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Leader (1850-1860), 10th October 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 967

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      two persons on boaid . She started in . company with the Empire City , which slie outdistanced towards nightfall . At first , the weather was fair and the wind favourable ; but , . before they had been out a day , a gale came on- This increased till it gained the force of a hurricane . The billows rose to an immense height ; on the morning of the Hth ,: a leak was discovered by the men in the engine department ; , and , despite all efforts , the comiauaieatioiL with the coal bunkers was soon cut off , so tbat the fires went out . It is supposed that the vessel was then about a huudred and fifty miles to the weat of the island of New , Providence , between that island and the American coast . The hurricane appears to have bad the nature of a whirlwind , and it is

      supposed that the Central America was caught in the very . centre of the vortex . After the fires had gone put , a strong effort was made to reduce the amo ant of water by baling . This woik was prosecuted enegetically , the women taking their turn when the men were exhausted . They were so far successful , that it was found possible to light the fires again , and once more to get up steam ; hut this was only for a , very short time . The engines , or the pumps , soon got out of order ; the waves clashed . against and over the drifting vessel ; and the catastrophe . became but too evident . StilJi the captain and officers did . not lose heart . The foremast was cut away , so as to get tlia vessel again head on ; but the mast in falling was swept under the hull , where it remained for some

      time , striking with great force , and probably increasing . the leak . By paying out enough hawser they got a drag , wJaich brought them for a time head on ; but the iawser soon parted . The hold and the lower cabins were now quite full of water , which became hot from the boilers . In this trying juncture , the captain and . other officers Ibehaved with the . utmost courage and skill , and did their best to diminish the apprehensions of the ¦ women and children . On the afternoon of the 12 th , the brig Marine , of Boston , hove in sight , and , although herself disabled by the gale , rendered assistance . The women and the young ones vere removed in boats to the brig ; and the rough California !!' miners , ' who formed

      a large proportion of the passengers , stood by with admirable self-denial , not attempting to thrust themselves forward- As the last boat containing the women left , a tremendous sea broke over the Central America , which plunged , and sank . The male passengers and crew were hurled downwards into an awful gulf of blackness ; for night had by this time come on , and the sea was dark . They rose to the surface in a short time ; but large pieces of the wreck were dashed against them , wounding many , . and killing not a few . A flash of lightning burst forth at that moment , and showed the miserable creatures drifting at the mercy of the wind and storm . They tried to cheer one another ; and the utmost self-sacrifice and devotion were exhibited . A vessel at

      length picked up some of them , and took them to Norfolk , Virginia ; but many others must have perished during the night . Four hundred and twenty-six were still missiug at the last advices ; but it was hoped that some of these would , still make their appearance . Some statements , of intense interest , made by the survivors of this fearful disaster , are published in the American journals . A Mr . George , who went down with tn « vessel , sajs he heard no shriek from the passengers—•' nothing but the seething rush and hiss of the waters / Other accounts , however , speak of a vast , collective cry of horror . Mr . George appeared to Lc hurled 'to a depth that seemed unfathomable , and into a darkness that lie had never dreamt of . Compared

      with it , the blackest night , without moon or star , was as the bi'oad noonday . ' Ho lost his consciousness for a time , but soon recoveredjt . While swimming about , he heard one man call to ' another , " If you are saved , Frank , send my love to my dear wife ; * but tho other only answered witlx a gurgle of the tlirout . Many of the shipwrecked , passengers were seized with a fear of sharks , ltespiration was difficult , owing to the masses of water . For two or three hours , the sea was not unpleasantly chill ; but , about one o ' clock on the morning of SuiKlaj :, when the passengers hud Leon nearly live honrs iai the water , and a fresh wind had arisen , their limbs began to feel benumbed . Mr . George thus describes hia sensations on soeing the lights of a barque in sight : —

      " I nover felt so thankful in all my life . I never knew ¦ what gratitude > va ? before . I do not know whether I « ried ox not , but . I know I waa astonished to hear my own laughter ringing in my ears . I do not know why I laughed . That verso , ' God moves in a mysterious ¦ way , ' 3 cept passing in and out of me—through me , rather , as if 1 had been the pipe of an organ . It did not cometoine by my own volition , but somehow made mo romemfcer . it . When the lights approached nearer , a score of voices sprang up around me , crying ' Ship ahoy !' Boat

      ahoy ! ' and then I begun to shout too . And I had nereraay doubt tliat I should be saved till I saw the tfghts pans by , about half a mile from where I was , and recede 3 n the distance . . Then I began to give myself up lor lost indeed . But I slowly drifted toward her again , till 1 could make out her hull and one of her masts , and prese ntly I floatod close to lier , and alioutcd , mid was take n up . When 1 got on the deck , I could not stuiul . A did not know till then how exhausted I was . " Alittlo girl who waa saved with hor brother saya : ,. About ton o ' clock on Saturday , a crentlonmn came

