Terrible Disaster at Sea?
By J. H. W.
The steamship Atlantic left Liverpool March 20, having on board about 1000 persons. She was wrecked on an island off Halifax the night of the 31st, and about 700 lives were lost! The exact number of lost is not known. We give items from the latest reports. New York, April 3.—Harrowing details of the awful scenes attending the loss of the steamship Atlantic continue to be received. All the women who were asleep at the time the ship struck were drowned in their berths, the heavy seas which constantly poured over the vessel and filled her, preventing them from reaching deck. Some women who showed remarkable presence of mind and appreciation of the awful situation, only reached deck to be washed into the sea and drowned. It is said that the crew were picked up at Liverpool as cheap hands, and were inefficient and disorderly; also that the vessel had not a sufficient supply of coal, and was driven out of her course to Halifax to get coal, and, had she encountered bad weather so as to be detained in her voyage she must have foundered. If these statements are correct, and some of them seem to be, the company are guilty of this fearful loss of life, by endeavouring to make a cheap trip!