The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-28 00:00:00

rnE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 28, 1864.

of BUTLER in such a post is the best commentary
that can be given of the spirit in which LINCOLN
intends carrying on the war. The interest of the
news at present centres in SHERMAN'S proceed-
ings, to which we shall most likely have
a clue by the next mail, whose arrival may
therefore be looked for with interest.

We may sometimes be thankful to a catastrophe
of moderate extent for having saved us from a great
and appalling one, and in this sense, while deploy.
ing the deaths of the unfortunate victims of the
Erith explosion, we may congratulate ourselves
that public attention was not called to the unsatis-
factory condition of our arrangements for the con-
veyance and storage of powder, by a disaster a
hundred times greater. We might have been
roused from our indifference by a catastrophe like
that at Holmflith, when the list of victims was
numbered, not by two and three, but by hundreds,
only that situated as our powder magazines too
often are in the close vicinity of densely populated
districts, the hundreds might have been reckoned
by tens. The jury who investigated the case, very
properly resolved upon taking some practical steps
towards remedying the evils which had come under
their notice, and accordingly they appended a
resolution to their verdict calling the attention of
the acts relating to the gunpowder trade, and
stating some of the points on which they considered
immediate legislation to be necessary. This re•
solution was laid before the Home Secretary on
Friday by the coroner and some members of the
jury, and Mr. CARTTAR informed Sir GEORGE GREY
of several facts which came out in evidence sup-
porting these views, and pointed out the great
danger incurred from the erection of powder
magazines in populous places, and also from the
recklessness with which powder is shipped on board
steamers when sparks were flying from their
funnels. The points which especially require legi-
slative interference in the opinion of the jury are
the quantity of powder stored at one time or con-
veyed in any manner—the situation in which ma-
gazines are constructed—the necessity of powder
barges bearing some distinctive mark—the shipping
and discharge of powder—the importance of Go-
vernment inspection—and the penalties for infring-
ing the laws relating to the subject. A converses
tion on the subject convinced Sir GEORGE GREY
that interference was necessary, and it is to be
hoped he will introduce some sound practical mea-
sure. The fact that men grow reckless in propor.
tion to the graatness and frequency of the risks
they run has been abundantly proved in mines and
other places, where it is almost impossible to secure
a due observance of the proper rules of caution.
There is at present no security, however stringent
the rules made by the proprietors of such establish-
ments, that men will not smoke, light fires, &c., on
board the barges when laden ; but if a thorough
system of Government inspection is organised some
responsible person will probably be sent in charge
of every barge, waggon, or train by which powder
is conveyed. Again, it should certainly not be
suffered that so dangerous a trade should be carried
on in very populous places, nor near river walls,
reservoirs, and other sources of danger. The ex-
plosion at Belvedere might have produced most
direful consequences, and it is no reason because
we have escaped comparatively lightly this time
that we should disregard the warning for the future.
An Aet for amending the laws relating to the
storage, package, and conveyance of gunpowder
and other explosion materials should certainly be
one of the first measures introduced in the coming
Session.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(RETJTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

PLYMOUTH, Nov. 28.

The Diamond Company's screw steamship Eas-
tern Province, from Table Bay on the 24th October,
arrived at Falmouth this morning, Her mails,
contained in 12 sacks, were forwarded to London
by this morning's express train.

Her dates of sailing are :—From Natal, Oct. 10 ;
Algoa Bay, 21st ; Table Bay, 24th ; St, Helena,
Nov. 4; Madeira, 20th.

Her cargo consists of 682 bales wool and 14 casts
aloes, 573 horns, 270 bales sheepskins, 50 bales
goatskins, one case jams, two bundles whalebone,
five packs ivory, three packs horns, 193 bundles
hides, 106 chests tea, two casks wine, 13 cases os•
trich feathers, 10 cases sundries, 97 bales jute, 1,066
bags sugar, 10 bales cotton, 50 pks. general mere
ohandise, 311 boxes and barrels arrowroot, and 43
passengers, among whom are the Hon. G. Mellersb,
Mesdames Rhodes, Kir wood, Harland, Field, Parry,
Captain and Mrs. Blyth, Messrs. Wallach, Kirby,
Neville, Jackson, Sykes, Willes, Calder, and
servant ; Lieut. Gillespie in charge of 14 men, 96th
Regiment.
The mails and passengers left by train this morn-
ing.

