The Sun.
London, England, 1837-06-09 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL.-WEIYNESDAY.

The cotton market continues steady, prices having, an
upward tendency, with a respectable amount of business.
The best proof, perhaps, that can be adduced of the ge-
neral belief of cotton having attained its minimum value is
the appearance in the market of a class of purchasers who
have long been comparative strangers to it—the speculators.
To-day this description of buyers have taken 500 bags at
the current rates, and during the whole of the present week
their operations have been tolerably brisk. This, of itself,
is calculated to inspire confidence for the future, and to
justify the belief that affairs have now attained their least
encouraging aspect.
Althoueli there is a constant apprehension in the minds
of many of future failures, none to•day have taken place ;
nor have any—which is'still better—been talked of. The
house of Humberston, which yesterday stopped. was re-
motely, if not immediately, connected with the New York
packet-house which stopped the day before ; in fact, they
may be considered one and the same concern. This failure,
or, it may be. these two failures, are the only stoppages
which have occurred here since the opening of the week, a
fact in itself extremely gratifying.
The transactions in cotton to-day have been 'lOO Per-
nam, Bd. to Oikd. ; 30 Maranham, 7 d. ; 70 Baltia,6.l,d. to
81d, ; 50 Egyptian, 9d.; 300 Surat, 30. to 6d. ; and the
remainder American, to 81d.—total, 3,300 bags, in-
cluding 500 to speculators.—Morning Chronicle.
The incoming packet from New York (now due) is
looked for here with great anxiety. Upon the nature of
the intelligence brought by her very important results will
depend. She will put us in possession 6f two events of
considerable importance in the present critical position of
affairs botween Great Britain and America—the decision
of .the Prerident Van Buren about enforcing, or for a time
suspending, the payment cf the Custom-house bonds ; and
also the inei,sures adopted by the meeting of merchants
respectiag the embarrassed state of commerce throughout
the Union. With resrct to the first measure, the Presi-
dent assured the recent deputation to Washington that he
would give .the subject his best consideration, and commu-
„eatQ the result through the collector of the customs at
New Fork. The meeting of the merchants, for the pur-
pose of rece...Ying the report of the deputation appointed to
wait upon the PreJdent at Washington, was to have taken
place on the evening 0,-.,'Llay 8, and as the last New York
packet (the /?oreac) sailed on the morning of that day, she
was unable to bring the result. :ri7e issue of both these
the New York
cv.:nts will, therefore, come to hand by
tcket of May 16.—Morning Post..

NVe have to announce that the additional mail to
London will commence running upon 6th July. The new
mail will therefore arrive on Saturday the Bth, at 9 morning-;
and the same mail will be dispatched from Glasgow at 5 after-
noon. The establishment of this additional wail will be of the
greatest advantage to Glasgow anil the west of F.,'^otland. Too
much pi aise cannot be given to the Ministry for th:: benefit t°
the commercial world. Messrs. Alexander futon and Co.
arc the contractors.—Glasgow Chronicle.
The sale of the Corporation plate, at Boston, took
place on Thursday last. Enormous prices were obtained for
.many of the articles, which fetched in one instance 235. per
ounce. The splendid punchbowl, weighing 173 °ttees, was
said for 16s. 6d. per ounce, exclusive of the auction duty.
The total amount realised was 5531. 93. BV., being upards
cf 2001. more than was expected. Great opposition and riot
on the part of the Torieb was threatened, but the judicious
preeaujens adopted by the Mayor disappointed the hopes of
the p arty, and some abuse by a couple of hired blackguaras was
the annoyance experieue,.d.—Lineotashiec Obsciecr.
Yesterday a Court of Common Council was held for
the general dispatch of business.
Last week the re-organisation of the Birmingham
Political Union took place. It bad been previously resolved
upon by the Reform Association, that the final constitution of
the Union would not tak..n place until four thousand persons
had enrolled themselves as members. To this resolution the
Cooncil were determined in adherbig, had it not been that the
circumstance of the birth day of the Princess Victoria occur-
ring on Wednesday, rendered it, to a rertain extent, Leces--
, sary that the Union should be formed for the purpose of
:.thircs.i!ig that distin4clidted lady and her mother, in the name
and on beLqlf of an Association at one time, and, cc' long,
Waely again to be, the most powerful pe;l:ical body in El-trope.
—Biniiingham Journal.
LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET, JUNE 7.—The
Cotton market this day wears a better aspcet. Tile sales of
to-dsv sr, 3,500 begs, and prices are firm.

