The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-08 00:00:00

were compelled to leave the doomed ship about ten
o'clock, when the flames rushed aft and burst out of
the state-room windows, and Mr. Hamblin and soma.
of his men only succeeded in escaping at great risk.
During the "morning. Vice-Admiral E. S. Sotheby,
C.B. vice-president of the Marine Society, and Cap-
tain E. S. Acleane, R.N., arrived at the scene of
the disaster, with various others interested in the ship,
1 and great numbers of persons assembled in the ad-
jacent wharves and crowded the river in small
boats. Soon after twelve o'clock the mizan mast fell
over on the port-side, to which -side the vessel was
heeling, to the danger; of some of the boats ad-
jaCent, and at quarter to .one o'clock the main
and fore masts also shared the same fate, and fell
with a loud crash. The schip was now:on fire from stem
to stern, and from the river presented the appearance
of an immense furnace. The wind, which was blow-
ing strongly from the north-west, fed the flames, and
had it been midnight, instead of midday, the spectacle
would have been exceedingly grand. All the stores
on board, together with most of the clothing belong-
ing to the Society—the latter being under lock and
key . -have been destroyed. , Only recently, in addition
to other. stores, 30 tons of coal had been shipped,
and these, of course, added considerably to the
body of fire. Fortunately, there was no loss of
life, and the injuries sustained by the boys
are very few, and those not of a serious nature, con-'
principally of burns Cr bruises. The whole
of the officers exerted themselves in a most praise-
worthy manner. The master-at-arms, Mr. Hoile, and
one of the teachers, Mr. Webber, with handkerchiefs
placed over their faces to protect them from the beat
and smoke, went below several times, notwithstanding
the intense heat. and Captain Phipps remained along-
side all day, directing the operations. After the
mast had fallen Messrs. Thomas and Webber, two of
the ship's officers, succeeded in getting alongside
and saving the cutter and tackle and some other
valuables, climbing up the fallen rigging in company
with Fireman Webb, of the Greenwich Volunteer
Brigade. The ship's flag had been hoisted over the
quarter before she was abandoned, and she met her
fate with her colours flying.

The Marine Society, which made use of the Warspite as a
training-ship, was established in 1756-120 years ago—and
incorporated in 1772. This Society originated from a benevo-
lent desire to help a number of wretched and distressed boys
who, at the suggestion of an individual nobleman, were in the
Spring of 1756 collected together by Sir John Fielding, the
well-ktiown and active magistrate, clothed at the expense of
the then Duke of Bolton, and sent to serve on board His Ma-
jesty's ship Barfleur, then under his Grace's command. The
utility of this humane plan for rescuing those poor boys from
misery, and reclaiming them, too probably, from vice, was ob-
vious, and it was warmly taken up by Mr. Walker, of Lincoln's-
inn, a private gentleman, who had accidentally met some of
those lads on their way to join the Barfiuer. By a subscription
which he promoted, from three to four hundred boys were in a
short time clothed and provided for in a profession most
likely to render them useful and creditable members of the
community. Afterwards, at a meeting of merchants and
shipowners, Mr. Jonas Hanway suggested that the pro-
moters should form themselves into a society for clothing
boys for the sea service. The proposal was readily adopted,
and thence the establishment of the Marine Society, in
June, 1756, from which time to the close of the war, in
1763, the Governors clothed and fitted out for the Royal
and Merchant Service together as many as 5,171 boys. From
May, 1769, to the 31st of December, 1874, 26,884 were sent
into the Royal Navy, 3,760 into the Indian Navy, and 22,116
into the Merchant Service. The total number of boys fitted
out since the commencement of the Institution in June, 1756,
to the 31st of December, 1874, was 57,884. The
number of landsmen, moreover, to whom a bounty of sea
clothing was given by the Society on condition of serving
on board ships in the Royal Navy was, from June,
1756 to 1814, 39,30 ; making thus a total of 97,244. The
Earl of Romney is the president of the society, and
the present Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Gotten, M.P.,
and many otlitr gentlemen of consideration are members of
the managing committee. For upwards of a century the
Marine Society stood alone in the great work which it
founded of training poor and destitute boys for service at
sea. Of late years the managing committee have had the
gratification of seeing the example of the Warspite followed
j by other institutions, and of knowing that the subject of
I training ships excites a wide interest.

The Times published the following letter from the
Secretary of the Marine Society :
Sir,—An unexpected accident has destroyed the training-
ship of the Marine Society—the Warspite. A fire broke out
this morning at one o'clock in the fore cockpit, and is still
'burning (three p en). The boys were at once mustered to
fire.quarters, and with great pi omptness proceeded to do
, everything to extinguish the fire, three hoses being brought
to play upon it in ten minutes. As soon as it was evident
that the ship could not be saved, the boys not required to
man the pumps were mustered out of the ship, and the
others only left the ship when it was possible to give over
the fire to the Metropolitan Fire Brigade. The members of
the Committee, who had been summoned at once to Wool-
wich, determined to grant the boys leave to go to their
homes in all cases where their friends lived in London or
the neighbourhood.
The Woolwich Union authorities, in the kindest and most
liberal manner, placed one of their wards at the disposal of
the Society, where the few boys who have not gone on leave
I are temporarily lodged.
As far as can be ascertaine4, the fire must have originated
in spontaneous combustion. No petroleum, paraffin, or
other kind of explosive oil is used on board, and the most
stringent regulations, &c., govern the use of lights on all
parts of the ship.
I fancied, Sir, that you would like to have these particu-
lars of an extraordinary calamity, and one which is a most
serious blow to a charit Ab'e iusttution which has been before
the public for more than 100 years, and which is the mother
of the whole training-ship system in Europe.

