The Sun.
London, England, 1841-09-22 00:00:00

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT SAINT
.1" :MIN'S, NEW BRUNSWICK%
At lialf•p s!t ene o'clock on Thursday afternoon, the
27th of Atust, a fir.i commenced in the ship yard of
Messrs. Owens and Danean, in the adjoining village of
Portland, and before it was stayed it had extended its
ravages over a principal part of that thriving place.
The sad catastrophe is said to hay: had its origin in
tt.e firing of a quantity of chips, and sprinklings of tar,
at the bows of a neg vessel neatly completed in the
ship-yard, by a red-hot bolt which fed from the hands
of one of the workmen engaged in enlarging a hole in
a portion of the ship's rigging. Tee fire immedia ey
communicated from the chips to the bottom of the ves-
sel which had been newly tarred, and soon spread to
all parts of the yard and ship, defying every attempt to
extinguish it. From the ship the flames extended to
workships in the vicinity, and from them to 'the
dwelling-houses fronting on Portland-street, and so rapid
was the work of destruction in this vicinity, that a great
quantity of the contents of the dwellings near the ship-
yard was consumed in the house.i, the dense smoke
which arose from the yard contributing to prevent all
ingress after a short titn-.
The wind was from the south-west, which drove the
burning cinders, &e., into the open &ids, in rear of
Fort Howe, and did not endanger the safety of property
so much as woullhavo been the case lied the wind bean
however, in
from any other quarter One building,
tbat district, the Old Gun House on Fort Howe, took
fire from cinders falling coon it, and was consumed is
a few minutes.
The number of boil Hogs destroyed cannot be less
than 60, and among them were many large three and
four story houses, several newly-erected dwelling-houses,
and a Wes!eyan Methodist meeiing-house. Tout was
also consumed a superior vessel of about 900 tons, ready
for launching.; together with all the ship-buildi, g
tools, implements, &c., belonging to Messrs. Owens and
Duncan.
The lass, we are sorry to say, has fallen chiefly upon
persons who are quite unnWe to bear it. Many of the
owners of the houses bad their all itif ested in their pro-
perty', and were supporting d e nselves by their own
honed industry—and the greet..ir portion of the tNia ,ts
were persons in poor circumstances, depending upon
their daily earnings for m iintenance.
The fire raged without irvermisiiion for nearly five
hours, and consumed proi:erty, of the value of which
no correct estimate can ')et be formed, but which ;s
supposed to. amount to 25,0001.
We have been handed the following estimate of the
losses, &e. :-53 houses burned and puled down, valued
at 17,500/. ; Wesleyan chapel burned, 2,0001. ; ship
on the stocks, partly rigged-, 7,0001. S; rigging, &c., not
in the ship, 1,000/ ; furniture, coons, &e., destroy eI,
2,5001. ; making a total of 30,0001. 200 families,
containing 1,150 people, have been turned out of house
and horne..6oo of whom may be said to be in distrear.—
New Brunswick Paper.

REMOVAL OF THE WRECK OF
THE HOYAL GEORGE.
During the three weeks that have elapsed since our
last notice of these operations, :he m.litary divers, still
the only ones employed, have been very zealous and
successful in getting up large ceiantities of timber,
which have been deposited -in the dockyard. At the
time when Colonel Pesky commenced his operations
the whole starboard side, as well as the bows and stern
ef the wieck, were perfect, standing upright up to the
• level of tie lower deck, and in some parts higher ; but
the larboard or south side of the wreck, which leaned
over when the vessel sank, had etiltan to pieces, and lay
prostrate on the bottom, covered with mud. This part,
the most troldesome of the whole, t r the share of
Lance-corporal JOllO3 (workbag .from,, No. 4 lump for
each diver has I.is district), whet- from the first declared
his hope of grt:ing down to the original bottom 'm-
bar the larboard bilge, upon which the whole weight of
the vessel rested. This object he accomplished with great.
sagacity and perseverance towards the cod of last month
having, after removing the timbers on that side, got up
about 300 superficial feet of the outside planking covered
with copper ; under which he found the original ground
on which the bilge of the larboard side of the ves,tl
had rested, which was very smooth, and had been so
compressed by the pressure of that enormous weight,
that he could scaiictly force his iron pricker - into it.
Private Sktion afterwards cleared his way also to the
original bottom from the other side of the same lump.
Corporal Harris, working from No. 5 lump, was much
impeded for several days by a mass of coals coagulated
into a sort of concretion ; to remove which Lieutenant
Hutchinson, ordered some small charges of 191 b. and
of 511 b., and finally one of 1601 b., to be fired succes-
sively in the centre of the mass, which dispersed this
obstacle ; after which the same diver who pl-reed all
(nee° charges slung a very large fragment of this
mass, which had been blown out of the crater
produced by the last explosion, measuring about
I nine feet in circumference, which, on bring
hauled up to the surface, was cut in two by the chain
slings, and fell to the bottom; but a basketful' of
coals which he brought up were of good quality and
burned well. This explosion took place on the 11th
instant,. and enabled Corporal Harris to get up a good
deal of thnher from the spot, and amongst which was
a piece of the kelson, recovered three days afterwards,
, measuring 27 feet in length, and about 19 inches square,
with the scarfs at both ends, as well as notches on its
lower surface, by which it rested on the floor timbers,
and the mortices on its upper surface all perfect,
At the afternoon slack tide of the same day he re-
covered another piece of the same, which had been
• broken by an explosion, as it only measured nine feet in
length. Some spare axletrees of gun-carriages, from the
gunner's store-room, have also been recos er a i, together
with the cap of the mainmast, halt split across on one
side, and an iron fid, as well as some pieces of iron ballast,
which, from the very soft state of their outside surfaces, as
well as from their unusual weight and size, must have be-
longed to the wreck. Lance-corporal Jones also recentiy
fell in with, and got in, some shir,gle ballast, which,
being a great impediment to his progress-, will be scat-
tered like the coils by sonic small charges of gunpowder.
•PrivEce Williams, who works the portion of the wreck
formerly possessed by Mr. George Hall, has been no
less indefatigable and successful in sending up timber
from the wreck than his brother soldiers, but has not
met with anything curious. In addition to the half:
anchor creepers, and to the rake with teeth, a flat
scraper or rake without teeth, measuring la feet in
length, and 18 inches in del,th or height (mule in the
dock-yard, at the suggestion of Lieut. Hutchinson),
has ben drawn over the shoal to deer array the mud,
during the height of the present sving n which
period the diving is always. discontinued for two or
Circe days. Tire souodings tasen by that olliterr last
week indicate a very great diminution of the height of
the shoal since the commencement of the operations of
the present season.

