SOME FAMOUS SHIPWRECKS.

NZ Truth, Issue 101, 25 May 1907, Page 8

SOME FAMOUS SHIPWRECKS.

10SS OF THE AMERICAN LINER ARCTIC

Off the Banks of Newfoundland,

By (Collision with the Vesta.

Over 350 Persons Perish.

His pillow hath.no cover ;but the surf ;. ••■ '•■ r ' : "■ y ; I may. not .pour*, the soul-drop, from 'i mine eye - v ■ *.' ■ ■ Near his cold bed : He slumbers m the wave-!" Oh!; I will rove the sea because itis his grave ! : . — Aoion.j

Tfie 'American passenger ''steamer Arctic, of . vfche Collins, line, ; plying.; fotetween J*few York and ' Liverpool,:, left ; 'tfoe latter. port on Septettiibe'r ' 13, 1754. On the seventh' day,' out^ '■ (on the ' 2#tfc) she .was,' while runt^g m a iog,.' -tolai'ly* .engwlfed,; with' - IMi^'heavy: Vm^Cpr^rjelt value, m consequence of,-, collision with; the French iron screW "steanier itfesta, • Captain Duehesite,. . For many- a long day after thetime when -the Arctic wwars r due aft -New : York, the public mind was

' . IN AGONISING SUSPENNSE a^T. to her fate. • From the well-knoaron strength and complete equipment of '•.'the Arctic, this was the only sort of " casualty likely to be fatal to . Jher, and k this does n&t a])?ear- to ha i ve j been anticipated by seafaring men. \ The Collins line was looked upon by/^Lmericani as", a cracky line, and rasiiiitained^..its/r.ep,uta/tiion till the .Liybigjool Cunarders wrested the title -of greyhouttds' of the seas. - .--' :

On the news of the terrible scollision reaching New - York on October '14. thaf city <LssumDd_^the appeairance of, due great funeraL Flags fwavied'haif-j mast* upon all the* imblic ; hj'rd hotels," aftd the o;mce:' of Mr- E. K. '^olfins, the founder aiutt' proprieffcror and founder of this. l?ne, was crowded . wilii aiysiioti-s visitors .ir oni ; ■ dayl%ht t iU A ar K-. : All/wstio wished; to Mar' of relatives ar frieneds called thure, as the most likely place to ■ 'iearh the faire ortheit .>missi7ig friends..! , and- relatives. It w?Aasad , giSther--1 ing of grief-stiicken tremulously •waitiii'?' for "inijclligencc which would either^ givo ihb death-blaw to.. iope,- or ' else glve-J^aclc airthe-'buoy-mcy of life by. the Restoration' of the lost. It seemed as if everybody 'thad iither relations or acquaiotaboes saboaM the illrfated vessel. ' As each report came ill, it waft a picture full of Interest to J see tie - eagerness with which all received the report.

.Not only m. the office of the ' Ocean Steam Company," but m all places i ♦were, tC:c. 'same evidences apparent, that some heavy blow 'had fallen; upon the heart, and,, crushinig. out /what was ■"•happy and ' peaceful . had ' placed the burden of sorrow tltere. ; At; all; 'corners, aloiig the streets, m stores and l]'a i nk'ini=;-ji'ouses,. groups .wef'e asseoibl'cd . recapitulating the caJiamit'ous story: of theulisaster. All business j"7i Wai i-=3itu>2.l Was sfco"pperrror a; time, and v^mcr chants and? banter;^ ~^^et-; ti% the- rise-jsf stocks and the flue- " '.tuations of' Vtrade,,. by /'one. toac6 of. j nature,' 1 were brought together- as participants 'm •

THE GENERAL GRIEF.. • .At the time of the collision. .Cap-. stain Luce, of tlie f doomed Arctic, was, below, working out the position! of the steamer. He at-once ran -on. Jojeck, ami saw the iron steamer under, the starboard 'bwy, and, passing- (astern, grazing and taarinp- the guards m ncr progress. The Arctic was fsa large , paddle steamer built of wefcd, but : ,o.f immense strength. The bows of