The Warspite has become an utter wreck.—At a
meeting of the committee of the Marine Society, held
on Tuesday, presided over by the Lord Mayor of Lon-
don, an inquiry was made into the origin of the fire:
Mr. Purtcn, the chief officer, was the first witness, and he
stated that he was in cha: ge of the ship at the time of the
fire. Copt iin Phipps, 'A ho was authorised to sleep at his resi-
dence on shore every other Malt if he pleased, had availed
himself of the privilege as it was Sunday night, but had been
on board during the day and evening. The ship was
thoroughly inspected by the captain and officers on
Sunday and all the storerooms in and about the cockpit
were found to be safe, there being nt thing in any of them
which could create combustion. The captain expressed his
intention of having some scuttles made be'ow the waterline
in c see of an emergency like the burning of the Goliath, and
when they came up near the cockpit the hatch was closed
over tr. e ladder, and :in iron bar, by %Odell it was usually
fastened, was laid across it. Nothing suspicious or unusual
occurred before witness turned in, but at ten minutes past
one in the nic rning he was called by one of the boys, who said
he thought the ship was on tire. Be made all haste to the lower
deck, where the boys were in their hammocks, and assisted
to arouse them, and set them to the pumps. They all
hurried up to the main deck, carrying their hammocks by
the clews over their shoulders, and they worked well at the
pumps, order and discipline being perfectly maintained. A.
large Downton pump on the main deck was worked for some
minutes, but had to be abandoned on account of the smoke,
which kept increasing, and the lads were then ordered to fall
in on the upper deck, which they did in the usual manner, and
they were marched on board the boats and were rowed
ashore. Witness sent at once for Mr. Sadler and Captain
Phipps, and they both came directly.
Mr. Thomas T. Webber, instructor in seamanship, said
that he took over the middle watch from Mr. Hoile, gunnery
instructor, at ten minutes past twelve. The latter had
posted the boys of that watch, and there were four of them.
Williamson and Hopkins on the lower deck, Brown, in the
lavatory, and Gross looking out on the upper deck.'' At
one o'clock Gross rang "two boils" and reported "all
well." The sentries below reported "all well" likewise,
and witness told one of them to call the boy Cotton, to
relieve Gross, whose watch on the upper deck was only one
hour. In a minute or two after, Williamson came upto him and
said "I think I can smell smoke." He immediately went diwn
and saw a little smoke coming up from the grating over the
hatch leading to the orlop deck and storeroom. The iron
bar was lying across it, and the hasp was over the staple,
but it was not locked, as it generally was. The padlock
was not there. On the top of the grating lay some
canvas neatly folded and tidy, and not looking as it it lead
been recently disturbed. Witness lifted up the grating
and went down into the cockpit, and found himself in a
cloud of black smoke. He could not see any fire, nor
where the smoke came from. The storerooms were all
about him, but he could not form an opinion as to where
the fire originated. The smoke took away his breath,
and he jumped up on deck and blew his whistle to "pipe
all hands." He then sprang up on to the main deck
where the lamp-boy and half-a-dozen others who were
specially employed slept, in order to be handy, and sent
them to call the chief officer and the other officers, one to
ring the fire-bell, and another to go into the forecastle and
hail Bsggot, thowatchman on Charlton Pier, in order that
he might send for assistance. Ile gave the keys of the boats
to another boy, in order that he might get them free, and
then he descended to the orlop deck again. The smoke,
however, nearly suffocated him, and a boy named Connor
and another boy helped him up on to the main deck, the
lower deck being quite full of smoke. The boys behaved
very creditably, and all the officers were in their places.

Richard Hopkins, one of the Warspite boys, about fifteen
years of age, was called, and said teat he went on duty as
one of the two sentries on the main deck at t
he
ea
wasaw awoke
dressing
gr
he relieve esvae,
tHwr
h 035
sn
twelve
o'clock. When two hells went at one o'clock Cott
o
cothmeenuppe'r deck. Wh'
out of Ile
hatchway which led to the cockpit. P They shot lore
" up
like lightning," and the smoke rushed up after them
He could not see who they were, as the smoke bid
them, but he could see that they had no clothes on
exceptfheir flannel shirts. They ran away along the lower
deck, one forward and the other aft. They did not lift the
grating, but got through a hole in it—a hole caused by the
barb being broken in one place, making four spaces into one.
The hole was quite large enough, the witness thonght, for a
thin lad to get through. The ladder was just under it.
Henry Cotton said he vas sixteen years of age, and had
been forty-one weeks on board the Warspite. He was called
at one o'clock to relieve the sentry on the upper deck, and
while lie was dressing the boy Hopkins called his attention
to the fore batch, saying, " Look at those two boys." He saw
the lads distinctly, but they were followed by a cloud of
smoke, and he could not see their faces sufficiently to say
who they were. They both ran away directly, one forward
and the other aft. Witness had often seen the hole in the
grating, and thought a thin boy could get through it with-
out difficulty.
The chief officer and the other officers were closely ques-
tioned by the committee relative to this statement, and
they all expressed their doubts respecting it, believing that
the hole in the grating, of which they were aware, was too
small for any boy in the ship to creep through The size
of it they thought was about Mx inches by eight, or even
less, and they stated that on one occasion the chief cook,
Mr. Catt, got his foot down the hole, and with difficulty
extricated it.
At this stage the committee resolved to adjourn the
inquiry, and, having reason to place some credit in the
story of the boys, decided to offer a reward of £5O for
the discovery of the incendiaries. They also directed
the secretary to make application at once to the Board
of Admiralty for another ship.