A survivor's account in the Wilmington Advertiser tells of 'the wailing of the hopeless beings who were floating around in every direction, upon pieces of the wreck, to seek land'. McLeod's account, compiled from survivor's recollections, reads: 'The boat parted in two with a tremendous crash, and the bow and stern rose somewhat out of the water, but the latter again continued to sink until the water reached the promenade deck, when it separated into two parts, upset and precipitated all on it into the water.' The North Carolina Standard deemed the disaster to be 'the most painful catastrophe that...