Jiihe strangle vessel seemed to be lit-' '" erally cvt 1 or brusihod off for 0.0 feet, and, seeing that she • imist' ' pffptowbly sink mlO minutes, ■ Captain Luce Rlanfced at His own ship.' He Relieved her to> be comparatively uriinjured^ but clmroS the floats, and sent the first officer and six mcii m a .^oat to :

board -the stranger, and ascertain the extent of her damage. ' The engineers immediately put on the steam pumps and' the four deck pumps were worked by the passenger's and sailors. The Arctic was at once headed towards shore, and. several attempts were made to stop the leak by getting a sail over the 'bow ;■' -but, finding that thej leak was gaining- very fast, notw>thslja|ndiiiig: the powerful efforts made -to keep tkte ship free, Captain Luce, resolved to get the boats, ready, •and' put- as many ladies and children into them as possible. No sooner had an attempt been made to; do tliis than the'firemen and others j&ghgd' into the- bioats,- m spite of all Opposition. 'Setips^his —stato of "tliings. tlve-.' captain orilerM the boasts astern to.be kept m * readiness until order could be restored, when, m his dfsmay, -he saw them cut the rope m the .bow, and- soon disappear m the fOT. Another boat was broken by persons rushing mat the davits, and many dropped st-ru-glgS-ing into the sea' and were drowned- This happened while- 1 Captain Luce was engaged get«tiag. the starboard gsiardbpat ready. The second mate was m charge, when a simitar' scene was .enacted as .with '-the first boat. • He 'then gave orders to the second mate to let go and tow after the sbip, keeping near the stern, to be ready to take the women and children as soon as the fires were out and the engine should stop. Tlte : quarterboat was <ound 'broken' down, "but hanigltog by cne* tackle. A rusn was made for her.'.- -a-lso,'; some 15 getting m, -but they V "' ; ' x v ■' "- . '; ■

\j . OJJT THE TACKLE, and were soon lost'vto sight. Not a. seaman /waSrinow Jeft on, hoard, nor a carpenter, and there • were no tools $o as*:'st m building a raft, as the only hope. The only officer 'left was Mr Dorian, • the- third mate, who' worked usably for the welfare of all. 1 To : form : a raft; it 'became necessary i(r get the only remaining' bo-it.. i'li'td the water. This done;. Dorian taking. charge' of it, took . care to. keep the oars on board the steamer 'to prevent those m tlie boat from ..leav-. ing. the ship. He then -got to work w>ith ,v will, 'still hoping to get the women and children into his boat at last. They had made considerable progress m collecting spars, when the alarm was given chat the Arctic was foundering, and the boat ' was shoved off without oars or anything else. \ '."■.. ■•■' ; •,' .-.;. "... .

: In an instant after, at about 5 p-m./ the • ship iwont - down carrying- ' every soul ori board with, her. Captain Luoc soo-ii' found hian self on the" surface, after a teief struggle, with his frafeille oliiid m hisi arms ; then again found himself drawn downward tq a great. .depth, and, J?afqre reaclir^^e^urfac^";a'^^Cflna;,,tMnfe,,3a i ci; nearly perished, losing hold of the child as 'he S'trurjjgjl'edl upwards. When lie reached tlje surface once more, thj riibst awful and .heartrending scene : • preserite|d litself . Over 200 anon, • wo- , nien, and. children were struggling together amid pieces . of the; wreck, calling upon one another for- help, and imploring -heaven to assist ttiem. Airi-id this drownine mass of <beings he Saw his child and was trying to save 'him , when a portion of the paddle- J l)ox came rushing up edgeways;, just 'graziw the captain't head, and falling, horizontally upon the helpless child. . >.-.... '

Captain Luce then succeeded m gettiJig on top of the paddle-ibox witii 11 others. One, however, left for another^ piece of wreckagje, and others were soon relieved 'by death. Those who remained sto6d m water up to, their knees, the sea occasionally break-

ing on them ; amd the ' party, was soon

REDUCED BY DJEATH

to' Oaptain "Luce and one other, who, after an exposure of 4'B-hours,-. were rescued by the Oam'bria, Captain Russell, bound to Quebec

Dorian, the third mate, m Jvis account of the calamity^ asserted that if all the officers and men' had 'stood by the ship, all, or .nearly all," of ' the passengers would have been saved ; that, with the [ masts, spars, and the cutting off of the hurricane 'deoic, «i raft could have been Jormed capable of carrying the whole, of" them. He further, said that among 'the passengers, he aiever saw -men ' more coolly courageous, aiid that their" (quiet resign nation and confidence m the . captain and officers would Tie impossible to surpass. ,A particular illustration of this was tlve fidelity exhibitedv by a young gentleman named ' Holland) of Washington, who was on ' boar tl" the steamer to gain instruction in" ■engineering 1 , fchen a new profession. He had been doputed'by the captain to fire tlie signal' gun— when all others had fled— and, "amkl the meianoholy wail, ihe pursued 'has 'duty. When all hope had fled, and the deck was level with the sea, Holland was seen busy with the gun. His last shot ibopmed out as tho Arctic sank', and he went ' down with her, persteverinie? m the strict performance of his duty. " ... In the construction of tjie raft the two fioreyard arms were cut down and lashed', together , t making the raft about 40 feet Ions; and 3.. feet wide. It was launched on the port side, and m a few minutes after there were fully 70 persons clinging to it, including four women. . Several other rafts were made, but none were so largo as this. Doors, barrels, and everything that floated came into use, aaid on some of these were two and three. *■.

