Wreck of the Atlantic.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 189, 24 June 1873, Page 7

Wreck of the Atlantic.

The wreck of th« White Star steamer the Atlantic, off Halifax, is a calamity neater even than that so recently witnessed in the destruction of the Northfleet off our own coast. It was reported in New York that the compound engines with which she was fitted had not proved so economical as was expectad by the builders, ft ud that since coals have been so dear, a less supply had been allowed, in order to enforce a greater economy on the engineers. A full inquiry into all the facts connected with her outtit will at once be instituted by the Board of Trade, but this rumour was promptly contradicted by the company, who allege that tho vessel on this trip had been supplied with more than usual liberality, and carried 200 tons above the average consumption. The chief engineer, however, has since stated that the ship sailed with only 887 tons, and not with 967 tons, as the company have said. And he also asserts that in the previous voyage he had 1,200. Public opinion will require » searching investigation. There have been few such disasters in the records of the sea. The first accounts were exag gerated in the inevitable confusion, and we are still uncertain as to the exact numbers, but it is now estimated that out of the 938 souls on board, 546 have perished. In the memorable wreck of the Birkenhead, 454 were lost; in the Royal Chatter, 446; in that awful lurch of the Captain, noo quite 500; in the London, 220; in the Northfleet, 315; so that the Atlantic takes first place on the list, since the loss of the Royal George, with " twice four hundred men."

The inquiry instituted by the Parliament of the Canadian Dominion places a responsibility upon the captain such as Y&er fell to the lot of man, and is enough to crush the stoutest heart. It is an unenviable task to attempt to apportion the blame in such a disaster. The Atlantic left the Mersey on the 20 th of March, and touched at Queensland the next day. On the 2nd of April, when her owners were expecting the telegraph to report her arrival at New York, there cams the intelligence of her loss. The weather had been boisterous during the whole voyage, the ship had not sailed so well as had been expected, and the provisions and coals running short the captain determined to put into Halifax, which was the nearest port. The coast was ironbound and dangerous, and Captain Williams miscalculated his position. It was midnight of the 31st March when he wont to bed, leaving the chief officer in charge, and believing that three mere hours would bring him to the Sambro light at the mouth of Halifax harbour, when he proposed to heave-to and wait for day. The chief officer presently sighted a light which he supposed to be Cape Sambro, but it proved to be the light on Cape Prospect, another granite promontory some miles to the west. Suddenly, at two o'clock, the ship struck. The crew rushed to the deck; frightened passengers sprang to their feet and blocked the ways; some clambered through the port-holes, others staggered panic struck ; many never left their berths but perished there. The ship so quickly settled down that the women could not get on deck, and We all drowned. " To think," said' the Mpfain, "that, while hundreds of men >* saved, every woman should have perished. It is horrible ! If 1 had been «i>le to save even one woman, 1 could bear the disaster, but to lose all, it is terrible." One account says of the 300 women and children, a majority were swept out of the steerage, and drifting beyond the vessel on immense waves, were carried seaward, and fen uo more. fhe captain hurried to his post, but it Jas too late. " I was asleep," he savs, l,ff hen the ship struck, but the officers and )»ayter-masters w ere quickly at their !ta tions. The first sea swept away the P»rt boats. On the ship heeling over, the Nj» which arose defeated all hopes of Njng the people forward. After placing IB»o ladies in the rigging, I found the ship J » going over further, and called the jond officer to leave the life-boat, which "Jed over, carrying away the seconcTofficer W thirty or forty men into the sea. On 1 ping to the rigging I found that the % were gone. The chief officer (Frith) as in the mizen rigging, helpless; the Urd officer had established communication ? jope with a small outlying rock forty J" ir » e numljGr °f persons, inking several s.tloon passengers, lay there, died. Five ropes were brought into Tjsition, and 200 men were got over Fy exhaustedj fifty others reached a p island by means of a line, but many r ai '°wned in the attempt to get there : rjgst them the chief steward. I and [. wmrth officer encouraged the 450 ret ln g People to keep moving in order to

avoid falling asleep. Many, however, gave in, and died an apparently painless death. Twelve men, despite all efforts to rouse them, died in thia manner, and slipped into the sea. M

The return of daylight brought the fishing boats from the neighbouring shore, and those who had survived the terrors of that awful night were then rescued from the rocks.

Only one child was saved, a little boy, who rushed up on deck with the Btream of passengers when the first alarm was given. " His parents and other members of his family were below. They perished when the ship filled and fell over on her side. Hustled about along with that struggling mass of excited humanity, the piteous screams of the poor little fellow went to the stoutest heart. He leaped upon the back of one of the men in the hope of being saved by him ; but the man shook off the wailing boy. His cries at last attracted the captain, who, perceiving the tenacious manner in which he was struggling for life, called out to the men who were surrounding the lines that led to the rock and safety, to endeavour, if possible, to save the boy. The poor little fellow was immediately passed over the heads of the struggling mass of beings and placed in the boat."

