The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-06 00:00:00

MORE GALES.

The Liverpool papers of Monday report that a ter-
rific gale has been blowing since Saturday tight. The
Channel steamers, including thike from Belfast,
Dublin, Cork, London, and the Isle of Mon, all report
terrible weather, particularly those which arrived on
Sunday. The sea was said to be running almost
mountains high, accompanied with blinding showers
of sleet, rain, and hail. Most of toe Irish and other
boats succeeded in landing their cattle and passengers
at the Prince's-stage, but none of them had been able
to go into dock, owing to the continuance and violence
of the gale. During Saturday night there was a very
heavy hailstorm, acconipanied by vivid flashes of
lightning, some of the pieces of ice being nearly as
large as marbles.
On Sunday afternoon the ship Victoria Cross, from
Bombay, when lying off Birkenhead. broke her sheer,
and, dragging her anchors, she came across the river
towards the Albert Pierhead, against which she must
have dashed had not the steamtug Betriew taken her
to safer anchorage in the Sloyne.
During the height of the gale on Sunday afternoon
a sad accident happened off the Rock Lighthouse. In
the course of the morning the ship Dauntless, bound
from Calcutta to Liverpool, approached the bar, where
a pilot boat was tacking about, with men ready to
board any vessel requiring a pilot to bring her into
the river. The sea, however, was so fearfully rough,
and the wind was blowing such a hurricane, that
no boat could have lived, and the pilot therefore deter-
mined to run into port ahead of the ship. This was
accomplished in safety, and when off the Rock the
punt belonging to the pilot boat was lowered for the
purpose of conveying the pilot on board. The men
who were launched in the boat were William Davis,
J. S. Holmes, H. J. fiLinchester, Richard Rowlands,
and Roger Campbell, an apprentice. They imme-
diately nulled towards the vessel, and when almost close
alongside her a wave struck the boat, which was
instantly upset, and the five men were seen struggling
with the sea. Their destruction seemed inevitable;
but the accident was witnessed by Captain William
Sumner, of the steam-tug United States, who steamed
to the rescue. The men were becoming exhausted,
but bowlines were thrown to them, and at great risk
the captain and some of his crew succeeded in drag-
ging three of the poor fellows on board the steamer,
one of them more dead than alive. Richard Rowlands
and Roger Campbell, the apprentice, however, could
nowhere be seen, and it is supposed they sank almost
immediately they fell from the boat. Neither of the
bodies had been recovered when the punt was picked
up in the afternoon. The men who were rescued
speak in the strongest terms of the bravery of Captain
Sumner.

A ROMANCE ON BOARD SHIP.
The Flying Foam lately arrived at Calcutta with
drafts of troops for several of Her Majesty's regiments
in this presidency. Some time during the passage out
the master of the ship, as well as the military officers
in charge of the troops, were rather astonished to learn
that there were on board two stowaways, who till then
had remained undetected. The stowaways in question
turned out to be two good-looking young English girls
—one aged 16, the other 17—who had evidently been
"stowed away," with, it is needless to say, their own
consent, by some of the soldiers when the Flying Foam
was about to leave. There was, however, nothing to
be done under the circumstances but to see that the
girls were properly cared tor during the remainder of
1 the voyage. On the arrival of the Flying FOUnt in
Calcutta the stowaways were not detained, but appear
of their own accord to have followed the troops ,
into barracks in Fort Willis o. Their presence
thee NVOA, to be sure, brought to the notice
of the fort staff, hut as the latter did not
desire to turn them out on the streets of Calcutta,
and as their conduct had been reported good, it was
very properly resolved to allow things to take their
own course for a little time, provided that course should
not seem likely to be an evil one. The two young
ladies have consequently, we believe, berths in the
verandah of the barracks, and it is suspected that
before leaving England they were married to two of
the soldiers told off for embarkation in the Flying
Foam, and that they are now, though unavowedly,
protected and cared for by these, their husbands, who,
not having had permission to marry, are not in a hurry
to proclaim themselves illegitimate benedicts.