The Press.
London, England, 1854-01-28 00:00:00

THE 1311,ESS.

petition, of which the chairman, Mr. W. Miles, M.P.,
promised to take charge and present it with his full
concurrence to the House of Commons, set forth the
following conclusions :

" That a great amount of juvenile destitution, ignorance,
vagrancy, and crime, has long existed in this county, for
which no adequate remedy has yet been provided.
" That sound policy requires that this county should
immediately adopt mesanres to remedy the evil.
"That a great portion of the criminal children of this
county, especially those convicted of first offences, appear
rather to require systematic education, care, and indus-
trial occupation, than mere punishment.
" That the common gaols and houses of correction do
not generally provide suitable means for the educational
or corrective treatment of young children, who ought, when
guilty of crime, to be treated in a manner different from
the ordinary punishment of adult criminals.
" That penal reformatory establishments ought to be
founded and supported entirely at the public cost, and to
be under the care and inspection of Government.
" That reformatory schools should be established for the
education and correction of children convicted of minor
offences, to be founded and supported partially by local
rates, and partially by contributions from the State ; and
that power should be given to the Government to contract
with the managers of reformatory schools, founded and
supported by voluntary contributions, for the care and
maintenance of such children within such institutions."

THE " THETIS " AND ADMIRAL DUNDAS.
H.M.S. " Timis " arrived at Portsmouth on the
19th from the South Pacific, after a cruise which has
extended from the beginning of October, 1850. Her
term of service being nearly completed, the Thetis
would in the natural course of things have been paid
off, instead of which, however, it has been determined
that the crew should be paid " down," and retained
in the navy. Some weeks have, however, been
allowed them for a run on shore after their long
absence. This resolve of the authorities was com•
municated to the men by Rear-Admiral Dundas in
person, who went on board the Thetis, and, having
ordered all hands to be piped on deck, thus ad-
dressed them :

" My men, I have come down, by request of the Board
of Admiralty, to make known to you that we are on the eve
of a war, and that war with Russia. My object, therefore,
in addressing you by desire of their lordships, is to prepare
you for such event ; and I am sure you will receive this an-
nouncement as becomes Englishmen and British sailors.
It is my duty to inform you that the country cannot dis-
pense with your services, however hard it may appear after
your having been away for so long a period ; yet the
exigeneies of the service must be paramount to all other
considerations. Instead, therefore, of your being paid off,
you will all be paid down. You shall have a few weeks'
run, after which I feel assured that you will act as British
seamen ever have done in defence of their country. I
trust you will receive this communication in its right and
proper light, and I make this known to you thus early to
prevent any feelings of disappointment. I have earnestly
to hope that the evil may yet pass away, but we must be
prepared for any and every emergency. 'Pipe down.'"

The admiral shortly after returned on board the
Fire Queen, and came into harbour. The comple-
ment of the Thetis consists of 360 men, in the highest
state of efficiency and discipline.

DREADFUL SHIPWRECK- THREE HUNDRED

LIVES LOST.
THE accounts of a frightful catastrophe, resulting in
the loss of a splendid emigrant ship, accompanied
by the sacrifice of nearly 350 human beings, reached
Dublin on Monday morning. The calamity occurred
upon a rock, near the entrance to Dublin Bay, in the
course of Saturday afternoon, the ill-fated vessel
being the Tayleur emigrant-ship, bound from Liver-
pool to Melbourne. The Tayleur sailed from the
Mersey at noon on Thursday week, with a fine south-
east wind, in tow of the steam-tug Victory, and was
left by that steamer at seven o'clock in the evening
about six miles E.S.E. of the Skerries, and with
every prospect of having a favourable run down
Channel. There was a change of wind, however,
during the night of Thursday, and on Friday the
wind was W.S.W. and S.W., and very little progress
was made. About noon on Saturday land was
sighted, distance three or four miles, but it was some
time before it was ascertained what part of the coast
the ship was on, and she rapidly drifted on to what
afterwards proved to be a rock known by the name
of the " Nose of Lambsy Island," near Dublin Bay.
After first striking she went broadside on to the
rock, filled with water, and slid off and sank, leaving
only the tops of her masts visible above water. The
following details are given in a narrative of the acci-
dent furnished by Mr. F. Kemp, one of the surviving
passengers:—

"The Taykur left Liverpool on Thursday, at noon, in
tow of the steamer Victory, with a fine breeze from S.E.
An went on well until about noon on Saturday. At that
time one of my fellow-passengers came running into my
cabin, and said that there was land on the lee bow.
went on deck, and saw the land distinctly, which appeared
to me to be only about three-quarters of a mile distant.
Flora the progress the ship was making towards the land
I sow there was no hope of escape, and I prepared myself
for the wont, The wind was Nulling kola frvnt S.W.,

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the ship being under reefed topsails. As soon as it was
known to the passengers that the land was so close they all
crowded on deck, and caused such confusion that the
crew were prevented from obeying any orders that might
have been conveyed to them by the officers. Both anehors
were let go, but either the cables broke or the heavy sea
caused them to drag, for they did not stay the progress of
the ship, and she soon struck. After striking she turned
broadside on to the rock, and many of the passengers
jumped on shore. She remained in this position only a
few minutes, when she slid of, filled rapidly, and went
down stern foremost, with the tops of her masts visible
above water. The survivors were mustered and counted,
and it was found that there were about 260 saved. The
captain and first and third mates are saved. The second
mate and surgeon, and his lady and child, perished. Only
three women and two children were saved. The captain
was the last man who left the vessel that was saved."
According to the Freeman's Journal, the vessel,
having been driven out of her course, was making a
long tack for the purpose of avoiding the land, when
it was suddenly discovered that she was close upon
it, and, in fact, struck a very few minutes afterwards.
The Freeman adds :
lit is impossible to describe the dreadful scene of terror,
conffision, and despair that ensued. The passengers
rushed on deck, anti, as it was evident that the vessel must
soon go to pieces, desperate efforts were made to reach
the land. We are unable to say whether the boats were
used for the purpose, or with what effect ; bat it is stated
that a rope was run from the vessel to the shore and made
fast there. To this a large number of the unfortunate
passengers clung with the hope of reaching land, but while
they were endeavouring to do so the vessel gave a sudden
lurch, by which they were almost every one precipitated
into the sea, then fearfully beating upon the rocks, and
deprived of the means and the hope of escape. The
greater part of them thus perished. Out of the entire
number on board, about 960 succeeded in making the
island ; so that more than three hundred wretched suffer-
ers perished within sight, and almost within reach, of land.
Intelligence of the dreadffil calamity having been conveyed
to Dublin, the Prince steamer, Captain Lead, was des-
patched to Lambay, to take off the survivors, who were
without food, and exposed to the danger of perishing from
cold, hanger, and exhaustion."
One seaman who had mounted to the top of a
mast which remained above water lashed himself
there in a sail, and was rescued by the crew of a
coast-guard boat fourteen hours afterwards.
From the report of the Government emigration
agents it appears that the Taylesir cleared front the
Mersey with the following number on board :—Pas-
sengers: steerage, 488 ; cabin, 16 : crew, officers, &:c.,
70 : total, 574. Five " stowaways " were discovered
after the steam tug left, which would make the total
number of people on board 579. The number saved
is set down at 282, which leaves 292 to be accounted
for.

The Tayleur was a new ship of 2,?00 tons register,
and was commanded by Captain Noble, a gentleman
of great experience and ability. She was considered
one of the finest specimens of naval architecture
ever produced in this country. She had a full cargo
of merchandise.