..AMITY AT HULL.
SPIRIT OF THE
--LIVES LOST.
c-
-nost consternation prevailed in this
The discussion on-,eing brought by the AI TOW steamer,
by Sir J. Campbe"' New Wharf, at one o'clock at noon,
action of the IL/ion steam paeket, under
si.ouid be itiFtr.
"..ising circumstances, and attended with one
r':ng s'-felicalearful losses of human life which it has ever
E;(;,1 ot IOS c.celancholy duty to record. When the Arrow
the jusijecy, it took up some passengers, who •stated that a
it. explosion took place about six o'clock in the moro-
n!, a c the Union steam packet was on the eve of leaving for
n.l,ivainsborough, from the Basin Wharf, with upwards of one
liFoundred passengers on board. A large number of their
, friends were also assembled on the jetty to witness their de •
partuce, when in a moment the boiler burst, and was
iaattercd to atoms, with a tremendous exp!o,ion. the
passengers and crew were driven, as by a whir:wind,
in every direction ; a loud crack cr the shattering of
the timbers was heard, and the hull of the ve.:sel
went down almost instantaneously. The vessel was
of horse power ; and such was the force of
the explosion, that a porter belonging to the pac-
ket,/ was thrown on to the top of a building, about
two hundred r.rds from the mlorings of the vessel ; seve-
ral personi; on the jetty were seriously injured, whilst others
fl‘.,, in utter dismay- ; the scene was one of comparative
darkness from the vast volume of smoke being lighted up
with the glare of the destructivC conflagration. The Hum-
ber was covered with human bodies, some shattered to
. pieces by the awful violence of the contending elements,
and others seriously wounded, whilst many had a refuge
from their misery in a watery grave. The shore presented
•a frightful spectacle ; the cries of the wounded, the moans
and lamentations of their relatives and friends, and the ter-
ror and consternation of the bystanders were truly appal-
ling. When the Trafalgar coach, which arrived at the
Tavern, left Hull at eight o'clock, no correct information
could be derived ; but it was rumoured that there were
from 70 to 100 passengers on board, and that at least FIFTY
of those had either lost their lives, or were not expected to
recover from the dreadful injuries which they had received.
The town was altogether in a state of the greatest ex-
citement.
By the Hull mail, which reached this city at a quarter
Ito four o'clock yesterday afternoon, we received the fol-
lowing additional particulars. The accident occured at
five minutes past six o'clock, when the steam was being put
on, as the packet was within five minutes of the time of
departure. The sound was heard, like the report of the
largest cannon, all over the town, and the sides of the ves-
sel being burst, she went down instantaneously. Mr.
Chatterton, brewer, of Hull, was blown from off the deck
on the yard arm of the Albatross, a Yarmouth packet,
lying on the opposite side of the pier, fell down on his head,
and was taken up dead. Mr. Jacques, furniture broker,
of Saville-street, was also found. dead ; an old man, who is
dock-keeper, was thrown on the top of a slated house,
three stories high, broke in the roof, and was killed. Se-
veral bales of goods and bags of flour were also driven to
the roofs of houses, which they broke through, and much
damage has been done in consequence. Mr. Tomlinson,
innkeeper, High-street, Hull, was on board and has not
been found ; a very large number of others must also
have perished, as a man who got out of the aft-cabin,
and was taken up, stated that he left about thirty indivi-
duals there, who had no means of escape. There were also
several in the forecastle. An old woman, who had been.sell-
in.. nuts and oranges, was shattered to pieces ; and the
body of a lady was taken up, in a frightful condition, her
brain being exposed and her body dreadfully mangled. The
steward of the vessel was found alive and taken to the In-
firmary, where lie shortly afterwards died ; the Captaip
was also taken up, but is expected to recover. We have
only heard of three or four persons who have escaped either
from being killed, or seriously injured. One boy was driven
out of harbour into the roadstead, as by the spring of a
plank, and has in a most miraculous manner escaped com-
paratively unhurt. As the vessel went immediately down,
those left in the cabins must inevitably perish ; and, al-
though many boats were out immediately, we have only
heard of those persons mentioned being picked up. The
tide was then rising, and would cro down at one o'clock,
when some idea may be formed of' the numbers who have
lost their lives. But as the passengers do not pay their fare
when they enter on board, the parties cannot tell their num-
ber ; this was also the case in the Rothsay Castle steamer,
which met with a similar catastrophe.
The fragments of the chimney and boiler were thrown on
to the pier, and such was the propelling force that a two
stone weight was hurled over Mr. Lewis's house, in Wel-
lington-street, and broke the door-step, a distance of seventy
or eighty yards.
The packet is not a very large one—was formerly on the
Grimsby station—but there being a strong opposition as it
was not found swift enough, it was replaced by the Lindsey,
and taken for the Gainsbro' trade.
The cause of the accident, arises, it is said, from the en-
gineer having neglected to put sufficient water into the
boiler, and cold water having been put in, caused the ex-
plosion, He had left the packet, which is usually the case,
in charge of a fireman, to whom blame is attributed.
Several trunks, luggage, &c., have been picked up by the
watchmen in the river, which will probably be the means of
ascertaining the names and residences of the parties, the
greatest part of whom were strangers in Hull.—York
Courant.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.
We lament to state that the intelligence which we have
received by the mail this afternoon fully confirms the la-
mentable narrative related above. It is still a matter of
speculation. as to the exact number on board, as we under-
stand that in the river packets it is not customary to col-
lect the fares till near their arrival at their destination,
consequently it must remain a mere speculation ; but we
are assured that the passengers on board would exceed 70.
The explosion took place at five minutes past six o'clock,
and in an instant the air was filled with fragments of the
boiler, chimney, planks, bales of goods, and human bodies.
One gentleman, who was in the aft cabin, had a most pro-
vidential escape. Finding the vessel was going down, he
sprang out of the window, got clear of the wreck, and,
being an expert swimmer, was saved. He estimates the
number of human beings whom he left in that cabin at
not less than 30 ; and it is generally believed that in the
fore-cabin there would aiso be as many, if not more. All
these unfortunate people were drowned. A porter in the
employ of the Dock Company, who was on board,
was blown an immense height into the air, and fell
on the top of a house three stories high. His
mutilated remains rolled down the gable end of the
roof to the spout, from whence he had to be taken
down. He was quite dead, end dreadfully mangled.
We understand that it is the opinion of many, that on the
tide receding it would probably wash out into the Humber
some of the bodies, so that even after one o'clock, when
the harbour would he dry and the wreck could be got at,
it was (oared that the full extent of the loss of life could
not he ascertained. The steamer is a complete wreck ; but
we have heard no estimate as to her value, nor whether she
is insured. We understand that she has only recently been
pia .ed on the Hull and Gainsborough station, and did
not possess very great power. We lament to add, that
it is generally believed that the accident has arisen from
the neglect of the engineer. Upon this point we will say
little, until a judicial inquiry has been made. Some re-
port that he was on shore, and had left the engine in the
care of the fireman ; whilst others state that the ,accident
arose from a deficiency of water in the boiler, and the safety-
valve not being used. We have no doubt, however, but that
the whole affair will undergo a strict investigation, and until
the result of it is ascertained we shall suspend any further
remarks on the subject. I understand that the captain, a
few moments before the catastrophe occurred, observed the.
bc.A'ic.s picked up.
engineer's neglect, called on him to look after it, and
scarcely uttered the words when she blew up. pto the
latest accounts there have been a dozen
A truss of woollen goods(weighin;.'.ri yes
was blown over
the houses opposite the pier, a b-jight of forty or fifty feet.
The captain and engineer 1.-,re bath saved, although very
seriously injured. Such is "..ne confusion that I have no
means of ascertaining th'
loss will prove even
than it is . .
to be." more .. exact particulars ; but I fear ••
- serious new: imagined

