Transcription from the papers of H. F. Shortis Vol 1. (196)

Only certain sections of the article have been transcribed that are in relation to the Lion.

The sealing steamer “Lion” was removed from her moorings to the wharf of Messrs W. G. & Co., and during the next four days the work of loading her with provisions, dry goods and sealing requirements was carried on by the busy laboring men.

Why was this the only steamer receiving such attention? And why were so many people interested in her? She was the only steamer that was to start for the seal fishery from Trinity instead of St. John’s, and preparations were being made for her departure from St. John’s before the appearance of the Arctic drift ice.

Those who were so interested in her were composed of visitors who had been spending Christmas in St. John’s and were now about to return home; some who were going to spend the winter in Trinity; one who was going to spend his school vacation with his mother, and return by the next mail boat; and two who had just been united in the hands of wedlock, and looked forward to many happy years together in the quiet little parsonage of Trinity.

The morning of January 5th, dawned bright and frosty, and was a faithful harbinger of the beautiful day which followed. By the afternoon the steamer was ready for sea, and the passengers held themselves in readiness to go on board during the night, for she was to leave at 12 o’clock.

A more beautiful night could hardly be conceived. The moon, all but full, reigned supreme in a cloudless sky. The water outside, as well as inside, the spacious harbour was motionless, unruffled by the slightest breeze. Every person was happy, and as the sluggish propeller succeeded in moving the deeply eaden steamer from the wharf, and good-byes were exchanged, the majority betook themselves to their staterooms or improvised beds in the cabin lockers, whilst Mrs. Cross bade them all a good night’s rest and wrapping her trusty shawl closely around her, signified her intention of passing the night in the shelter of some planks which were piled on the quarter deck, rather than go below and risk attack of sea-sickness.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday passed, each day increasing the anxiety and suggesting numerous possibilities.

On Monday morning, Mr. Hart, the agent in the employ of Messrs Walter Greive & Co. (to whom the steamer was consigned) was handed a telegram which he opened with feelings of more than ordinary interest. It was dated: “Grates Cove, Baccalieu Tickle,” and was as follows: “Wreckage of a steamer found on the shore this morning: the body of a woman supposed to be Mrs. Cross, of Trinity, found floating on a raft plank.

The feeling of Mr. Hart may be better imagined than described, for besides the great personal sorrow which he felt for those lost, at the opposite side of the office desk stood Mr. Cross, his assistant, the loving husband of Mrs. Cross, who with her boy were returning home by the ill fated steamer.

As soon as the dreadful news reached St. John’s, the steamer “Hercules” was dispatched to the scene of the wreck, but although everything was done that could be done, nothing was found of the steamer or passengers except a few cases of goods, a lady’s trunk, four men’s’ caps and the body of Mrs. Cross, which had been removed to a little house on the beach. The body was taken on board and conveyed to Trinity as all that remained of the sixty persons who had left St. John’s with so many happy prospects a few days before.

The scene on the wharf, when the body was being landed, baffles description, for apart from the bitterness of individual hearts at individual losses, that rude coffin contained the remains of one who in life was known and beloved by all. The Methodist Church was all too small to admit those who followed her last resting place; as the natural expressions were altogether too feeble to indicate the depth of that grief which welled up from those hearts so terribly conscious of the bitterness of death.

You ask, what occasioned the loss of the steamer? Ah! No one in this world can answer that question. God alone knows.


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