      down and took us up into the saloon ; my father was with U 3 ; he handed me his money and told me to keep it—perhaps I might be saved and he not . This was before we came in sight of the brig . After we got in sight of the vessel , I handed it back- to him ; I told him that it was too heavy . Then they called , us up to the lifeboat . I came on in the second boat to the brig . I think the terror will never leave my heart . I felt as though I had almost as lief go down with the ship as get off . I have not heard from father since I left him on Saturday ; I think he is lost . " A passenger relates : — " Life-preservers were plenty , and each had secured one for himself . On coming up , I found plenty of things to cling to , aud got hold of a door , which I held on to about fifteen minutes , till three Irishmen grabbed it , -when I left it , as I was becoming so numb that I was obliged to warm up by a little swimming exercise . Though , a large quantity of material was floating about , still there was a good deal of desperate struggling and fighting ; to appropriate articles promising the most security . I next got hold of a trunk , but it soon fell to pieces . But a flour barrel direotly came in my way ; in clinging to it , I soon got drilled and had occasionally to leave it and swim to get warm . But I did not let it get far out of my way . I observed the Irishmen still fighting for the door the last 1 saw of them , and they are doubtless lost . " Another passenger says : —" Nearly all the passengers had been provided with life-preservers , but many of them had lost all hope and become discouraged before the critical moment arrived , and , when the ship sank , they lacked the energy to make any effort to save themselves , while others were affrighted out of all presence of mind and ' wan ted the judgment to convert to their use means which might have been rendered available . The majority of the crew and a number of the passengers , at tiie time of the sinking of the ship , were below engaged in baling . " In the first part of the tempest , the miners seemed to pay some regard to their hard' -earned wealth . ' "But , as the storm continued to rage , " say tho American papers , " ¦ less of gold was thought of , and when , on Saturday , it became evident that they were likely at any moment to be buried beneath the waves , wealthy men divested themselves of their treasure-belts and scattered the gold upon the cabin floors , telling those to take it who ¦ would , lest its weight—a few ounces or pounds—carry them to tlieir death . Full purse 3 , containing in some instances 2 000 dollars , were laying untouched on sofas . Curpetbags were opened , and the shining metal was poured out on the floor with the prodigality of death ' s despair . One of the passengers , who has fortunately been rescued , opened-a hag , and dashed about the cabin 20 , 000 dollars in gold dust , and told him who wanted to gratify his greed for gold to take it . But it was passed hy untouched as the veriest dross . A few hours before he would have struck down the man who would have attempted to take a grain of that which he now spurned from him . "A passenger named Miller , who was lost , took a position at the top of the steps leading to the steerage , drew his revolver , and threatened to shoot down anyone who refused to work at the pumps and attempted to get upon deck . " According to the statement of a female survivor , — ' There was not a tear shed that I am aware of on . board the steamer up to the time we first espied the sail which we believe brought us relief . There seemed to be a perfect calmness , which I could not have believed it possible for such a number of persons to exhibit under such fearful circumstances . But , when the brig hove in sight , there were tears of joy , and the men worked with renewed energy and hope . The ladies begged of tho men to work iirinly and with all their strength , and said they would take hold and work themselves if tho men did not do their best . Some of tlie women Legged to be allowed to assist , and some were so anxious that they even attempted to dress up in men ' s clothing , so that they might-go down and help in the t ; iak . ' " Of the working at the pumps , a passenger says : — s It waa rather a novel spectacle to see men at work many of whom had nover been in the habit of physical labour , taking hold with strength and willingnoss equal to the heartiest . After a while , tho work began to be rather a serious affair for the strength and muscles . To keep up the spirits , songa were sung , and every iinagiunble joke retailed to excite laughter and cheer tho spirits . Occasionally , a man , notwithstanding tho urgency of the occasion and the determination of most to make tho work ua cheerful as possible , would fall from tho ranks , and it was utterly impossible to rouse them again to activity . Some were completely cxlinusted physically , and wore obliged to retire from > vork ; but it waa a fact that a few gave up in despair of the possibility of saving tho steamer from sinking , and would not work . Tho oxumplo of those few had a bad offect upon others , notwithstanding tho count ant cheering remarks of tho captain and officers that everything was working favourably . Tho men worked faithfully all Friday night , although under tho Berio-ua diaaidvnntageu of but littlo light and no water or refresh-JucntH . ' " Mr , Payne utatoa that he waa indebted to Captain llorndon for hia lifo . I waa in fraiuent consultation

      with him before I went , and he asked me what I thoughjfe of affairs . I said , ' Thank God , the women and children are all off , and we are strong . ' He replied , ' Yes , thank God , and added , ' You take the next boat . ' This I did , but before I went he requested me to go into his office and get his gold watch and chain , and , if saved , to carry them to his wife . Said he , ' Tell her , ' but hia utterance was choked by deep emotion , and he said no more on that subject , but changed it by saving b , e wished me to seethe president of the company , Marshal O . Boberts , and the agents , and communicate ' wito , them , in relation to the disaster . " After saying this much , he walked away a few steps and sat down on a bench , with , his head iu his hands , apparently overcome . He remained in that . position a few moments , and then arose and resumed giving orders as the boat from the brig Marine returned .

