Ocean's Perils

Tho second wreek of the ship Circassian is the most disastrons that has occurred on the Long Islaml coaat since ïo wreek of the John Milton, fifteen rears ugo. She ran ashoro in a blinding möw-Btorm, and all on board, thirty perons, were lost. Tho crow of tho Milton were frozen Ntiff in tho rigging, thoir rms standing straight out in frnt of hem. The men on board the Circassian ïad flnished on Friday night all necessary )roliminaii:s for atiaching a hawsprwith ■which she wns to be drawn off. Dnrinf; the early bours of the night the wind freshened a little, and tho sea began to run very high, nntil at abont 6 o'clock it began to break clearover her. The men, apprehending danger, wentinto the foro rigging, where they wrre ordered for greater safety. All on board, thirty-two souls, all told, remainod thtm exposevl until early in the morniug, when it waa deemed advisable to shift qnarters, ss the falling of the top hamper causad by the rolling of tho vessel, made ïtdifhcult to hold od. The crew was safely transferrod to the uiizzen, where signáis of distrcss were shown. All tilia timo tho shore was plainly in sight. The moon was shilling brightly, and firrs built by the crew of the life-saving station showed plainly the figures of the crowd on the beach as thc-y hnrried to and fro, in the vain endeavor to aid the men in the rigging. It was an awful mispense for the poor fellows lashed to the mns's and yards of the ship. They saw attempt after attempt made to ostablidU commttnication wilh them fail, and eaoh failure seemcd to mensure their purchase iipon life. Every effort to get a boat off shore proved f utile. As often as it was attempted the soa drove it high and dry on the beach. Oapt. Honry Hunting, of life-saving station No. 10. now bronght a mort ar into service, and several balls with a rope attached were thrown out to the ship. Bnt one of the cords reached the ship. Ite hold was not very secure, and it preeently foll off, aud the slender tliread upon which thirtytwo hunlan lives depended was snapped forever. The sta tion men, all the whilo these endeavors were being made, could see men in the rigging quite plainly, and hear their cries for help. Many of tho weatherbeaten héroes on the shore, who have been wrecking vessels and saving lives since boyhood, wore moved to tears by the piteous ïmportumtiefi of the wrotched men off shore. The violenoe of their efforts to save mitigated the suspense they would otherwise have feit during the eraly hours. But when the last charge was shot off, and nothing else poFsible to human offort or bravery ro niained to be done, they becanie unmanned, and many of them wept. The nervous excitement and sudden inajtivity utterly incapacitated them for any duly. They could not leave the spot, and it only reniained for them to remain inactive and see their fellows porish bcfore their eyes. To leavo the beaoh would only add to the terrors of the death that stared its vijtims in the face, and to remain inactivo would probably give cause for unjust reproach from th poor, helpless waiters on the wreek. Superintendent Huntiug and his men remaiüed and tried to answer the calla from the wreek, but nothing that was said on shore was heard ou the ship on account of the direction of the wind. In terror and suspense the niorning wore on, the wind havmg veered around in the meantime to west southwest. During the early part of the night, before ihe men went into the rigging, the cables were slackened, but the ship moved oniy a short distance and continued through the night to strike the bottom. ÜJvay time she struck the men thougbt she would lose her maats to which they had lashod theniselve8. While conscious of the great danger and the utter impossibility of saving themselves if the mast should go by the board, it being of iron, they were unablo to siacken the lashing. Some of them, with more seif-poesession than others, had taken this contingency into their calculatioüs and had not securely lashed themselves, and among those were the only four saved from the wreek. At ha)f-past 4 a. na., the longdreaded crisis camo and the mizzenmast went by the board with a crash, carrying the mammast with it. A tremendous swell had Btruck the Oircassian aft aud raised her very high. When it receded she thumped heavily, and the terrific jar threw the mast over her tide. The masts being iron went to the bottom immediately, carrying with them tweuty-eight souls. The (Justom House pm'cer, detailed to snperintend the landiug of her cargo, in his description of the terrible scone says : "The ship wart lying about 600 feet off the Bhore. Amid the howling of the tempest and the roar of the waves there was borne to our eais the voices of the poor folio ws in the rigging, singing üynmsand prayirjg in chorus to God. There was hardly a dry eye on shore among us as we j lïeard these thrilling and eupreme appeals made to God. Among those on the wreek were ten Shinnecock Indiana, who, as a rule, are very good men. During this agonizing scène, which i lasted for hours, we heard these men praying. The beach was lined with hundreds of people, many of them women, sobbing pitéously. öome of them were wives of the doomed men. The wina on the shore raged with terrible violenoe, driving people bither and thjther. The life-saving crewa of Southampton, distant uve and a half miles, and East Hampton, about tho same distance, arrived, bringing their mortars i with them, but did not attompt to use thoir lifeline when fíiing, as nothing could be done. They, howevor, fired a number of blank shots to roanimate the courage of those on board."