HOW A MAN' FEELS

during the process of drowning may be judged by the statement of M(>. Gate, ,a .passcanger, wlio says:— "l; remained on the Arctic yntil' she sank, whbn I went down with her. I .toad .bieen.eniipioye'd a. fewmiin<c€s ''cisfora with Tom, the. storekeeper, and another, lashing some casks 1 together., when I wa's driven away by the .water, which rushed m at a fearful rate., Jumping upon the paddleMbox, ; I sprang upon the saloon deck, asnd m an' instant was snTuqthered m -the surg-.' ing water, -^"hieli . 'closed :p ver ; our ' -heads. .Down, down/we 'sank; .intothe .bosom of the ocean, and the t&rw: rible thought took possession of my . mind.; that" -I was drowning.. I retained consciousness, however, all the time I was' under the water, and it was"with a feolin;; of joy that I founl that I was risi-n^ to the surf aoo. it 'wa^ all darkness before 1 , but now I' couid see a dim light above me and m a few seoon'ds I was on top of the water, st-ru-gg^ioiig for life. Being a gsood swimmer, and clad m a lite-pre-server, I reached a' fl.oatinsr. door a few.feet frcm where I rose. I looked around, but. there was no trace of the vessel. Finding I could not retain hold of j tho door, I left- it and swam to a large raft, to wlvich about 70 "per- j sons were clinging. -The sea, though not strong, was rough, and the waves, as •*thcy-.dasbod r&morsclesslv over .the. raft, washed ay/ay sonic of -tlicm-. . It was an^ awful scerlo—^a mass of human beings m tlto fnuk't of'the ob&an, without the slightest hope of assistance ; while every minute one by one was dropping into ■ a watery grave(.vom sae-er cxliSiUsticn. T'lio.scjy'.'Jio'liiad.. ■oii ir life^preservcrs dM^iiot si'nfc, 'bjjt floated with their ghastly . face-s .tipwards, reminding those who still res mai'ned 'alive of the f ate tliat awadtod them. Of those who dropped away, some floated off and were-gnawed and , eaten by iishes, while others were washed "under tho raft,- where • their, faces could T:e seen through the open--ings as -the-v ' were swayed - to a>nd fro ' by 'the waves. The raft -at one . time was so crowded that many had to hold on by one lKund. Very few w-ords were' spoken toy any; awd the only sound to be teland was the

SPLASH OF THE WATERS or the heavy breathinto; of the poor sufferers as they tried to recover their /'breath .after a wave had passed over them. Nearly all were su'limarged _io their armpits, while - a few had a hard task to keen their heads above the -surface. The . women were

the first to 'go ; they were unableto staowl the exposure more than three or four hours, and all fell of! without a word- except one poor girl, wibo cried out m lagiony, "Oh, my, poor mother and sisters.' "

At the end of some 18 hours, only f three, besides Mr McCabe, had survived on the raft. One of these 'gave to the latter a title deed to his property, arad unloosening (his hold, was added to the lifeless number thati float", ed about the raft. McCabe tried to get the paper into his , pocket, but, finding this impossible, placed it .between h;is teeth until overtaken toy a wave' lue'lost'thokl of it, and it was washed away. Another, who had on an oiled silk coat, called on McCabe for help, as'his strength was failing. It was difficult to reach him , but McOabe helped him by the use of a knee, - u.roti.l he became too faint,' and, by necessity, left the helpless man to his fate. He had promised, if he ever got to New. York, to reward his deliverer. He cluing with terrible tenacity to life, 'but nevertheless drop-, .pod'" off m turn. McCabe was now the only one left upon the raft out of 7O who, but a few hours 'before, were Jiis companions. The «%bt of the second (lay was about closing on him; and duriaig the whole time he had tasted nothing. His strength was ekibin'g away, and his sight had become so dim that even the ghastly faces of the dead that looked up from under the raft were haaxlly disoeraiblo. Determined' to make 'pp^ k m o re

EFFORT FOR LIF,E, he, raised himself upon 'his knees' upon the raft, and, through the dusk of evening, sav/r-or thought he saw—a vessel. At this his strength revived, and i<n a little while was heard the voice of someone coming m a boat. After 2G hours of exposure, he was resoued by a boat manned by Dorian, some siaiior^, and >Capia4n Grafrn, one of the Arctic's passengers.

