The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

Sad Calamity on the Hudson River.

The steamer Berkshire, plying between Hudson
and New York, on her down trip, on the Wed-
nesday night, previous to the departure of the last
mail, caught fire at a point near Hyde-park about
10 o'clock, and was burnt to the water's edge, in-
volving a loss of from 40 to 50 lives. She had 200
passengers on board at the time of starting from
Hudson. There was also a large freight of cattle,
sheep, and other live stock. The origin of the fire
is not yet clearly understood. Some passengers say
that it broke out in the lamp-room from the exploe
sion of a lamp ; others that it first appeared in some
bales of hay stowed in huge piles near the bow of
the steamer, and was kindled by a pipe or cigar
thrown carelessly among them. There were but few
persons on deck at the time, most of the passengers
having retired to rest, The alarm was promptly
given, and a scene of wild excitement followed.
The wind was blowing from the north, and the flames
spread rapidly, defying all attempts of the crew and
the coolest portion of the passengers to extinguish
them. It soon became evident that no efforts
could save the vessel or anything on board, and she
was accordingly headed for the shore. The engi-
neer turned the valves, and the helm was fixed so
that the boat would run on the flats to the east-
ward, and in this condition she was driven on the
beach, while the flames were making rapid pros
gress, and the passengers who were awakened en-
deavouring to PE c a p e. The effort on the part of
some persons on board to prevent any confusion
was probably a most disastrous mistake. Many
persons are known to have been belove, whence
other had just escaped with their lives from the
suffocating smoke. One of our informants relates
that he was below, and was awakened by the hasty
tramp of feet, and heard the remark that the boat
was on fire. He immediately left his bed and hurried
on deck, where he saw the flames coming from the
bow to the stern, where he was standing. He had in
the evening seen some cork life-preservers on the
lower deck, and now he hastened back and took one
of them from among the quantity. This person
saw or heard several others groping about below,
and endeavouring to get themselves out of the cabin ;
but none of them followed him, and it is supposed
that they were lost. He was subsequently saved
by a boat, which, after he had jumped into the
river and floated down some distance with the cure
rent, took him to a point of rocks below. As the
boat neared the beach the appearance of the middle
deck, with the fire extending through most of its
length, and the passengers crowding to its furthest
extremity, was truly appalling. The women and
children on board comprised about one-third of the
passengers. These were assisted as far as practi-
cable, by their immediate friends and other persons,
who could in many cases do nothing more than
encourage them to be patient, or, as it is understood
in a few instances, help them overboard with chairs
or any other buoys that could be found. At this time
the confusion was extreme, and shrieks and cries
mingled with the roaring of the flames, Which had
made all points of the boat inconveniently hot,
and compelled many self-possessed persons to hang
themselves over the railing till
the boat should
reach the beach or shallow water. The boat ran
ashore with most of her passengers yet on board.
She lay with her bow in two or three feet of water ;
so that probably half the passengers escaped by
jumping into the water and wading or swimming
ashore. A considerable proportion, however, had
been driven to the stern by the extreme heat, and
that end of the boat was still in deep water. There
was, therefore, no resource but to jump overboard.
Persons who could swim gained the shore, but many
could not help themselves, and floated down with
the tide. One person among this number counted
30 or 40, among them some women, one of whom
had lost three children, who were either burnt or
drowned. One of the party became stupified, and
lost his hold of a girl whom he had rescued from
the steamer. The young lady went down. Her
mother had been abandoned in the vessel. Some of
the party who were thus floating down the river
disappeared, while others were rescued by boats
which came from a schooner which hove in sight,
and also from the steamer James Baldwin. A few
of these persons were taken next morning by the
steamer Mary Powell from Rondout, where they
were carried the previous night. They express
their obligations to Captain Anderson. A consi-
derable majority of the passengers are undoubtedly
safe. Probably the number lost—more than half
of whom are supposed to have been burnt on board
—will reach 40 or 50. Almost without exception
their property, including some of their clothing,
was lost. Many of the number were entirely des-
titute, but were partially provided for through the
kindness of the captain of the James Baldwin and
of other persons, There is little or nothing of the
Berkshire remaining above water except her machi-
nery. Her hull is blackened and charred at the
water line, and nothing probably will be wed from

her except the old iron of her engineer The Berk-
shire wes a flee tassel, built this spring, and cost
125,000 dol.& Her cargo was estimated at 150,000
dole.