HEARTRENDING OCCURRENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1831, 17 February 1863, Page 4

HEARTRENDING OCCURRENCE.

(From the " Home News.") ' The Scotch papers report an accident which, although it involved the loss oi only one life, contains all theelements of tragic horror:- 1 -" The Comet, belonging to the Isle of Whithorn. with about GO tons of coal on board, put into tlie havbor of Qarliestown in consequence of a head wind. From the low tides, and the hour at which she made the harbor she took the ground on a sandbank at a short distance from the quay. Next day about noon as the tide was flowing, five men were engaged docking the vessel, when a person standing on the quay observed that she was about to heel over. He forthwith gave an alarm, and four out of the five, by means of this timely warning, succeeded in keeping clear ; the fifth a man named William Loch, a labourer, residing in Garliestown, was not so fortunate, his movements having been impeded l>y tho soft, adhesive sludge on which he was standing ; he was caught by the hull of the vessel as it went over, the bulwarks resting on hia loins leaving his head, arms, and the upper part of his body free. The critical nature of his situation was at once seen. The fast flowing tide of this coast was coming in rapidly, and ifc was known that tlie prostate body would be submerged in. the course of an hour if the superincumbent weight of the vessel could not be shifted from pressing upon the poor sufferer. In the course of a few minutes all the seamen, carpenters, and able-bodied men in Garliestown were upon the spot, and every effort was made by means of blocks, and wedges, and ropes, to lift the vessel a few inches and rescue poor Loch from her tenacious grasp. All these, alas, were in vain, and by the time the salt water had reached the prostrate prisoner, it was evident that his fate was sealed. Tho scene I which ensued was truly pitiable and most heartrending ; it was witnessed by a large number ofspectators, among whom there was hardly a dry eye, and who were hushed into solemn silence by the sad and impressive event. At this period the Bovd Thomas Young, of tho Congregational Church, walked into the water beside the drowning man , engaged in prayer, and drew his afcteution to thoughts befitting the sudden and inevitable change awaiting him. His last words to his companions were, ' Uh, take off my vest and cover my head, so that I may not sco the water.' An effort was made to do this, but the garment could not be removed, aud his face was covered with a napkin, just as the tide was rising arourfd him. In the course of a few minutes after this the cold green waves covered the body, and the sorrowing crowd dispersed, their sorrow being the deeper because they were obliged to look on the fatal flow of the tide with helpless glances. Thissad occurrence in our lovely bay has cast a deep gloom over the inhabitants of Garliestown. No more mournfull scene haa been witnessed on our coast since the drowning of the Wigtown, martyrs in the waters of. the Bladnoch," ,