r (Frost our; OWN cortarsenonNi.)
On A—Atiesday morning last, just previous to the 0113 C
and Trent steetners leaving the basin within the jetties at
Rail, the boiler of the Union, Gainsborouglt steam plel;et,
burst, and immediately a scene of the most heart,rending
description ensued. There were supposed to be about 130
persons on board at the time, the whole of whom, with a
few exceptions, were thrown into the wate:,
killed, others dreadfully mutilated. some already
"dort the whole more or
less injured. • Within a few TrLin:lles of the explosion the
vessel went down, and ...deo were seen struggling and in-
animate creatures i':. all directions, some screaming loudly for
assistance, and r.,..ners insensibly drawn down to a watery grave.
Ever.; s,id '..nat -could be rendered by the men belonging to
Or: adjoining vessels, and spectators on the landing-places,
'was quickly afforded, and between thirty and forty, though
much maimed and exhausted, were got out alive, and eon-
ve7al to the infirmary and private-houses, Nine bodies
Nvere picked up within a quarter of an hour quite dead,
and in the cours-, of the day eight or nine other corpses
were found in the cabin of the vessel and in the basin.
Such was the force of the explosion, that a porter, who had
been delivering a heavy package on board, we; blown from
the steamer to the top of the houses on the eastern side of
the quay, the houses being three stories high, and
distant as much as firty yards from the basin. The
poor fellow, as soon as he could be reached, was
found quite dead. Six or seven persons, who were s-tandtvg
)-1131?khjetty were also severely injured by the fragments of
"--'7.77if0-trhenging to the engine and boiler. A poor old
-
womanr vho was selling nuts on board, was blown a con-
.Eiderib,ltistance, and when found, presented a shockingly
•
I •
;,!

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