SUSPECTED MURDER AT DEPTFORD.— On
Saturday the neighbourhood of Deptford was thrown
into great alarm, by a report that an old man named Wm.
Beckworth, alias "laggards, who was•upwards 'of seventy
years old, living at New King-street, Deptford, had been
discovered murdered in his bed. The unfortunate man
was lying quite dead, with severe injuries upon his head
and face t his eyes were black, and his mouth full of
blood, quantities of which had flowed on the pillow and
bedding. It appears that the deceased had married in
July last a girl about 20, of a notorious character, named
Taylor, since which they have frequently' quarrelled,
and she has been heard to say she would be the death of
him ; and, from their having been heard to quarrel
during the night, strong suspicions are attached.to her. At
the time of the marriage the old man was possessed of
nearly four hundred pounds, which had been spent in
licentiousness and drinking. Information having been
forwarded to Mr. Carter, the Coroner, a post mortem
examination was directed, and the inquiry took piece at
the Freemasons' Arms, Deptford, last evening. Mr.
Edward Downing., the first witness, a surgeon, residing
in High-street, Deptford, after describing the wounds,
gave his opinion t hat they were the effects of violence,
either from a fall or a blow. A person might receive an
injury, and effusion and extravasation, as was the case
here, might come on a week afterwards, and cause
Oeath in a few hours. Mr. John Atkins, surgeon,
of Union. street, Deptford, corroborated the above
evidence, and thought the injuries had arisen from
violence, and had caused death. Witnesses were then
called to prove that the deceased and his wife were con-
stantly quarrelling, and often fought ; that about a week
ago they went with a party of friends to Erith in a small
boat ; that the deceased knocked his wife over into the
river, but she was saved ; that the old man was then
struck by a man named Eustace, who was in the boat
that he was alto knocked down by his wife, and that his
eye was bleeding for about two hours after their return.
These witnesses,
loose and contradictory manner. Sergeant Lovell,
vita
however, gave their evidence in a must
policeman, proved that he bad on several occas.iotrLs
wife
nessed the most cruel treatment on the part t
and Eustace towards the old man.
that further evidence would be necessary ;
- but from
therefore be better to adjourn the inquiry
The Cori`oe
‘rv,snallftli
iduit'llye wife of the
what had already transpired Eustace
They were thi n
deceased must be given into custody.withstrict ceders to al-
lboowt ho lfnnmodceodmomv curn
communication.
polices
ONE OF THEIR OWN
• TORY OPINION
deserted by its elected. representative
the
patient party to which the de-
LIGHTS.-It rarely happeneOss,eFnw'
tbiveel
satlkraet, cf
aont:,stthieturesnecayr:
receives a new candidate 0
as they- wood have received thesame
de-
serter belpngs as
of such
to be held cheap, andtreated
as
constituencies do not .
convenience whims,f
individual in other more agreeable circumstances. Indepen-
denth the
cordially
tfssie4 aspirations,,
if they were mere instriimettsesrupserr.rsevineanitto
men as 11 r. Alterman thompsen. We believe we are dying a
permanent goof to. the Conservative cause, when we plainly
our opinion, that the conduct of Air. Aldermat
e%Prt• • the severest censure—that the loss of the
Thompson merits
seat for Sunderland to the Conservative party is mainly to be
ascribed to his vanity, ignorance, and presumption—and that
he has proved himself to be a man who is capable of sacrificing,
the interest and the cause of his country to his own low and
selfish schemes of personal ambition —.Hominy Post.
A few days ago a workmal, un ler treatment
in the Hotel Dieu, for brain fever, in the temporary absenge
of the person who attended upon him, rose from his bed, and
rushing up,n ;he terra-e, plunged from thence into the river.
eu.dr,c:,s Li the ,%;;.tei- bad a salutary effect upon the pa-
tient, who, being a good swimmer, struggled successfully
aea'nst•the current, and having effected a landing in safety, ho
was conveyed by some municipal guards, who were on the
spot, to the hosfital.