time of the disaster. I'jaT. According to the accounts that fegreached New York the list of survivors ryjof. the City. of Columbus amounts to •s^2p persons, of whom 12 were passenand 17 officers and crew. Twentybodies have floated ashore. Some SS-Xof them, were frightful’y mangled- Most ifevSot the faces are said to bear an expresof Jjorror, dreadful to contemplate. o;The bauds of one woman were full of llflier -own* hair, which had been tern her,.own .head in the agony of jpW'dcath;.'/The evidence of all the sur|MVors confirms the general theory that |||f|he wreck; was caused by carelessness |||or the positive negligence of the offiBoston it is reported that £®Ebe ’ quarter-master, who was at the at the time that the vessel struck, fpiau&l i? ohe df the rescued party, states held the vessel on the course I'Mhe captaih'had instructed him to keep, which should have taken them clear The captain went below of an hour before the MMSsaster took place. The search for Ppftjli- recovery, of the bodies has been Smlpaioly conducted by the friends of the affAiyMing. .Among the passengers was a jSypifrig Englishman, named Charles ®Crriffin, but nothing has been heard of ram since the wreck.