No political news since departure of the Cam-

brim].

THE WEST INDIA AND PACIFIC MAILS.
SOUTHAMPTON, Nov. 28.

The Royal Mail Company's steamship Atrato,
with the above mails, has arrived here. She
brings 34 passengers, 2,244,000 dols. in specie,
and 1,711 packages of cargo.

BOMBAY AND MAURITIUS MAILS.
SUEZ, Nov. 26.
The Behar, from Bombay, anchored at 4 p.m,

to-day.
The Norma, from Mauritius, arrived at 1 a.m. on
the 24th inst.

AMERICA.

QUEENSTOWN, Nov. 27.

The Royal Mail steamship Canada arrived here
at 8 p.m., and embarked the mails, passengers,
and telegrams, and proceeded immediately for
Halifax and Boston. All well. She experienced
very severe easterly weather from Liverpool.

Fatal Shipwrecks.

Nearly simultaneous with the distressing wreck of the
Aberdeen and London steamer Stanley at Tynemouth, on
Thursday night, an equally terrible and still more fatal dis-
aster befel the Dundee and Newcastle steamer Dalhousie,
haptain H. K. Glenny, at the entrance of the Firth of Tay,
on her journey home. There is, unhappily, no survivor to
tell the tale of this new calamity, and it can only be con-
jectured that the unfortunate ship, commanded though she
was by an able captain who knew the coast and channel
well, was so heavily beaten by the terrific seas as to be cast
upon the sands of Abertay, where she foundered and went
to pieces, the crew and passengers being beyond reach of
human help. About half-past 10 o'clock on Thursday night
the master of the steamer London, of the Dundee and Lon•
don service, on corning into the Firth, saw a rocket dis-
charged from a point near the lights of 'fay, but from the
darkness and rain he could not distinguish the object nor
observe the precise spot. "Keeping on his way" (says the
Dundee Ad eel tiser) "he sew nothing else till he got inside
the Buoy of Tay, when he observed a blue light, bearing
about N.W. by W. up- n the Abertay Sands. He saw three
blue lights in succession at the same place, there being an
interval of a minute or two between each, and the whole
time not being more than from five to eight minutes. This
was about 20 minutes or half an hour after the rocket had
been observed, but Captain Rattray could not, from the at-
tention he had given to the position of his own vessel, be
sure of the exact time, He saw nothing mere tending to
excite alarm, but proceeded with all speed to the harbour.
When he reached the Roads he immediately sent a mes-
sagr on shore to the harbour master, Captain Jack, to say
that he feared there was some vessel in danger on the Aber-
tay Sands. Captain Jack, on receipt of this message, at
once despatched his watchman to bring the captains of the
two tug steamers, which were as soon as possible sent
down the river to render what assistance might be in
their power. The Hercules was the first to reach Broughty
Ferry, and there Captain W. Soutar gave the alarm,
and the 1 feboat—the Mary llartly was at once
launched, and was taken in tow by the steamer. In the
meantime the Samson had passed her companion and fell in
with a schooner, the David and John of Montrose, which
was in distress. It was then thought that it was from this
vessel that signal of distress had been made, and observing
uo sign of the more fatal disaster that had taken place, the
steamer, after rescuing the crew of the David John (which
is believed to have afterwards sunk) returned to the harbour.
The Dalhousie was an iron vessel of 156 tons and 60 horse
power, and was built in 1861 by Messrs Gourley Brothers,
Dundee, especially for this trade. She left Newcastle on
Wednesday morning, about 10 o'clock, for Dundee, having
on board 12 passengers (so far as has been ascertained), 12
of a crow, including the captain, and 172 tons of general
cargo. She was expected to arrive in Dundee about mid-
night on Thursday. Up to Friday forenoon there was no
appearance of her, and about 1 o'clock Mr Crighton, Lloyd's
agent, who had gone to Broughty Ferry in the morning for
the purpose of looking after a vessel on shore there, re-
turned with the intelligence that the Dalhousie was be-
lieved to have gone on shore on the banks at the mouth of
the river during the night, and to have become a total wreck.
'rho report he immediately communicated to the office of the
Shipping Company, and Mr Inglis, the agent, at once has-
tened to Tayport to ascertain what truth there might be in
the rumour. The fears entertained for the safety of the ves-
sel were but too cruelly confirmed, for Mr Inglis learnt on
arriving at Tayport that two bodies, believed to be those of
men who had been on board the Dalhousie, had been found,
and that pieces of wreck, marked so as to leave no doubt of
their identity, were strewn along the beach. Going towards
the spot where it was said the bodies were found, Mr
Inglis met a cart containing two bodies, one of which ho
identified as that of Captain Glenny, and the other as that
of one of the crew named Thomas Bissett. Captain Glenny
had his short pilot cloth coat tightly buttoned, and was
without his boots, which he had no doubt taken off in
the hope of swimming, Mr John A. Turnbull, mill-
wright, Newport, states that he had been at Tayport on
business at an early hour that morning, and that about
half-past 10 o'clock, when he was leaving the farm of Kin-
shaldy, where he had called, the shepherd came running in
and said that there was a body down on the beach and a lot
of wreck. Mr Turnbull immediately rode off in the dine,
tion indicated, and the first object which attracted his at-
tention was a battered ship's boat. At this point the coast
is very shallow, and after the sea had retired the surf runs
in for a long way, so that the boat, although aground, was
lying at some distance from the shore, After entering the
surf for about 200 yards, Mr Turnbull reached the boat, and
saw on her stern the name ' Henry K. Glenny.' The other
parts of the stern, on which, in all probability, would be the
name Dalhousie, was broken off. About 50 yards to the
south of the spot where the boat lay Mr Turnbull saw the
body of a man. It was lying face downwards, so that he
could not describe it, but it appeared to be that of a sailor.
There was no lifebelt on it. Proceeding still further to the
south he observed strewn along the shore a number of casks,
chests, deck furnishings, pails, the companion of the cabin,
the compsss chest, and other articles of that sort. About
300 yards further on Mr Turnbull saw a second dead body,
on which were two life belts, with ' Dalhousie, Dundee,'
marked on them. This body was also lying on its face, but
from the glanco which Mr Turnbull had of it, the descrip-
tion of the dross, and the general appearance of the body,
ho thought it was that of Capt, Glenny, which it was after-
wards proved to be. Proceeding still along the coast Mr
Turnbull saw some casks and parcels of goods, but the ad-
dresses on the whole of them had been wasted off.

