Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-12-31 00:00:00

LYNCH LAW.

About two weeks ago the Sacramento Bee stated that an aged man,
of Spanish blood, hat been blacked on Puaa Creek, on a charge of
having stolen a horse from Mr. Wolfekill, of which charge it was
afterwards shown that he was Innocent. The Eco del Pacifico con-
tains a letter in regard to the circumstances of t' is lynching. We
translate as follows:—" While the unfortunate but honest old man
was on a visit in Contra Cos•e, some one stole a saddle trom his
horse on the Vaca Ranch. in the Puts Valley. When he returned
be heard of the theft, and vas told that his saddle was at Note:kill's,
and he went to claim it. He recognised the saddle, but Wolfskill
began to question him, and told him he must go before a judge.
To this the old man consented at once. A party of aboUt 20 erten,
irciuding Wolfskill, surrounded him as if he had been a criminal,
and started with him. One by one the pa ty i!r ppe I off, until only
fear remained. Wolfikill being in command. When th-y arrived
at a desert place, Wolfskill and his friends spoke together in a low
voice, and, surrourding the old man, so that he should not escape,
they left the road leading to the judge's, and started toward a place
in the mountain, where there is a thick wood. The old man broke
away from his keepers, and attempted to mane. Ile rode 12
and his pursners after him, to Vacaville, where the judge lives.
Arrived here. the old man inquired of an Ame:ic tn lady, ' Who
is the judge? Where doss he live ?' Whilst he was trying, in
mixed En ;lish and Swinish, to make himself understood. his perse-
cutors came upon him and began to beat him. They tore him by
force from the arms .f the merailul woman, who bravely stepped
between the old man and a drawn pistol aired at him, and cried out
that they should not murder him The, captors ordered the oid man
to go with them. tee vital out for the protection of the law. He
asked several times, in a load voice, Who is the judge?' Who
speak,: Fp milsh ?" Who is a Christian ?' Mons than 41 Americans
witna,sed thin scene, and not one raised his voice. Wolfakill and his
party d, ore their prisoner to the plate where h had e,caped, ani
there he was hanged upon a tree and almost killed. This is not the
first outrage that has hap, erred in that vicinity."—New York Tribune.

THE BURNING OF THE SARAH SANDS,

A letter from Captain J. S Castle, the commander of the Sarah
Sands, screw transport eter.rnet, has been received by Messre.Welton,
the ehipeaers, of tiracechurch-strut, relative to the partial destruc-
tion of the ahlp by fire, land the marvellous escape of the troops and
crew. the letter repeats the principal facts c,nt;ined in the ewe
meat of the occurrence punlishoi yesterday. With regard to the
efforts bf the troops and the crew, the captain says :—•• No person
can de,cribe the manner in which the men worked to keep the fire
back; one party wore below Kevin the butklie,d co 1, seoeral men
of which were drag:;ed up sonso:ess, ani fresh volunteers tool their
places, bat were soon io the same :Aare.'
Tie T,mes, in a leadna crticle, beta's witness to the coolness and
seamanship of Captain Castle, during the catastrophe. In a leading
article it says :

