The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-11-09 00:00:00

A SHIP ON FIRE.

The following graphic article appeared in the
Tine. of Thursday last I—
" The fortunate escape of the crew and pauengers of
the Pastern City will lienoeforth occupy a prominent
place among sea ;Suitors which have terminated
well. When half-a-dosen people are gathered round
au English hearth, and fall a-talking of dreadful things,
you may often have heerd It 'eked, 'Well, after all,
whit would be the most dreadful position in the
world?' and the answer wellmigh invariably Is, 'to
be in • ship at um, and the ahip te be on Are.' It
seems worse when the terrible alternative is forced en
upon human choice. It is a grim thing when to *soaps
death you must leap into the jaws of death, and to
avoid murder oottitilit 'Weide. Besides there is the
long suspense of the thing. The women and
children are huddled on the poop for hours, just like
sh cheep in the yard of the ambles, their destruction
only a question of time and plenty of time to think
about it. But these heipleu firestone have not been
gradually brought down by pain and siokneas to a point
at which death might be regarded as a relief. They
are strong for the moat part, and in the full vigour of
life—and to be so suddenly out off I It Wee but the
other day we had a terrible example of this kind In the ,
destruction by fire of the German enilgrantahip in
mid-Atlantio. But few survivor* of many hundred' '
returned to tell the tale, and it was of so dreadful a
kind that one could wish to banish it front one's memory
for ever. Think of thou unfortunate persons gathering
together in • space whip', heinous *mailer and smaller
every moment as the lire made way I At lest the
moraine and burning grew to be Intolerable, and this
sold seemed preferable -to the hut death. They leaped
by twos and threes into the see, dropping like ripe
fruit from an overladen bough. Happily, in the cou
of the EasUrn City this dire oatestrophe did
not °roue, The providentel arrival of a troopehip on
Olio wens of the calamity
_Not when destruetion was
imminent haa spared us the necessity of recording a
oaleinity which would, but for this chance occurrence,
have been precisely *Millar to the miserable story of the
Hamburg ship which we. destroyed but the other iley—
she and all her passenger., end wellmigh all her crew.
" The Eastern City we. *ship of 1,31101 tone bound
from Liverpool to Melbourne. She left the Merely on
the 10th of July last, having on board ltlo peuengers,
47 men, °Moors end crew, and more than LIM tons of
',mend cargo. All went well till the Eastern City
bail pseud the Equator, but on the itird of August it
was discovered that a fire had broken out in the fore-
hold. Title Wee abnut two in the afternoon, and the sea
WM running high, for the day before there had been a
heavy gels, and the ship we. rolling heavily. The
captain, Captain Johnstone, whim conduct throughout
the transaction appear,' to have been above all prafse, at
once ordered all the paseengers and crew on deck. All
obeyed the order, save one poor man—a Skyemian he
wee, Peter td'Leut by natue—who was supposed to have
been suffoomted in hie birth. His absence, however, WA/
not noticed at the moment, and theforeliateh was
closed. Through two holes one on each side of the hatch
the ship's company proceeded to pour down tone of
water. It woe of no avail ; the fire mold nut be ex.
tingulslied ; so the next attempt was to try and smother
It, The hatch was covered over with every woollen
matter on which the 'movie could lay their hand. ; but
this served only to cheek, not to remedy, the evil. All
the night through the men on hoard kept at their work,
while the women and children—there were CIO of then,
—were gathered together on the poop with such smell
, comforts es could be provided m I fur then • burning ship
with death presently at hand. TIIO boat* WWI ready,
and the Captain did his beat to persuade his Inokleas
pmsengers that, at all events, there was a refuge for
them ; but 119 knew very well that the boats would
never live in the *ea then on, and, if they could
lived, there was not room in them for Imlf his 00III•
1111nal :(1 do
of tligeeuris.ualTthreayekwor ships, OOO wsolirlimitwtille case
t
rom
'mined evil indeed. Towards morning it beams eleer
that the fire was gaining on the Eastern City,—it was
working its way Into the afterhold. Smoke now ap-
peered in the first and second oohing. It was cad work;
and, as though to mock their misery, the morning broke
beautiful and bright, although the sea was still high.
The chip was put before the wind, and all on board still
worked liar!, though hope had deserted the chip. Still,
despair will do as weU as hope as for as working is con-
cerned. At eueh a tline happy is it for those who can
work, and drive away thin overpowering sense of pre-
, sent evil by physical exertion, lawless as it may be.
' About noon the foreyard emu down by the run. This
was on the 24th. How if the foremast should fall and
rip up the deck, and let in the air to fan the flame,
wit mu AA yet had not burst forth, we it won would if fed
with outer air? There was but one chance left, and
that chance aeemed a remote one indeed—which was,
that a sail might appear, and a ship bear down to their
assistance.

