The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-04 00:00:00

MELANCHOLY SHIPWRECKS

A correspondent from Lerwick has sent us the fol
lowing account of two distressing shipwrecks which
occurred off the south coast of Shetland on the 213:
and 22d of January, by which several lives have been
lost :

" All this week it has blown furiously from the
south and south-west. It is most distressing to hear
of the wrecks that are still taking place. A large
Dutch, or rather a Prussian ship, has been wrecked
on Noss on Thursday last, and out of twelve only
two saved. She was in ballast, but had a
great deal of money on board, which she
had received for her cargo. It is one of the most
melancholy shipwrecks that has happened here
yet, as it was ten o'clock in the morning, and near
the shore, and plenty of people witnessing it; and
still no assistance could be rendered the drown-
ing men for the fearful sea that was running.
It is a curious thing that all the men
could swim but the two that were saved, and
still they were all drowned but these two. The
captain and mate, after putting a great deal of
money on their persons, jumped overboard, expecting
to swim to land, when they were soon dashed to
pieces by the broken wreck and rocks; six were on
the mainmast when it broke, an all were
lost ; the two saved got on a piece of the
deck, and with the greatest difficulty were saved
by the people throwing a rope with wood and stones
attached to it, and then were pulled ashore, much
crushed and bruised; one of them is not able to be
out of bed yet. It seems they were quite close to
their own place, when the storm arose and drifted
them off to here. On Thursday morning they
saw Sumbury Head, and one of the sea-
men, who had been a fisherman, and in
Shetland before, volunteered to the captain to take
them into Lerwick harbour, and so the charge of the
vessel was given over to him, and he had mistaken
Noss Sound for Bressay Sound, and the conse-
quences have been what I have described.
Poor creatures ! when the accident happened,
they had only one biscuit on board, and been
living for some days on oranges. Next
day (Friday) there was another most distressing
thing occurred : it was a fearful gale and sea at the
time, when a huge ship was seen close in to the point
of Bressay, .showing signals of distress, but no boat
could put off to her; one Bressay boat attempted
it, but had to desist for their lives, so on she
went to her destruction, it is supposed ; for
it is believed she will never be heard of,
or then wrecked on the' Skerries. The Giffords, the
pilot-men, went to the itony-hill, and with their
glass saw her passing on just on the' Skerries.' She
is supposed to have lost her rudder, and drifting at
the mercy of the wind. I believe the vessel was a
foreigner."—.Edinburgh Advertiser.

DISTRESS IN PAISLEY.—A. meeting of Noblemen,
Commissioners of Supply, Justices of the Peace, and
Magistrates of towns, in the county of Renfrew, was
held in Paisley on Tuesday, to take into consideration
the distress prevailing among the operative population
of Paisley and neighbourhood. The Right Hon. the
Earl of Glasgow officiated as chairman. A very distress-
ing account was given by various speakers of the poverty
and want prevailing in Paisley, and of the inability of
the rate-payers to provide the funds requisite for their
relief. Mr. Farquharson stated that of 7,800 residenters
in the town liable to be assessed, there were 5,000 under
5/. of yearly rent ; and while the Parochial Board
required the sum of 3,0001. for the ordinary poor this
year the assessment levied was 8,0001, of which only
1,0531. had been raised. For his own part he believed
of the town, so that it was morally impossible for the
that 7,5001. would not cover the expenditure for the poor
collector to get the assessment. A letter was read from
Provost Murray, stating that he had an interview with
Sir George Grey and other officials, with the view of
interceding for Government interference in the case, but
that he had been unsuccessful, Fir George stating that
the responsibility rested with the Parochial Boards.
Several gentlemen entered into details regarding the
expense of maintaining the unemployed, and as to the
condition of the poor. There were 6,000 persons on the
list depending on public charity, and though each re-
ceived only at the rate of Is. per week, the relief com-
mittee were 8001. in debt. Paisley, one of the speakers
remarked, was differently circumstanced from any other
town in Britain, the rental was so very low, and there
was such a wide disparity between the rich and the poor
inhabitants. The state of the poor was such as very few
had any correct comprehension of. On consulting with
a distric!. surgeon on the matter. he informed him that
he bad found 300 dwellings in which there was neither
furniture, fire, nor cooking utensils, and he b
hat elieved
there were other 600 in the same situation ; tunless
something was done to get money—unless the Govern-
ment gave the power of an extended assessment—they
would never be able to support the poor of the town. It
was ultimately agreed that a voluntary assessment of 3d.
per pound should be raised on the real rental of the
county, with a recommendation that the Abbey Parish
pay id. After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, the
meeting broke up.

The Eeclesiaitical Commissioners for England had a
general meeting yesterday, at their office in Whitehall-
place.