The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-08 00:00:00

[pßicE SD.

embark detachments of the 04th and other regiment
under orders for the Crimea.

THE MILITIA

Yesterday the Ist Royal Surrey Militia, Colonel Wm.
Reline Sumner commandant, were summoned to muster
at head•quarter', Richmond, on Wednesday, the 20th
inst., the regiment haviug, been embodied for permanent
duty. Every man enrolled must ba present at ten
o'clock.

The Derby Militia are eummcned to muster at head-
quarters on tho 4th of January for garrison duty.
Time Ist (ling's Own) Staffordshire Militia have ob-
tained 100 volunteers to replace those men who have
entered the regular army, and they join at Dover to-
morrow (Saturday).
EsaufAtr:NT OF ThIE MILITII. Complain ts have reached
ns of the delays experienced by colonels of militia in ob-
taining the remittances from the War-office necessary to
the enrolment, &c., of their regiment 3. We understand,
however, that much of this delay is attributable to the
irregularity of the applications made by the commandie,,
officers of the several regiments to the War.office. All
such apo ications should state to whom the bills ;or mili-
tia service are to be made payable. If the bills are drawn
in favour of the colonel, they cannot be cashed by any
other officer. A.., in sonic instances, the applications
have been made by colonels who were not at bead-quar-
ters, or not even in Ireland, the money could not be ob-
tained for the use of the regiment. Sometimes the esti-
mates have been signed by the lieut.-colunel, whereas
they ought always to be signed by the colonel of the re-
giment, where there is one in command.—Dublin Even-
ing Post.
TIPPERARY, Dec. O.—The enrolment of men for the
Tipperary Militia is being carried on with increased
energy within the last week. The recruiting staff visited
the town of Tipperary on Wednesday, and were success-
ful in obtaining about thirty volunteers. The class of
men that presented themselves were far better than those
that previously came forward, and were it not that an
erroneous impression exists that those who take on would
be drafted on foreign service, 14 larger number of recruits
would have joined the gallant corps. The impression
we refer to is utterly unfounded, as appears from a re-
cent letter of Sir John Young to the Rev. Mr. Conce-
tan, P.P., Tractor); county Cork, on the subject, and
we think that young men anxious to join should not
hesitate on this ground to flock to their country's staa-
dard. We learn that there are now about 150 men en-
rolled for the South Tipperary Militia.—Tipperary Free
Press.
ANTRIM.—QUEEN'S ROYAL RIFLES.—Major Verner,
at present in command at head-quarters, is taking a
very active part in the formation of this regiment, and
personally inspects all the recruits, along with Dr.
Gaussen, the surgeon of the regiment. Since the 24th
ult. upwards of 60 fine young men hays been enrolled in
the corps, the greater number having beat obtained in
Cais locality.
BELFAST.—The enrolment of the Belfast Militia is
proceeding rapidly, now that is clearly understood that
the term o service is limited to five years, and that they
will not be requirei to leave the United Kingdom.—
Belfast News-Leiter.

TEE LOSS OF THE SHIP POLAR STAR
BY FIRE.

The following accoiat of this unfortuiate disaster
has been receiyed from the captain of the ill-fated

vessel :

" Sunday, October 1, 1554, lat. 31 S., long. 25 W.,
at eight a.m., I was alarmed by the cry of fire' which
was immediately confirmed by the serjeant of the detach.
'tient of Royal Artillery which was on board, rushing
into the cuddy, calling to Lis lieutenant—' The ship is
on fire, sir ! the ship is on fire, sir 1' I immediately
rushed out on deck, and found the statement but too true.
On going forward I found the smoke issuing out of the
fore hatchway in a dense black cloud. I immediately or-
dered the helm to be put up, and let the ship go off bo-
lero the wind. The smoke then began to ascend in a thick
black cloud up the main hatchway. All hands, troops and
passengers, were immediately set to work with pumps
and buckets to ponr water down the hatchways, it being
impossible for any one to get below. After working
with the water for some time, and finding that the tiro
was gaining, I ordered all the hatches to be put on and
securely battened down, to prevent any air from getting

- -
below. After getting hatches secured, cleared away the
launch, and hung her over the side in the tackles, fear-
ing the flames would burst up the ha.tchway and consume

her. After seeing the boats all right, we cut holes in
the deck fore and aft to insert funnels, being careful to

stop up the holes whelk the tunnels were removed from
one hole to another. Daring the whole of this time no
pen can describe the distraction and confusion amongst
the women and children —many of them with scarcely
any clothing on them, and no possibility of getting any.
We now found ourselves in a most deplorable position ;
for, iu addition to having our ship burning under us,
we found that we had neither water nor provisions
on deck, a thousand miles away from land, and our
boats not capable of containing more than two-thirds
our nomber, if obliged to have recourse to them.—
Noon : Crew and passengers working unceasingly with
pumps and buckets, iu the hopes of keeping the fire un-
der. Observinr, a great deal of smoke to escape out of
the topgallant forecastle, we immediately filled up all the

