The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-17 00:00:00

THE SUE, LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1837

holding his hand, the comfortable warmth of which ren-
dered her unwilling to believe the reality of the sad event.
Thus expired, in the 73d year of his age, in firm reliance
on the merits of his Redeemer, King William the Fourth,
a just and upright King, a forgiving enemy, a sincere friend,
and a most gracious and indulgent master.
Bushy House, July 14, 1837.

J. R. W.

A GRAVESEND STEAMER BURNT.

At a late hour last night intelligence was received in
town of the destruction of the Medway steam-boat by fire,
off Northfleet yesterday afternoon, with 150 passengers on
board. The particulars were brought by the Brilliant
steamer, which arrived at London-bridge wharf at ten
o'clock last night. The following account of the occurrence
may be relied on as authentic, it having been furnished us
by Mr. F. H. Gibbs, agent of the Star Steam-packet Com-
pany, to which the vessel belonged :
The Medway steamer, it appears, was built about three
years back, at Gravesend, and cost 9,0001. She left Lon-
don Bridge Wharf yesterday afternoon, at half-past one
o'clock, with from one hundred to a hundred and fifty pas-
sengers on board, for Gravesend. The fire was discovered
by the principal engineer, who, about four o'clock, on
entering the engine-room, perceived smoke descending
from the lower deck, just above the boiler. He di-
rectly communicated the circumstance to the captain,
who instantly proceeded to the spot and gave orders
that the engines might be stopped, when on the engineer
proceeding again to the engine-room, he found the place
was completely filled with smoke. He wrapped wet cloths
round his mouth, and made another attempt to enter ;
but in consequence of the intense heat of the fire and
the dense smoke he found it totally impossible, and the crew
commenced pouring buckets of water into the room, but
no effect was produced on the flames. Captain Smith,
finding that th• fire was rapidly gaining the ascendancy,
and observing terror prevailing among the passengers, got
on the paddle-box, and addressed them, communicating the
fact that the vessel was on fire, and urging upon them the
propriety of their being calm, as there was no danger, as-
suring them that if they kept quiet he would run them on
shore, and they would effect a perfectly safe landing ; but
if, on the contrary, they disregarded his advice, he could not
say what the consequences might he. Notwithstanding
this the utmost confusion prevailed, and the screams of the
females were dreadful. The chief mate, whose name we
understood to be Thomas Hobling, had the management
of the helm ; he immediately put it in a positioa to carry
the vessel towards the shore. Several persons entreated the
Captain to run her on the Essex shore ; but the answer
was, " No, I will not. I will run her into shallow water."
The paddles all this period were in full motion, and the boat
soon took the ground ; immediately after which the flames
burst forth from the deck and the windows of the cabins.

The spot was facing the village of Northfleet, and the in-
habitants, on becoming acquainted with the state of the
vessel, hastened down to the beach to render all the assist-
ance in their power ; they put off in boats, and laid planks
on the mud for the passengers to walk on, but not before
several persons, in the alarm of the moment, had jumped
overboard, and it is feared some lives were lost ; but the
fact, in the confusion which prevailed, could not be ascer-
tained. Neither the captain nor the mate left the vessel

until every person had quitted her, and the latter to save
his life was obliged to leap into the river. The wind at the
time was blowing violently from the east, which caused the
flames to burn with great rapidity. At five o'clock the

fire was seen at Gravesend, from which place the engine
from the West Kent Fire Office was despatched, with a
party of firemen, who soon arrived at the water's edge,
and got to work. At this period the whole of the after-
part of the vessel was one body of fire, and the saving of
any portion was considered impossible. The directors of
the vessel had arrived and employed between 100 and
200 labourers to assist to stop the progress of the de-
vouring element ; the firemen conveyed the branches and
hose of the engines over the side, and the whole force of
the engine was thrown into the hull of the vessel. The
last boat that arrived last night, at 10 o'clock from
Gravesend was the Brilliant, which left that place at
half-past 7 o'clock. When it passed Northfleet, the fire
had not been got under, and then it was feared the cala-
mitous occurrence was attended with loss of life, as several
persons were missing ; but it is to be hoped that they ef-
fected an escape, and are safe.
Hamilton, the steward of the vessel, arrived by the Bril-
liant Gravesend steamer last night, and he gives the same
account as Mr. Gibbs. He further states that the fire was
supposed to have originated by the lower deck having been
built too close to the boilers, and having caught fire. The
report that was circulated when he left was that three
persons had perished, and that their bodies had been found.
The vessel is insured, but not to the full extent of its value.
A great many passengers who escaped arrived in town
last night by various conveyances, and their description of
the occurrence was truly dreadful. The engines of forty
horse power, and the extensive machinery is also destroyed.

