THE WRECK OF THE ATLANTIC.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 146, 18 June 1873, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE ATLANTIC.

KpThe wreck ! plg^ig£|Whitb Star steamer tlie Atlantic, djß|- J^CJtf 1 i f a x, is a calamity greater., even thanr that so recently witnessed in the tifofrucition of the Northfleet off our" own coast;- It was reported in New York that the compound engines A _ with .which she wajs fitted had not proved "so economical as7^wa| expected - by the builders, and that since coals have been so dear, a less supply had been allowed, in order to enforce a greater, economy upon the engineers. A full enquiry into all the facts connected with her outfit will nt once be instituted by the Board of Trade, but this rumor was promptly contradicted by the company, who allege that the vessel on this trip had been supplied with more than usual liberality, and carried 200 tons abo\*e ahe • average consumption. < The chief engineer, however, has since stated that the ship sailed with only 887 tons, ahd not with ; 967 tons, as the company have said. And he also assert* that inX the previous voyage he had 1200 tons. Public opinion will require . a. searching investigation. There have been few such .disasters vin the records of the sea. Tbe first accounts-were exaggerated in the. inevitableXconfusion,: 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, 4r£4 were lost ; in the Royal Charter, 4.4(5- iu For . remainder of news see four th page.

ll7ths^LbndoD, 220; in the Nortbfleet, 315; §7 7iiiX thatawf ul >lurch7 of the Captai n, n ot .-. Ay tquite 7-500; soxthat the Atlantic takes its 7 7 place first on the appalling-list, since the |?7 ; l^ss of the Royal George with; " twice X 77fou^huiodred^men." 7 ' ■'7X'^hs inguiryinstituted hy the Parliament • :7;6f thfeiX GanadiahX Dominion places a : /^responsibility upon the captain such as - 7 riever fellto the lot of man, and is enough 7- to crush the. stop test tieart. It is an. un-777''envwDlectask-to attempt to apportion the :^7-blamt3.ib'raoh :: :a' disaster. The Atlantic yAUftthe Mersey on the 20th March/and touched at. Queenstown;the next day. ■^v Tthe 2nd ;#?- April, when her owners were expectinjg the telegraph to report her" ; arrival at 7 New York, there came the of her loss. The weather had bben boisterous duringthe whole voyage, 7 the shipThad hot sailed so well as had been expected/ and the provisions and coals running short, the captain determined 7 7to put into Halifax, which waß the nearest , port. The coast was iron-bound and Xdangerous, and Captain Williams mis--7 calculated bis position/ It was midnight, oh the 3 1st bf March, when he went to 77 bed, leaving the chief officer in charge, xH an^believiug that three more hours would Av bring him to the Sambro light at the jnouth of Halifax harbor, when .he ' proposed^ to • andX Wait for day. 7 The chief ofliper presently sighted a light; 7 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 2 7 o'clock, the ship struck* XTThe'brCw rushed to thejdeck; frightebed ■Ay passengers^ -sprang '-"-to tbeir feet, and 7 blocked the ways; -some clambered through the X pbr t-bbles, Xothefs staggered pan icX.7siruick;,.many : neverxleft ;their berths but perished therer ' The ship so quickly 77 settled down that the women could not 7 7 get oh deck, and were allXdrowned.' 1 " To I 7think,^ said -^64 -jcaptain,, ,--.',' that while hundreds of men were saved, every woman X 7 should haveperished. It is horrible ! If X Lhad-been able to save even, one woman, Xcould bear the disaster, but to lose all, it 7is terrible." 1 One account sayß that of the X 300 ' woiiaet 1 and children, a majdrity were swept 7 put,'- of the steerage, and drifting X bey ond the vessel oh immense waves, were 7. carried seaward; arid seen no more.* The captain. hurried to his post, but it was too late. "I was asleep," he says, V A. * - when the-, ship struck, but, the officers and quartermasters were quickly at their ; stations. ' The first sea swept away the port boats. Oh the ship heeling over, the terror Which; arose .-:- defeated all efforts to send the people forward. After placing two ladies in tlie rigging, I found the ship : WaS going over further, and called to the; X second officer to heave-the lifeboat, which rolled over, carrying away the officer and 730 or ; 40 men into Ihe sea. On returning 7to the rigging 1 found that the ladies were gone. r XThe chief officer (Frith) was in j 7 7the^mizen7*igging helpless; the third 7 officer had established communication by X rope[7wiin a small outlying rock 40 yards 7 pfE " TA large number of persons, including . v aeveral saloon passengers, iay there and died. Five ropes were brought into 7 requisition, and 200 men were got over V; nearly exhausted, 50" others reached a larger island by means of a line, but many -7 '-.were 'drowned in. the attempt to get there; amongst them the. chief steward. I and 7 the fourth officer encouraged the 450 remaiping people to keep moving in order to 7aypid. ; falling asleep. Many however - gave in, and died an apparently painless 7 death.- XTwelve men, despite all efforts to .7 rouse them, died in this manner, and -slipped into the sea." 7 v. The return of day light brought the fishX ing boats from the neighboring shore, and XXthose.wbb.nad/survived the terrors of that - awful night were then rescued from the X- rbck&7-7777 ■ 7 7 .. ; .-.:.X-'7 Only one child was saved, a little boy, v/hoTushed up on deck with ; the stream of passengers when the first alarm was given. -"•?* His parents and other members of his family were below. They perished r when the ship filled and fell over on her aide. Hustled about along with that struggling mass of excited humanity , the .7 piteous screams of the"; poor little fellow went to the stoutest heart. He leaped upon the hack 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 ihat led 7_7.tq7the rock and safety to endeavor, if -possible, to save the boy; The poor little 7feHow was immediately passed over the heads of the struggling mass of beings and X ypiaced in the boat." Firth, the chief officer, was rescued from the, rigging by an English clergyman, whose heroic conduct stands but in noble

relief in tbis dark chapter. xThe sea wis.. bo high that nobody Would venture ou-y until at lest the Rev Mr Ancient succeeded in getting a crew of four men to row him to the wreck. Firth had then been in the rigging. 10 hours— -he alone remained. One poor wojnah perished near him before assistance came, having; succumbed at last after eight hours of suffering, and her dead body still remained attached to the r 'gg in g — i*- s gnstliness heightened by contrast with the jewels which sparkled upon her, fingers. "Mr Ancient, " says Firth, "got into the main rigging and procured a line, then advanced os far as he could towards me and. threw < it to me. I caught it, made it fast around my body, and theu jumped clear. A sea swept me off the wreck, but Mr Ancient held firm to the line, pulled me back, and got me safely into the boat. I was then so exhausted, and benumbed that I 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 his ways by the account of his friends. He was formerly a blue jaoket in Her Majesty's ship Mars — a singular coincidence j of name, seeing that the Atlantic struck on Mars Island. On the paying off of the ship he left the service to become a Scripture reader, and ultimately received holy orders, retaining still the physical energy (with the mbraLcoufage which had always distinguished him.