The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-06 00:00:00

JOHN SCOTT

has ten horses in training engaged in the Derby of
1853, three of whom have already been backed for a
good deal of money.
Mr. Bowes' b.c. WEST AUSTRALIAN, by Melbourne,
out of his br mare Mowerina (own sister to Cotherstone),
by Touchstone out of Emma (dam of Mundig), by
Whisker, was foaled in April, 1850, and first introduced
to the betting market at Tattersall's on the 3d of last
June—the price 30 to 1. In the following week 40'to 1 '
was laid against him ; but about the end of June he
advanced to 1,000 to 30. With the exception of being
touched upon slightly at York, he was scarcely men-
tioned until the Saturday before the Houghton Meeting
—the consequence of not having run for any of his
heavy engagements at Ascot, Goodwood, York, Don-
caster, and Newmarket First October Meeting. This
was
,owing to his not being quite up to the mark. He
was then backed at 30 to 1 ; and after losing the Crite-
rion to some extent at 25 to 1 ; a proof that the race
was set down for naught by the Ring. The Criterion
running must not for an instant be taken as any crite-
rion of the merits of the horses that ran. The course
was in a frightful state, the pace was slow, and the
winner—Speed the Plough—was not only favoured by
these two circumstances, but also had the advantage of
getting off well in front, wjiere, under Nat's manage-
ment, he contrived to keep West Australian, when he
made his effort, not being able to get any nearer to him
than half a length. On the Thursday following, in the
race for the Glasgow Stakes, the running was reversed.
The ground certainly was not much better, but the pace
was made strong throughout, which resulted in giving
West Australian—whose forte is speed—an easy victory.
Speed the Plough only obtained a bad third place, Fil-
bert getting the second position by a couple of lengths.
After this race West Australian found backers at 1,000
to• 60 ; and at the beginning of November rose to 12 to
1. He has since oscillated between that figure and 14
to 1. He has been backed to win at the least 40,000/.,
about a quarter of which was put on at the Turf Club.
His blood is undeniable ; and although seemingly good
for a distance, yet I doubt his being so. In fact, I think
he will turn out much better suited to the Rowley mile
at Newmarket than the hilly course at Epsom. He is
engaged in the Two Thousand Guineas ; and as, in all
probability, he will run for that race, he ought to be
somewhere about the mark there. It was reported some
time ago that he was within 10 lbs. of Longbow ; and
as it was as much as Pelion could accomplish, receiving
2st. 21bs., to beat Longbow for the Eglinton Stakes at
Doncaster, he must be a clipper if such report was cor-
rect. THE SPIRIT OF THE TURF.

(To be continued.)

DESTRUCTION OF AN EMIGRANT SHIP BY

FIRE.

The Orlando, Captain White, has arrived at Havre
with a number of passengers belonging to the American
ship St. George, Captain Bairson, which had been de-
stroyed by fire at sea. The St. George, it appears, left
Liverpool for New York on the 24th November with
127 passengers and 25 crew—the former chiefly Irish,
and amongst them women and children. The voyage
was favourable enough up to the 24th December, when
in 46 deg. 12 min. lat., and 25 deg. 30 min. long., the
hold of the ship was discovered to be on fire. The cap-
tain caused one of the hatchways to be opened, and set
the fire-engine to play. But the smoke was so thick be-
tween decks that the passengers were obliged to leave.
The flames spread to the part of the vessel between the
main and mizen masts, and were accompanied with such
thick smoke that seven or eight persons were suffocated.
It was now found that it was impossible to check the pro-
gress of the flames, and the captain assembled all the pas-
sengers on deck. Rain was falling, and the horizon was
overhung with clouds ; but fortunately a vessel passed
sufficiently near to perceive the signals of distress. This
vessel turned out to be the Orlando, and she approached
as near the St. George as it was safe to do. Unfortu-
nately she had lost her sails and boats in a violent gale.
The captain of the St. George caused his two boats to
be let down, and they conveyed as many passengers as
they could hold to the Orlando ; but the violence of the
sea was such that one of them was knocked to
pieces against that vessel. The life-boat only remained
to remove 150 persons, but it could not take more than
4 or 5 at a time. Meantime the flames continued to pro-
gress, and the wind blew furiously. The seabecame so vio-
lent that the only means the- passengers had of entering
the boat was to leap into the sea, and let themselves be
picked up. At length, after 64 times passing to and fro,
the boat succeeded in placing 76 of the passengers in
safety on board the Orlando. Of the remaining 51, 15
were drowned, 8, as already stated, were suffocated be-
tween decks, and 28, principally women and children,
fearing to throw themselves into the sea, refused to
leave the burning vessel. All the crew were rescued.
Eventually, the Orlando, fearing for its own safety
from the progress of the flames and the violence of the
sea and wind, was obliged to sheer off, leaving the
twenty-eight unfortunate creatures to their wretched
fate. The rescued persons were almost without clothing,
but the captain and crew of the Orlando did everything
they possibly could to provide for their comfort. It was
feared that a famine would arise in the ship, from the
unexpected demand on her stores ; and as the Orlando
had lost her sails, there was small hope of reaching land
in time. But fortunately the wind was in her favour,
and after 11 days' voyage, she arrived safe at Havre.
Her provisions, by that time, were completely exhausted,
and she only had a few gallons of water. Food was
immediately procured fer the passengers and crews, who
had already begun to feel the pangs of hunger ; and
they were afterwards sent to different lodging-houses,
where they will be taken care of. It is the intention of
some shipowners of Havre to raise a subscription for
their relief.

ANCIENT PROCLAMATIONS.—The Society of Anti-
quariestshe ses ion
finest,of andcollection
these
ofProclaarmeaitnionpso,saindsienegdu,laexlystinfigne
have been placed in the hands of Mr. Lemon, of the
State Paper Office, to arrange for binding, withproper
indices. The collection is weak in parts, especjall as
concerns the reign of Elizabeth, and our object in
men-
tioning the steps now being taken is to induce any of
our readers who may have detached proclamations, for
which they may not care, or duplicates, to contribute
them to the society's collection, so as to render it as
nearly complete as may be. In glancing at a number
of the proclamations a few days ago, the first that met
our eyes was one dated in the reign of Charles 11., 1671,
against the increase of buildings in the metropolis, and
showing that in Windmill fields and the fields adjoining
Soho, small houses were being improperly carried up.—
The Builder.