The burning of the Sarah:Saads transport, although an unfortn rate
event, is yet such a misfortune as in itself would form somewhat of
an epoch in the navel annals of any other nation. It is wail-nigh a
singular instance of a fiee at sea actually above deck being ex-
tinguished. This unaccustomed result appears to have been brought
about by the strict preservation of disc plane, and in some measure
perhaps, by the mere number of the persons whose services were
available at the time the catastrophe occurred. he Sarah Sands
Was all iron ship of about 2,000 tons burden, which left Portsmouth
for Calcutta in the middle o August. She had on board a portion
of the 54th Regiment, upwards cf 300 rank and file, sod her voyage
appears to have been prosperous until she had reached a point about
400 miles from the Mauritius. It this paint, on the I Ith of Nov., abon
tree o'clock, p.m., it was discovered that the ship was on ftre, or, more
properly speasing, the cargo in the after hold, cenlstiog stalely of
government stores. male after bale was hauled up but in vain. Noth-
ing but black smoke issued forth, and all et-Farts to get at the seat of the
fire were useless. All sail was taken in, and the ship was brought
before the wind lengths of hose wore fitted on to the fire engine,
and, in fact, every precaution was taken which seemed likely to be
productive of any effect. When the first apprehension arising
from the tact of the conflagration had subsided another and a still
more pressing tear fell open the minds of all. How about the
ammunition,—how about the powder in the magazines? In a short
while the seldiere un ter Colonel Moff att's directions, succeeded in
clearing out the starboard magazine. That store of powder, how-
ever, which lay in the port magazine could not, seemingly, be
reached. The cry was volunteers, and volunteers instantly came
forward, who, despite of the smoke and the flames, succeeded in
elairiag out the contents of the magazine, save two barrels. There
was no help for it, the brunt of the explosion was a thing to b 3
rust Med. Most of the men who had been let dswn were drawn up
senseless, so, clearly, nothing more was to be. done in that
dire -t ea. Now, there was a heavy gale blowing at the
time, at d the flames were pitying about the deck. It became neces-
sary to lower the boats, and, strange te say, for ones in the cast of a
conflagration at sea the boats wee lowered in safety. The women
and children were securely stowed away, and then the boats were
pulled beyond the reach cf danger, to await the event. Besides th s,
rafts were made of spare saara ; two were conslauctel and set afloat,
which would have sufficed to save the best portion of the crew and
passengers. A third was left across the deck, to be lowered at a
moment's notice. It was remarked that " the boats were lowered
without the least accident ; the troops were mustered on deck ; there
was no rush to the boats, and the men obeyed the word of command
with as much order as on parade." About nine o'clock tee flames
burst through the upper deck and set fire to the mizen rigging ; had
the ship not bees brought to the wind its instant destruction would
have been inevitable. At this moment, when the at ention of every
one on board was directed to the ship's position, which was
such that had she paid off the fire must have instantly en-
veloped her, a fearful explosion was heard. This was, of
course, due to the igniVon of the one or two barrels of
powder which boos left in the p 're magazine. The
port quarter ‘7.:6 blows cu', and the ship was soon a mats of
flames from the main 'Ting to the stern. The sot hers and crew
were at this time collecte 1 on the low rd part of the ship, a- d the
one thing ich sated hem Lem des n.ction, was that t e after
bulkhead whhstood the action of the fl x :tea. All ed'orta were cirected
te Leeeing this cool, and to checking the action of tee flames upon
the raging. The soldiers caunteered, party by party, for the work,
and their efforts were tttez.deti with a c mein SaCCOS3. Thro ph nt
the early sight this state of things centinuee, and until two the next
m:reing. At that time, when the fire hat been raging for we 11 nigh
twesty-fsur hour it began to sho is the first symptom of abatement.
The flames were gradually mesterei, and by uaylight next morning
the fire was exti ignalied; but what a week was there ! So high
had the flames mounted, that some of the yards had been destroyed.
'f he after part of the ship was gutted and burnt out—nothing but a
shed r. mained. The first point was to get the women and
children in the boats on board again, aed next the boats them-
selves. This could not thee be done, although the danger of the
fire was over. Another danger remained ( quell, appalling, but upon
which they had not counted while the flames were in progress. Tho
gale still prevailed. The vessel was rolling and pitching, and ship-
ping seas heavily at the place where the pert quarter had teen blown
out. She had 15 feet of water in the hold. The fear was lest the
stern should fall out altogether, and so the ship founder. To prevent
this ca'astrophe two haw,ers were got in under the ehle's bottom ,
and made taut. Spare sails and blankets were got over the (seeming
at the quarter, and the leak wis partially atopyed. We are now
speaking of the pc- iod between 2 e. m. and 2 p. m. on the 12th
November last—that is to say, cf the 12 hours' battle with water, as
there had boon a 12 hours' battle with fire for the 12 preceding hours.
To add to the difficulties of their situation, the water tanks in the

hold had got ioose, and as they were dished about, threatened fresh
dancer t 3 the ship. About two in the afternoon of the 12th the beats,
with the women, children, &e , were picked up. No casualty had
happened. The gig only had been swamp ,d, but all the hands were
rescue 1. From teo pm. on the 12th November until the evening of
the 13th, although the sharpest stress ; f the fight had subsided, the
reople en board the Sarah Sands were still struggling for life. Then
it iv..s far the first time that the fury of the waves eomewhgt abated;
steerage way was got upon the ship, and the stern was secttred. Sail
was set, and in tight days the Sarah Sands reached the Mauritius,
without the loss of any one on board throughout these trying circum-
ttaltes. The salvation of the ship was undoubte.ily due to the
professional skill and capa:ity of the commander, Captain Castie, and
then to the high discipline and courage of the troops on bosa. The
eto- y is a counterpart, although a far happier one, to that of the
kenhead.