Frith, the chief officer, was rescued from the rigging by an English clergyman, whose heroic conduct stands out in noble relief in this dark chapter. The sea was so high that nobody would venture out, until at last the Rev. Mr Ancient succeeded in getting a crew of four men to row him to the wreck. Frith had then bee-.n in the rigging ten hours —he alone remained. One poor woman perished near him hefore assistance came, having succumbed at last after ei«ht hours of suffering, and her dead body still remained attached to the rigging, its ghastliness heightened by contrast with the jewels which sparkled upon her fingers. "Mr Ancient," said Frith, "got into the main ingoing and procuredfa line, then advanced as far as he could towards me, and threwjit to me. I caught it, made it fast around my body, and then jumped clear, A sea swept me off the wreck, but MiAncient held firm to the line, pulled me back, and got me safely in the boat. I was then so exhausted and benumbed that 1 was hardly able to do anything for myself, and but for the clergyman's gallant conduct I must have perished soon." It now appears that this Mr Ancient is indeed an Ancient mariner—a noble man in all ways by the account of his friends. He was formerly a blue jacket in her Majesty's ship Mars—a singular coincidence of name, seeing that the Atlantic struck on Mars Island. On the paying off of the ship, ho left the service to become a Scripture reader, and ultimately received holyoiders, retaining still the physical energy with the moral courage which had alwaj'S distinguished him.

The New York Herald of the 4th April contains further and lengthy details of the catastrophe. The following are some extracts from the long letter of its Halifax correspondent, writing on the previous day:

"The calamity upon the coast to tli<? White Star steamer Atlantic continues to occasion profound sensation and sorrow. The survivors were billeted about among the public-houses, and made as comfortable as possible. At an early hour in the morning waggons loaded with coffins were seen proceeding to the vicinity of the wreck. At the same time, rough coffinshaped boxes were being placed on board a schooner at the Cunard Wharf, as well as lumber and carpenters to make more of them on the passage and at the fatal scene. The foundation for the calamity lies in insufficient coaling, and a miscalculation, and perhaps some incompetency upon the part of the watch on deck ; but Mi* Metcalf has to settle that before a Higher Power, and more than 500 souls are there to respond. Captain Williams is silent upon the all-important point as to his reckoning. All agree, however, that he was a hero in the supreme moment, and anyone would believe it who could have heard his heart-broken sobbing accent, ' My God, if I could only have saved a woman or a child ; the memory of that girl climbing about my neck and beseeching me to save her will haunt me to the grave.' Captain Williams, with the steamtug Henry Hoover, having in tow the steamer Amateur, started for the scene of the wreck with 150 coffins. Mr Mackwald proceeded with the captain. He will remain until all the bodies of the saloon passengers, who are to be conveyed to the States, are recovered, At six o clock this evening the bodies that had been recovered were laid in rows along the sloping ledge, and it required a strong nerve to walk among them. The body of Mr Hewitt, of the firm of Best and Co., of New York,

was recognised Among the recovered. Some corpses had been so terribly lacerated that sailcloth had been used to cover up the features and limbs which love itself could no longer recognise. "Hands* inns, feet, and leg 3 that were bare were seen around, and all were bleached and shrunken horribly. Up to four o'clock this afternoon about 180 bodies had beoil recovered. Th* l officers who were saved went back to the wreck to-day. Stories of the dead having been abused and plundered are rife, and are much exaggerated; but there is no doubt that some of the crew, who were a bad lot, robbed all they could, but the presence of the fishermen prevented them doing so to any great extent. Some of the crew were insubordinate beyond the control of the officers during the voyage. Magistrates are in charge of affairs at Prospect, and the most perfect order prevails." Three hundred and twelve Steerage passengers arrived at Boston on Saturday the 3rd. They were conducted by the citizens and an escort of police to the Taneuil-hall, where a bountiful breakfast was provided for them.

Three hundred and five of the survivors arrived at the Castle garden, New York, on the sth, where thousands of persons of all nationalities had gathered. The excitement was indescribable, and it was difficult to keep the crowds from forcing the gates. The emigrants looked starved and distracted. The scones which took place at their recognition by their relatives were heartrending. After a liberal breakfast and dinner, however, they became more reconciled. The majority speak disparagingly of the captain and the crew. They state that they were three days at sea short of food.

The Surviving officers have been ordered to make a report. The entire New York Press condemns the behaviour, incompetency, and neglect of the captain, and what they allege to be the criminal parsimony of the company.