Loss of an Ship and Twenty Lives off the Virginia Coast.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 192, 19 February 1887, Page 3

Loss of an Ship and Twen ty Lives of f the Virg inia Coast.

Oip, of thd moat disastrous shipwreoka which everooourred on the Virginia coaßt' happened 1 at? 2 o'clock on January Bthi Dear fob Little Island L fe-saving Station, fourte^n miles' '^oiith of Cape "Henry. Not ' lees than'tweuty, and possibly more, lives were !oa.t, 'among them five of the life-a'dvirtg orew, who in 'the tiieoharge of their duty ' >yere drowned. The morning was , 'itterly c'oid and & Winding snowstorm prevailed, 'wijih the wind blowing a g*le from' the north^dst. During a lull in the storm the' life-saving patrol ' from the Ltttle Island Life Saving' Station sighted a large 'ship stranded on thp bar about 900 yards 1 from Vhore. 1 When he saw,, the vespel' he was going to meet the patrol from Dam : tf eck' Station and exchange a check showing'tW .both" patrolmen had been to' the end, 1 of 'beat. The l)am' Neck patrol was only ' a fey* yards distant ' when the vessel was sighted, and 'both fired rockets to notify tne; crew of the' stranded ship that she had been seen. Tfiey hurried 'back to their respective stations and gave the alarm. In a little 'while' the crews with ' lifeboats ' and apparatus ware abreaat of the' wreck, and the boQtn of ft mortar announced that 'a line had been shot over the ill-fated vessel. The shot, ( was unsuccessful, and a second wns fired with a like result. After firing 'nix unsuccessful shots the life-sav-ing men determined to brave the furies of the seaand the death which seemed certain to await their venture. The word of command being given by Captain Belanza, of Life saving Station 4, known as the Little Island station, six of the most 'expert boatmen manned the lifeboat. The men gave way with a will, and in a n.oment the boat was breasting tne furious waves. They reached the ship in safety, and four of the ship's crow were taken in the lifeboat and ten in a ship's boat whioh was launched for the purpose. The boats were headed for the shore and not a word was spoken, for each man realised the awful peril which surrounded them. With a steady will the two boats were making good headway for the shore, when a wave of great power struck the boats, capsizing them instantly, and ! pitching their twenty-two occupants into the boiling seaThen began a desperate struggle for life, and with many of the men it was a prolonged one, The horriQed life-eavere on the beach were powerless to assist their drowning comrades and the unfortunate strangers. The drowning man were carried southward by the eea, and some of them were washed ashore. Ab they came within reach they were picked up and endeavours were made to revive them, and in two instances with success, although one of the two is badly injured. The vessel was the German ship Elizabeth, Captain Halberstadt, bound from Hamburg to Baltimore, and not one of her crew survives her wreck.