The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 22, 1853.

THE FIRE AT WINDSOR CAST

-
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.I
WINDSOR, MONDAY MCI]
At 10 o'clock this morning an inquiry was h`f
Castle, respecting the cause of the fire. It was
by Prince Albert, the Lord Chamberlain, an
the principal officers of the Royal Household.
the witnesses examined was Mr. James Braidw
Superintendent of the London Fire Brigade,;
believe, was of opinion that it arose from a defd,
of the flues in the Prince of Wales's Tower.
calcined state of the brickwork forming t
there is every appearance of a fire havil
smouldering for several days. The inquiry wa;
private. A report, however, will be framed of
dence adduced, and that will be made public.
The London Fire Brigade, with their engi'
tinue to have charge of that portion of the Cast
the fire broke out.

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Some surprise has been expressed at the delay exhi-
bited in sending for the aid of the London brigide, two
hours having elapsed from the period of the fire being
discovered to the message being sent to town. It is con-
sidered just possible that, had Mr. Braidwood been ap-
prised of the outbreak at,an earlier stage, he could have
got a number of engines drawn within an hour,
and could have rendered important service in pre-
venting the progress of the destructive element to the
extent it unfortunately did. In such a case of emer-
gency it might be expected that the authorities would
have taken care, when the London engines were sent for,
to have had the line clear for the special train. However,
such was not the case, its progress was much retarded by
goods train, and the brigade did not reach the Castle
until 2 o'clock.

The gates of the Castle are strictly closed to the pub•
li; and will remain so for a few days.

A THRILLING INCIDENT AT SEA-SIXTEEN
LIVES SA VED.

(From, the New York Tribune.)
We have been kindly favoured with the following
extract of a private letter from Marcus Spring, Esq.,
of this city, giving an account of the saving of the brew
of the Scotch barque Jesse Stevens, by the steamer
Pacific, on her last passage from here to Liverpool.
We are sure that no one can read this simple narrative
without something of the emotions it so vividly ex-
presses :

One morning, while lying wrapped up in blankets,
overcoats, &c., on the sofa, the wind, and sleet, and
snow] roaring round the heaving ship, one of the pas-
sengers came down and reported that a wreck had been
seen in the midst of the storm, and men clinging to it,
and calling out, " Save us ! Save us !" Though so
nearly stupified as to care for nothing, even if we had
been the wrecked ones ourselves, and hardly believing,
at first, if it could be so, I roused myself; and sure
enough, all my own stupid and selfish feelings, all
nausea and headache, and all murmuring spirit in view
of our own condition, were instantly dissipated, and
gave place to the heartiest sympathy and earnest prayers
for sixteen poor fellows in a shattered barque, with sails
torn and streaming in the wind ; masts all wrenched off
and swept away, and the water rushing through the
sides of the vessel, as she rose now and then on a high
wave, the sea rolling over her, a perfect flood, every
minute.
Our ship had stopped .her engines, and was hovering
about, coming near enough, in the brief intervals of
the storm, for Captain Nye to speak through his trumpet
a word of encouragement. The captain had been sick
with a violent cold and inflammation of the lungi (the
first time, I think, since he became a captain), but this
had called him from his bed, and, dressed in his great
tarpaulin coat, with his hat drawn.; over his ears, a
sailor holding him from falling as he stood upon the
steep deck, the ship tumbling almost over on its sides
at every roll, his fine face flushed with excitement, as
the wind and sleet dashed into it, and against him, as if
they would take him off his feet ; his trumpet in his
hand, and, raising above the roar of the storm his voice
of command to engineers, sailors, &c., to go on or stop,
or go to the other side of wreck, trying to keep near
it, and avoid dashing against it, to the certain ruin of
all.

All this lasted for an hour or more, while we pas-
sengers on the upper deck, holding on to ropes to keep
us from being dashed overboard, and watching the poor
fellows, when the mists, and clouds, and spray, gave us
an opportunity to see them climbing the wave in their
shattered barque, all looking anxiously towards us, and
waving hats and hands. The rolling of the sea, some
movement on deck, and something I heard the Captain
say, made me fear it was a hopeless case, and we should
have to go and leave them, when all at once a gleam of
light broke from above, and a splendid rainbow appeared
on a dark background of clouds behind us. It seemed,
indeed, a Heaven-sent sign of hope and promise, and I
eagerly scanned the upturned faces of the wretched crew
to see if they did not hail it as such, but I since learn they
interpreted it in accordance to the sailor's adage :
" A rainbow in the morning,
Is the sailor's warning ;
A rainbow at night
Is the sailor's delight."
While I supposed the bow of promise was filling their
hearts, as it was mine, with joy and gratitude, the Cap-
tain seized the moment of a lull in the storm to say to
Tompkins, his third officer (blessed be the noble-hearted
fellow !), "Are you willing to risk going in the life-boat
to their rescue ?' " Ready and willing," was the prompt
reply ; and soon the beautiful boat, with Tompkins and
three sailors, was bounding over the foaming waves.
They had a rope soon drawn from ship to barque, passing
through the life-boat. The brave little company were
soon under the stern of the wreck, receiving with their
open arms, as they were dropped or thrown down (for
some were so stupified with wet and cold, they had to
be thrown into the boat), the dripping sailors of the
Jesse Stevens. The waves ran so high it was un-
safe to lie near the wreck, so the boat was hauled up
by rope, at intervals, near enough for them to drop
in one or two men—then they would slacken the
rope and let the boat recede, before the returning
wave should come and dash them together ; then they
would return, in like manner, for one or two more ;
and finally all were safe in the boat, and we only
hoped that they would get it back to the ship with its
freight of saved lives. Proudly again it bounded over
the billows with its heavy load, as if it had been a swan
or a sea-bird, and though several times, when it went
out of sight in the trough of the sea, we trembled lest we
had seen it for the last time, it still mounted the top of
the next wave and dashed down the watery hill-side
towards us, again to rise and descend till they reached
our ship's side, when a hundred men, with boisterous
shouts and ropes let down, with nooses at the ends, soon
hauled up every man of them. And so sixteen nice,
respectable Scotchmen, from Augustine, on their way
home from Canada, with a load of lumber, are fellow
passengers with us, with thankful hearts only and no
lumber, and will reach home before they are looked for
to tell of their marvellous escape.
Since this incident, certainly the most heart-thrilling
and sublime it has been my lot to witness, and well
worth, we all say, all the sufferings of the voyage, we
have all been in better spirits, and have slept, I imagine,
with more grateful and happy dreams. We had a meet-
ing of passengers, and raised five hundred dollars as a
purse for Tompkins and the three men who aided him.
Tompkins looks very happy as he walks the deck, and is
a great favourite with us all.