At the time of the collision the passengers Qraid 'gathered m the cabin for luncheon, and some of them were' engaged m drawing the numbers of the daily Totbea-y, the chances -of- the same being, based upon tho number of 1 nots run during the precatUng 24 . houra. The Arctic was running o.t 12| knots, the /usual speed m foptv weather,., m that latitmie. -Two men wereon.the lookout m the forecastle, and there was always the usual precaution- against such a calaimity . The advancing \Tcs-t a wa?j seen but a moment before she strucli.. bait tlw instant ■■ she was discovered through the fog,' tho order rang out, "Hard starboard the helm aaud reverse the engine !"

The order was as quickly obey-ed, and though at first there- was no realisation of "the actual damage done, the -terror amd confusion -became very jjjraat when the extent of the injury was disclosed. The'coivduct of • Captain Luce was calm and manly ; to the I-asf he declared "the' fate of the ship thp.ll be. mine." Catherwood, the artist, Professor Reed, and Messrs 'Sand fowl- and Benedict. . wellknown jurists, were early among the lost.

I On I ' its appearing that -the Arctic i was doomed, the captain put Mrs ColHns— y/ifc of the - owner of the line— ami her children,' with other women, chiidrori, and -pas&eiivfnars, into one of the pori boats. A '-little biscuit anil water/were provided, but they we're ■without, a compass, and not ■ a single man able to giuide their course. UiifortuTOatelyi, top, at the lowering of this boat, , one of the tackles gave way, and the crHier rciiiaisie-a en-tainigiieid. T<h>c' b'Dft%.%irig,Tne^ all -who were m it but three were thrown into the sea arid lost. At such a moment, a . ..'. •■ , "..' MISFORTUNE LIKE THIS was without remedy. . The overhauling of the now empty boat was achieved at' last, but it Was now ' impossible to regulate her destiny by any -There official orders. Passengers and sailors, without ceremony';' jumped into the Iboat, which m a few seconds was filled. M. dc Gra-iiimont tried to jump, but fell into the sea, and would have perished had it not been' for his servant, who, • by a superhuman effort, hoisted him on board again. Dulaicjuais regained the Arctic by means of a rope, inviting the master to follow his example, tout the fooat had got under way. Du-la-cfuais jumped, and fell .into the bottom of the i boat, but Grammont, lacking 1 the 'strength, to imitate ihi<m, allowed the moment to pass which separated safety from death.

One pass-anger offered £30,000 if the boats would put back to save him. They turned to do so, but before they reached him lie sank. 'Another instance was that of a man who, just as the boats were shoving off from the Arctic, called to a friend! m one, and, bidding him good-ibye, requested him to give his love to his wife m Philadelphia, and tell her he was gone. Breronaai', one of the engineers, could have been saved m the chief 'engineer's boat, . but .he li-ad charge of a boy whom he would not abandon ; both, however, were saved m another boat. An unknown gentleman threw a -heavy purse of gold' from the ship to the boy, after the Latter tgot into the boat. The following statement, made 'by one saved from the disaster, exhibits human nature m one of its strange phases, m the presence of

SO TERRIBLE A CRISIS s "Among our passengers was a gentleman about 35 to 38 years of age, of very reserved manners, and evidently depressed' spirits. Being located m ■th«"same.ibbr.'th,- I. was one day accidentally struck .by I>he significant fact that v his 'linen was marked with initials differing! from those of the name iby, which he passed, and m wihioh Qic had shipped. A few remarks from me induced him (under promise of secrecy, which the extent of this communication does not violate) to explain (how circumstances, of a depressing nature had induced his expatriation. Subsequent conversations revealed to me that blighted hopes constrained him to regard his existence 'but lightly— amid, from his stolid indifference when the calamity took place, it is my belief that he courted • those embraces of death, which, alas, so many vainly struggled to resist."

Every account confirms the statement that -the ladies exhibited the most admirable coolness, and stared death m the face with a heroism Which 'should have put to the blush the men who deserted and left them to their fate. At the moment when one of the unfortunate boats was disappearing into the gloom, a French lady was seen to foe using an oar.

• Not a singl-a woman, though, of the GO odd who were an board, escaped I/he miserable doom, though every possible effort had been nude by ths