From the fearfully complete nature of the disaster, no
account can be given of the manner in which the wreck oca
curred. but it seems to be the general opinion of nautical
men who are well acquainted with the spot and with the
difficulties of the navigation at the mouth of the Tay that
when rounding the Abertay Sands, in order to take the en-
trance to the river, a heavy bun atznek e.t.a submerged the
vessel, putting out the fires, and rendering the vessel un-
manageable and helpless among the breakers, so that she.
drifted en the sands and speedily became a wreck. The
passengers in such a stormy night would most naturally be
below, and would thus be without the slightest chance of
escape. It would, appear, from the fact of the bodies of the
Captain and Bissett having floated ashore together, that at
the time of the wreck they had been standing on the bridge
from which the vessel was steered, Bissett in all probability
being helmsman, and Captain Glenny, as was always his
custom, keeping a sharp and eager look out. The wreck
lies between two and three miles off shore opposite Tents
muir and Kinshaldy farmhouse; and on Friday the meets
and a portion of the rigging could be distinctly seen, but
the hull was completely submerged, even at low water. She
is on the north end of the Broch bank—a long strip of sand
about two miles off the shore, which stretches from the deep
water known as "the Pool," down to the mouth of the
Eden. That she must have been some short time in distress
is evident by the firing of the rockets; and if Captain Rat
ray's statement of the time he observed that firing be cor-
rect, there must have been some time of suspense—because
Captain Glenny's watch stopped at half-past 12.
The names of the passengers, as nearly as could be ascer-
tained by telegram from Newcastle, are :—After cabin, Mr
and Mrs Cleveland and two children, and Mr Robertson ;
foro-cabin—Mrs Reid, Mrs Davidson, Messrs Dewry, Bal-
four, Fornmey (or Tornmay), M'Laren and M'Leod.
Through the loss of the captain and crew nine wives have
been made widows and about 40 children orphans by the
sad calamity. The following shows the names and circum-
stances of the crew ;—Captain Glenny, left widow and child
—Allan Ramsay, mate, left widow—David Rosins, seaman,
widow and six children—David Gilchrist, steward, David
Forbes, engineer, and George Jenkins, seaman, each left
widow and five children—Thomas Bissett, engineer, left
widow and three children—Frederick Low and Robt. Scott,
seaman, and David Taylor, fireman, each left widow and
two children—Alexander Myles, fireman, was unmarried,
but the only support of an aged mother ; and the twelfth
in the list of the crew was John Macdonald, a boy.