About 2 o'olook in the afternoon the captain and a
few of the passengers had gone into the after saloon to
get a little food. Before going down they had scanned
the horizon greedily enough, no doubt, but they could
make nothing of it. The hasty meal ot which they were
partaking was probably to be their last one in this world.
On • midden the cry arose on deck, 'A sail a sail
They all rushed up, but at first nothing could they see,
save a dark cloud on the horison. Presently they caught
eight of something white. Was it • sail? Was it a
gull? Was it life? Was it death It grew larger,
more distinct; there could at length be no doubt—they
were saved.'h. Was coming down upon us—close by
the edge of the sun's rays on the sell ; how we all cheered,
and wept, and prayed, and laughed, and clasped each
others' hands and cheered again ; how great rough
fellows hugged each other, and wept like children ; how
Meta who lied probably never prayed before wuttezed
sincere thanksgivings ; and how those who lied preserved
the greatest indifference when death seemed so near
were now completely overcome I' We will not attempt
to weaken the form of this tiesoription by any comment
of our own. Within half en hour from the time the ship
was limit sighted she bore down upon them, and, cheering
as only British soldiers and sailors an cheer, the ship's
company and troops on board the Merchantman passed
under the 'tern of the burningehip. As she passed Capt.
JUllaS(111 hailed them through his trumpet, ' We are on
flre. Will you atimil by tut?' Hook came • voles from the
good ellip Aferohantition, 'A, lay l' In a brief specs
the boats were got out front either ship, and Aril the
women and eliAilren were transported on board the
troopship, then the rest, Two hundred end twenty
*even persons were thus rimmed from death without a
itiigle iseelitent to any individual, livery living moil on
board the &edam City was saved with the esespiion of
that unfortunate OMR who had been eulfueeted by the
amok* at the outset of the eelemity, At about 2 ami„
when the troopship elood away, the Umlern City was 111
a bright blase aloe kall aloft, and awn time OM& went,
and the burning hull was left to her fate, The last her
eeptein end ;Anonym end ,row saw of her MIA a black
oloud in the dielenee floating in the moraine; ale."

PIRACY IN THE CHINA MEAN,
Mum the limit/. of Tuesday olght,)
Altte Om. VV.

Iterwateher, al which the ft;llowing are eoplar or.
Irratt, tiara bra rsorirrtt by thr trmir tiorunlothrtert
ttf thr Ailtnirrity trum B.ip.Adiutr r itinharl
Irrymour 1—
" tirrturi or PINATII VNi Y HOTAUKOPH

" at Hongkong, Astil4
have the honour to 0%1141111i, to 616111 be.
fort the horde thminnissioners of the Adtidrolly, a eapy
of a hiller 'tenni the 4th of August, with Ile ensloeuree,
hum Lieutenant L Wildman, comnisiiding Her Me
jesty'e steam gunboat Staunch, trimming an alkalis on
three lilraW vowielo mu his image from Shanghai to
Hongkong, and the destruetion of two of them with
moot of their prowl,
Titklun Imo oonoldvretion the pest disparity of
forge plimsoll -to the Staunch, and that the latter lied
only her two stemounder howiteerssit board, I °wilder
this gallant option Nitwits great erolit on Lionionant
Wildman, hie vitiate, and limited eomplument,
"I have, ke„
" If, SEYMOUR,
" Rear.Ad mint and Voininander•ln.Chlet,
'The Ilecrentry of the Admiralty,'

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS.
ThuINUTINT Ilf MOtA.—Mrlhtt WAIN (NO. 11)
hose been laud relative no the ineurraelion IitNAL
They eomprlse riespatebee with various enclosures froo9
the Ciorernor•Genoral In India and the President of
Iho oounoll In India to tho Omni of Weirton of Om
Ikon Indio Company. The nolo. of this. doopolekos
tones from January no Juno 95 of Wile roar. 110101 of
llre evonno orblok deearibe look plain in Ike latter
pan of loot year, an we do not 2n4 In the despaishes
any hot of Importnnoo rolallnk to the proves' at the
mutiny will& has not already ham published.