      " The conduct of the head engineer , Ashby , waa strongly condemned , and some of the rescued passengers talked of 'lynching' him . It is alleged that ! ) abandoned the engine-room long before there was any necessity . It is also charged against him that in the boat there were two seats vacant , and a person jumped into one of them ; at this instant , Ashby , who was overseeing the shipment of the women aad children , drew his bowrie knife , and , raising it as if to strike the man , commanded him to get out . His arm avos arrested by a person near , and the man retained his place . As the boa $ pushed off , Ashby jumped iu ; a general murmur arose , and a cry-was heard , ' Shoot him ! ' The captain caued out that lie depended upon him returning , which Ashb y failed to do . One of the survivors also asserts that Ashby approached him , and threatened to cut the strap which held his life-preserver round his . body ; the interference of a passenger prevented him from taking it away from him . *

      " Captain Johnson , of the Ellen , on board of which , vessel many of the rescued received very kind treatment , makes the following statement : — ' I was forced by the wind to sail a little out of my course before I came up with the wreck , and , on altering it , a small bird flew across the ship once or twice , and then darted into my face . I , however , took no notice of this circumstance , and the same thing occurred again , which caused , me to regard the circumstance as something extraordinary ; and while thinking on it in this way the mysterious bird for the third time appeared and went through the very same extraordinary manoeuvres . Upon this , I was induced to realter my course into the original one which I had been steering , and in a short time I heard noises , and on trying to discover what they proceeded from , discovered that I was in the midst of people who had been shipwrecked . I proceeded instantly to rescue them , and in a few moments succeeded in getting four of them on board- Not one of them could speak , all being perfectly senseless from exhaustion . After a few moments we got another one on board . The first words he spoke were , ' Where is my wife ?—giv « me something to eat' " -

      One of the survivors relates that he went to sleep in the water ! Another tells a story which may take place among the most astonishing of psychological mysteries . He says : — " I guess I had been about four hours in the water and had floated away from the rest , when the waves ceased to make any noise , and I heard my mother say , ' Johnny , did you eat sister ' s grapes ? ' I hadn ' t thought of it for twenty years at least . It had gone clean out of my mind . I had a sister that died of consumption more than thirty years ago * , and wuon she waa sick—I was a boy of eleven or so—a neighbour had sent her some early hot-house grapes . Well , those grapes were left in a room where I was , and—I ought to have been skinned alive for it , littlo rascal that I

      waa—1 devoured them all . Mother came to mo after I had gone to bed , when she couldn ' t find the fruit for sister to moisten her mouth with in the night , and said , ' Johnny , did yaw eat sister ' s grapes ? ' I did not add to the meanness of my conduct by telling a lie . I owned it , and my mother went away in tours , but without Hogging me . It occasioned ino a qualm of conscience for many a year after ; but , as I said , for twenty years at least I had not thought of it , till , when I -was floating about benumbed with cold , 1 heard it as plain as ever I hoard her voice in my life . I heard mother say , ' Johnny , did you eat aister'a grapes f I don't know Iiow to nccount for it . It did not scare me , though I thought it waa a presage of my death . " This reawakening of the conscience after so muny yours is very remarkable .

      Wo read in the American journals : — " Soviir . il of the passengers drank excessively of liquors on board the ship , probably from thuir own private stores , and madfl thomaolvQS very noisy and troublesome . Two of thfl passengers of high social and political associiitions , refused to work , but got ulurmingly drunk , ho much so that thuir more sober companions put thorn in their bertluj . In thut condition they lay whon the steamer nanl ; . Othera , being completely e-xliauilcd , took to their berths , und went down with tho vessel . An « l < l « rly woinou implored the captain to allow hoc hunbji-iul to go . iu the bout with her ; she was refuaod . Wry kindly , bu t firmly , Captain Uurmlon told her that no inuu could

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      ¦ HNo . 394 , October 10 , 1857 , 1 THE LEAD EH . m > j

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      * . A » hby cmphaticully doilies the charges mudo against him .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 10, 1857, page 967, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2213/page/7/