AFRICAN WRESTLERS.—After dinner we ad-
journed to witness a wrestling-match, between Jacko, a
member of the Cameroons Club (whom we had brought
over for the purpose), and the champion of Calebar. The
stakes were, two chests of guns, two barrels of powder,
and ten pieces of cloth, altogether of the value of forty or
fifty pounds ; and as the match had been long talked of, it
excited great interest amongst the inhabitants. The
wrestlers were both powerful men ; but the Calebar hero
had evidently been sleeping upon his laurels, and was too
mach in flesh. Jacko was not so tall as his antagonist, hut
was, 1 think, without exception, the broadest man over the
shoulders I ever saw—his legs and arms were literally cables
of muscles. They were both oiled all over, and com-
menced play by approaching each other in a stooping po-
sition, scraping the ground with their hands, to get the sand
to adhere to their oily fingers. The Calebar man made the
first spring, which was skilfully avoided by Jacko, who,
as his opponent flew past him, caught him by one of his an-
cies, and throwing him a complete summerset, landed him
on his back with a shock that left him insensible for a few
minutes. They were re-oiled, and made play again more
cautiously. We now saw an interesting display. Laying
their left hands upon each other's shoulders, they alternately
caught at the heads and legs of each other. After a se-
vere struggle the victory was again Jacko's, who took his
gigantic antagonist under the knee, lifted him fairly in the
air, and threw him in the most approved style, his shoulder-
blades first touching the ground. Although there were
between two and three thousand people present, and their
champion had been overthrown, the greatest good humour
prevailed, and the two principals walked off the ground,
the observed of all observers, in a most amicable way.—
Laird's Narrative of the Last Expedition into Central
Africa.
We understand that there is a general sentiment
among the citizeas of London in favour of the present Lord
Mayor, who has performed the arduous duties of his high
office with such honourable impartiality, at the same time
that he has so liberally sustained the hospitality of the
City. A requisition is about to be presented to his Lord-
ship, calling upon him to fill the civic chair a second year.
—Morning Paper.

Yesterday at the meeting of the Board of Guardians
of the Edmonton Union, which is held at the Angel Inn,
Edmonton, in the Assembly-rooms, the question was taken
into consideration as to the expediency of the separation of
the parish of Hampstead from the union. After a brief
discussion, on the motion being put, it was resolved to put
off the subject sine die. A great many of the parishioners
of Hampstead are desirous, as they have a local act, that
the parish should not form part of the Edmonton Union ;
in consequence, the Poor-law Commissioners were memo-
rialised, when the question was referred to the decision of
the board.

On Sunday evening a young woman named Smith,
a servant in the employ of Mr. Cooper, of Chapel-row,
Bermondsey, was running down One-tree-hill, in Green-
wich-park, when she missed her footing, and was precipi-
tated with fearful violence to the bottom. Several persons
ran to her assistance, and on lifting her up the face of the
unfortunate woman presented a shocking spectacle, and her
left wrist was found to be broken. She was. carried to the
nearest surgeon's, and afterwards conveyed home in a coach.

On Saturday the Rev. Dr. Pye Smith, at the re-
quest of the Belper Temperance Society, gave a public ad-
dress in the Infant School-room, on the subject of Tempe-
rance, and although but a few hours' notice was given of
the meeting, and an equally short time allowed for the Rev.
Dr. to collect and arrange his ideas on the matter, the
attendance was respectable and numerous, the lecture com-
prehensive and forcible, and delivered in a very animated
manner, proving that a water drinker of 63 summers was
not necessarily cold and spiritless.—South Derbyshire
Chronicle.

One day last week, a noble fox-hunter called upon
a worthy and honest shoemaker in Beith, to solicit his vote.
" What are ye gaun to gies ?" said the sagacious Scot—
" Are ye gaun to abolish the Corn Laws ?" No. " Are
ye gaun to extend the suffrage ?" No. " Are ye gaun to
gies the Vote by Ballot, or release the poor Eerish frae their
oppressors, by giving them the Corporation Bill ?" No.
" What are ye gaun to gies then r" " I am going to defend
the Church," replied the noble fox-hunter. "Ye needna put
yoursel' to the trouble, man, for God himsel' has said that
his church is founded: on a rock, and that the gates o' hell
shall not prevail against it ; sae, ye see, my Lord, he'll
defend it himsel' against a' spiritual and temporal enemies."
" The devil a bit of that he'll do, unless you send men like
MC to Parliament." We hear that the said theological fox-
hunter, whon asked by an elder if he would support the
kirk, the ministers, and all the elders, established by law ?
" To be sure, I'll support every b of them," was the
laconic reply. Woe for Zion, when her priests canvass for
such men, and need their support !