searus;nd crevices, and covered all over with a wet sai

About four p.m. made an attempt to get down through
the poop into the after storeroom, and succeeded in
getting up two or three bags of biscuit, two or three
hams, and a small keg of spirits. Eight p.m. ; Divided
the troops, passengers, and sailors in two watches, Lieu-
tenant Temple taking charge of one watch, and myself
the other. They were then told to which boat they
would have to go in case of necessity, so as to have as
little confusion at last as possible. Sixty were named for
the launch, 22 for the pinnace, and 14 for the gig. The
watch was then sotto workagain, and continued through.
out the night to work incessantly and cheerfully. At
daylight oa Monday morning sent one hand up to the
masthead, hoping some sail might providentially heave
in sight, as that was our only hope of escape, the boats
being sure to swamp if made use of. Noon.—Strong
breeze and a dark gloomy atmosphere, all hands working
most indefatigably, and making every effort to keep the
fire under. Six p.m. ; Darkness again closing in without
having seen any sail or signs of delivery. Oh,how anxiously
every eve was directed around the horizon so long as a
blink of daylight remained ! But in vain. Nothing
was to be seen afloat but our burning ship, the smoke
issuing out of every aperture where any air was admitted.
Eight p.m. : Set the watch again, and relieved each
other during the night. Daylight : Sent another look-
out up to the masthead, but nothing to be seen. Six
a.m. : Got some water out of the tank, and found it to
be almost up to boiling heat ; the deck becoming very
much heated. Noon : Strong breeze and cloudy ; no-
thing in sight ; crew all at work, making every effort
to suppress the fire and to keep it from bursting forth.
Six p.m.: Just as night was closing in for the third time,
and with it almost every hope of succour, it pleased God
to bless our sight and cheer our hearts with the sight of
a ship on our weather bow. All hands immediately
got up and gave three cheers, but as darkness was
closing in fast they were admonished not to build their
hopes too high for fear they should not see our sig-
nals, whereby the disappointment would only be the
greater. We immediately commenced firing minute
guns, and burning blue lights, which were immediately
answered, and we had the happiness of knowing that they
were seen, and our signals understood. The ship was
fast bearing down to us. Seven p.m. : She rounded
under our stern, when Lieutenant Temple and myself
went on board to explain our situation. The ship
proved to be the Anna Mooka, from Callao, bound to
Cadiz. Captain Hutchinson promised to render us all
the assistance in his power, and lay by until daylight.
Eight p.m.: Returned on board again, and sent all
the women on board the Anna Mooka. Daylight .
Captain Hutchinson went round the decks with me,
and examined all the holes that bad been cut ; feeling
the heat of the decks, &e. ; his opinion perfectly coin-
ciding with mine and Lieutenant Temple's that she
could not possibly bold out much longer, and that,
as soon as the hatches were lifted, the flames would
ascend. Nothing but the unceasing exertions of the
crew and passengers, and having kept everything bat-
tened down, had kept the ship from being consumed
before. I immediately sent what live stock, &c., to-
gether with the passengers and ensue of the troops,
on board the Anna Mooka, keeping on board
sufficient for the boats to carry without being too
deep. After making the boats fast under the lee
quarter with one or two hands in to keep them off,
I ordered the hatches to be taken off, when imme-
diately the ship was enveloped in a cloud of smoke.
In less than ton minutes the flames burst up
main hatchway ; all hands were then ordered to s) tthe
boats and to shove off, which Lad not been done more
than ten minutes before the mainmast fell over the side
with a loud crash, tearing up the decks and dragging
down the foretopmast and mizen topgallantmast with
it ; in a short time after both fore and nlisenniasts fell.
flame
The ship was now ono livid sheet of from end to
end, and fast consuming.
A
tell, she was nearly burned to dusk, as near as we could
:,
clieiud
the water's
she bad gone
i edge. Nine
p.m.—Nothisg to be seen f
stood to the eastward for St.
Helena.
ray in praise of Lioute
nant Temple,-
dawn,
u. 13 jTeo
who moste31:1:1"" y
yandcheerfully assisted me'
cheering and stimulating the men under his charge by
his own exertions night and day, scarcely ever taking
any rest during tile three days and nights we were on
the deck of our burning wreck I also take opportunity
et expressing my thanks to all the passengers for the
cheerful manner in which they assisted rue the arduous
diities. I must. beg to express our united thanks to
Captain Hutchinson for his kindness and humane con-
duct in rendering us such prompt and efficient assistance,
when every other hope had almost fled, and but for bis
kindness and humanity runny must have suffered saf erely
even after getting on hoard his ship.
" HENRY WALKER,
Late Commander,of ship Polar Star.'
On the arrival of the crew and passengersat St. Helena,
a subscription was commenced by the inhabitants for
the purchase of clothes and other necessaries for their
immediate wants, and to procure passages from the
island,