The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-02 00:00:00

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE OF TWO lIUNDRED
EMIGRANTS.-SHIP ON FIRE.

The recent arrivals from Australia furnish the details
of a most marvellous escape from destruction by fire of
the emigrant ship John Melhuish, Captain Jenkins
commander, with upwards of 200 passengers on board,
in lat. 39.11 S., long. 19.57 E., while on her voyage to
Sydney from London.
The alarming occurrence took place on the 11th of
December last. On that day three seamen, named John
Hedges, Dennis M‘Gee, and John Salmon, with the
chief mate Hall, and the purser, R. Irons, were engaged
in the main hatchway hold, gettiag the ship's stores
forward ; the seamen being the whole of the morning
engaged in the after part of the hold, the mate being en-
gaged in the fore part. Just before 12 ()clock the mate
ordered the seamen to remove a case which was lying
ac,cminst a brandy ca,sk, pa rt of the ship's cargo in the fore part
of the hold, and then asked for a light. The light being
handed to him, the mate went with it at once to where
the brandy cask was, but for some cause he almost di-
rectly afterwards ordered the men to replace the case,
and afterwards to again remove it. After moving the
case a third time, the mate ordered the three seamen to
go on deck to pump ship, and he followed ; but while
the men were at the pump he was seen to go down the
hold again with a naked light, and proceed at once in
the direction of the brandy cask, and about ten minutes
afterwards the passengers were startled by his rushing
up from the hatchway enveloped in a blue flame, with
consternation and fear depicted on his face, exclaiming,
in a loud sort of scream, "The ship's on fire, the ship's
on fire." He ran into one of the passenger's berths,
where blankets being thrown over him, the fire about
him was put out.
One of the passengers, named Hayward, suspecting
that the mate had been taping the brandy cask, and bad
let the spirit escape and ignite, lost no time in stripping
off his coat and waistcoat, and with some water, which
his wife supplied him with, he succeeded in partly ex-
tinguishing the flames. Perceiving, however, that the
fire was being fed by the spirit, which was escaping in
large quantities from a hole in the brandy cask, round
which the flames were most intense, he jumped down
and put his thumb in the hole to prevent the escape,
but the hole being large and rough the brandy continued
to flow, which igniting, the blue flawse ran up his arm,
and set fire to his shirt, hair, and clothes. Fortu-
nately, at this juncture, Captain Jenkins jumped down
to his assistance, and prevented, with the aid • la,
bucket of water, Mr. Hayward meeting with a horri-
ble death. The pumps being got into operation, hose
were laid down to the lower hold, and a stream of water
brought to play on the casks on fire, the passengers
passing down wet blankets and wet sails to throw over
the flaming spirit, which partly overflowed the deck. By
these arrangements, with the coolness and firmness dis-
played by the captain, the fire was extinguished, and the
brandy cask got on deck. It was quite evident had not
Mr. Hayward acted in the prompt and heroic manner
he did, the brandy cask, with the increased quantity of
fire around it, must soon have burst ; and the fact of
there being no less than 270 casks and cases stowed
along with it, nothing could have prevented the instant
destruction of the ship and the 240 souls on board.
Just as the fire was put out, the mate came out of the
cabin and, sitting on the covering of the hold, said to
the captain. " Some - villain has been at the brandy,'
when the captain, whose suspicions were excited by
the information he had received, eyed the mate intently,
who turned away his face, and said no more. In the
afternoon of the same day an inquiry was instituted by
order of the captain, and, at the close of the proceed-
ings, the mate was placed under confinement. An
inquiry was also held on the purser, who, however, was
declared innocent of any participation with the mate.
The passengers subscribed for a gold watch and chain
as a testimonial and acknowledgment of his heroic con-
duct, and it was presented to him on the 13th of Dec.
The female passengers also presented Captain Jenkin4
with a gold watch, as a testimony of their app
his of
his conduct on the occasion. On the ship's arrival
Melbour n e the chief trial, was
thenhaded over t h
thorities to undergo on charge of breaking
cargo.

BATTERSEA-PARK.—Yesterday a bill in the ominous
was printed, brought forward by bile
enable the Battersea-park Commissioners to give 1,5001.
for the
par purchase of common rights over the site of the
k, to the churchwardens of the parish.