IMPORTANT LIFEBOAT SERVICES.
WINTERTON, near GREAT YARMOUTH,
Nov. 27.

The Rev, T. Nelson reports :—" The brig John, of
Hartlepool, drove on shore during the night of the 24th
inst., in a violent gale from the E.S.E. She was discovered
at daylight, with the sea running over, and the crew in the
rigging. The coastguard immediately proceeded to her
with the rocket apparatus. The National Institution's
lifeboat was also manned by the beaohmen and launched,
and was fortunately the means of rescuing the crew of six
men from their perilous position. The lifeboat behaved
well, and the crew express great confidence in her."

DUNDEE, Nov. 25.
A vessel was reported to be on shore this morning (says
J. Hunter, jun., Eeq.) while the sea was running vary
heavily. As soon as the crew of the Broughty Ferry (the
Mary Hartley) lifeboat of the National Institution were in..
formed of this, they immediately launched the lifeboat, and
proceeded in tow of a steamer to the assistance of the crew
of the stranded vessel, but, unfortunately, they could find
no traces of the ship. However, while they were on the
look-out, they discovered, the schooner David and John,
of Montrose, in distress. The schooner entered the Tay
last night, and when her crew of four men were rescued by
the lifeboat, an was riding at anchor at No, 2 Buoy, and
was rolling very much in the heavy surf, and it was feared
she would go down. Indeed, a few hours after the crew
were taken off, the wreck lost her mast and disappeared.
PADSTOW, CORNWALL, Nov. 26.

This morning, reports the Rev. Richard Tyacka, in a
N.W. gale, a vessel was sighted off Trevose Head, making
for Padatow Harbour, The Padstow lifeboat of the
National Institution was launched with all possible speed
to her assistance. She was found to be the Elizabeth of
Llanelly. Although not required to save the crew, she re-
mained in attendance on the vessel, along with a six-
oared galley, tacking the warps from the cap-
stan, of the I'adstow Harbour Association, and
rendering assistance in pumping out the vessel, and
did not leave her until she was in a safe position, The ap-
plianots of the Harbour Association were, in a great mea-
sure, the means of saving the vessel. In the meantime,
another vessel, the Marie Estella, of Nantes, was seen run-
ning for the harbour, and the lifeboat crew remained in
their position in readiness to render her assistance, but
happily, under the guidance from the shore of experienced
persons belonging to the port, she entered the harbour in
safety.

TIII4 TYNJIMOUTIi I,iIPEBOATI-A now lifeboat has iro,-

mediately been sent to Tynemouth to rep!ace the disabled
boat. The new lifeboat will probably be at Tynemouth this
day (Monday). The National Institution has also sent
£26 to the lifeboat crew for their gallant but unsuccessful
exertions on the night of the 25th inst. We may add that
the case of the two noble fellows who unfortunately
perished by jumping out of the lifeboat on that
awful occasion, will be considered at the next general
meeting of the National Lifeboat Institution. The two
poor men have unhappily left two widows and nine children
to lament their loss.