The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-20 00:00:00

MELANCHOLY • SHIPWRECKS.
EIGHTY LIVES LOST;
The following are the Particulars, so far as they are at
present known, of the loss of two veeeels, the Ida, 55.1 tons
(Bii.ish barque), and the John Minturn (American vessel),
tie wrecks of which were reported at Lloyd's 'al Monday :-
1 The Ida Was commissioned by (lover-emu-et for the OM-
! veyence of stores to eereada. will left the River on the 18th
of 'are Decemire:- our Poresmeutte where she took in 'he
stores, and tinel:y sailed fee St. John's, New BMUSWit*. OH
the 4th ef January. There were on board, besides the
crew (18 in manlier, including the master, Captain Wiliam
Climber), 38 oasecingere, male and female. After her de-
parture nothing wits heard of her utitil Monday rasa, when
the intelligence of her fate was received. A letter, stated to
be written by 111 r. Sherwood, the British Consul at Port-
! land, thus describes her loss:—" On the 26th of January,
bohe,ring in
while
on gat.
scuddingh ebung. 52 30 W., the barque broached
gale
werefr o m
given t
S. E,...c andut a :
ay
the the foremast, but before they had time to do so the barque
ttown 44r ba N.,
i before
fo
ends.r
serene Orders
righted, full of water. Toe captain then ordered the h ng-
boat to be got, under the lee, true other boat ha% ing been lost.
• liately rushed into her proiniscuoue'v,
u
The passengers unmet
Th painter parted, and the beet dropped astern. e land bore
followed by the captain and crew, to the number of 45. The
N.N.E., distant about 30 leagues by observation. The boat
got about two cables length from the vessel, when she ship-
ped a sea, filled, and all in her perished. The mate, nine
men, and one young woman remailued on the wreck, in the
the tops, from Monday morning until Friday morning, when
they were taken off by the schooner Three Sisters, of Eden,
when they were landed much frozen, and in destitute circutn-
steneee, the mate being the only one able to travel."
The Ida was not registered at Lloyd's, and the inquiries
made to ascertain who were her oweets, anclfto know the
names of the passengers, have not been successful.
The fate of the Jolla Minturn and her crew and passen-
gers, aineuntiug to fifty in number, was of a most deplorable
character. The ill-fated whip, a newly built vessel, more than
5,000 tons burden, was bAllid to New York, having, besides
a number of caimiu and steerage passengers, several ship-
wrecked seamen, wi, haul beer, picked up on the voyage. Lp
to satunlay, the 14th ult., the weather was most favourable
fir the voyage, aed they were within three days' sail of her
destinetion. Son after sunset on that day, how-ever, there
came our a stiff breeze from the eastward, which, as the even-
ing advanced, greatly increased. The ship stood N.N.E. till
twelve o'clock, by which period the wind had increased to
a gale. Her course was then altered to the south, and was
kept till daybreak. When the shore was discovered, it ap-
peared to time leeward, about two males distant. The tem-
pestuous weather in the meantime had increased considerably.
Every rail VIM torn almost to ribbons by the violence of the
wiud, and the ship rendered untuminegeable. On the land
being perceived, every nerve was exerted to keep her off; but
unfertunately it was impracticable, as the gale blew direct on
to the coast, and gradually drifted her inwards, and at half-
past nine o'clock she struck with tremendous force. The
succeeding wave raised her, and dashed her with violence on
the rocks, when she broke but did not separate. The horror
and. confusion at the moment of her striking wire terrific,
and when the worst was known every effort (says one of the
survivors, a seaman named King) was made to preserve the
lives tuf those on board, numbering fifty-one, including
passengers. The masts were cut away to ease her, but with
little effect, as she continued to strike fearfully. The yawl
was then cut loose from the stern davits, but the surf
ran so high that before she could be got round she swamped,
and beclune useleas. Tire captain, with his wife, son, daugh-
ter-, servant, and cabin psssengere, took refuge in the poop
cabin, the only place where they could be sheltered from the
violence of the sea, which was pouring over them in all direc-
tions. By great exertion the long-boat was cast adrift, and
launched over the bows. Five of the crew awl a steerage
passenger, a Portuguese, jumped into her, and a long coil of
line was stowed 111 her stern sheets, by which it was intended
to carry a hawser ashore, and she was then shoved off.
On
approaching the land, the men found that it was impossible
to row the line through the breakers, in consequence of the
exposed to the
great pressure on the boat. They resolved on. cutting it away,
altat being the only chance of reaching the shore. All hone
was now lost of saving those on the wreck. Their tufferinge are described as being truly frightful. Being
full violence of the sea, and a piercing cold wind, ice soon formed over the surface of their drenched clothing. In this state they remained until noon, when those who
were alive, fur some had already sunk from their awful suf-
fering, went forward to time forecastle, where they lashed
themselves to prevent the sea from washing them from the
wreck. It is supposed that the captain, his mate, tiled the
pilot remained in the poop, for they were not sten after-
wards; and in the course of an hour the ship parted amid-
ships, and the after part drifted away into the SOIL The re-
maining portion of the wreck then floated considerably in
etrore. In the latter part of the day another portion of the
wreck separated, which carried away the half of those who
were lashed to the forecastle, all of whom instantly perished.
The rest lived a few hours afterwards, till by the combined
effects of the intense frost, and the surf beatiug over them,
they gradually sunk and expired. Between eleven and
twelve o'clock at night a boat was put off to rescue these
who were clinging to other pieces of the wreck, consisting
of two mates, two -of the crew, and four of the steerage
passengers ; and after almoet insurmountable diacultiea
they were preserved, although, as may be readily conceived,
reduced to the last stage of exhaustion. In the wreck of
the forecastle sixteen bodies were found lyieg in a cluster
round the stump of the foremest, and it seemed as if the
unfortunate creatures bad huddled themselves together for
warmth. Among them could be recognised the captain's
wife, his children, and a female steerage passenger, with an
infant at her breast, and so firmly grasped that they could
not be separated. Owing to the quantity of ice that co-
vered the wreck the task of removing the bodies that night
was given up, in consequence of the extreme danger attend-
ing it. On the tollowing morning, at daybreak, they veers
brought ashore, when the beach Nis lined by tke inhabit-
ants of the neighbouring villages. Amongst them were a
desperate gang of wreckers, who plundered every body that
was washed up from the other pieces of wreck. Several of
the passengers were known to have had a large amount of
money about them. Up to the last accounts, thirty-two
bodies were found. The ship had entirely gone to pieces, a
portion of her bottom only remaining, which was embedded
in the amid by the weight of the pig iron which formed part
of her cargo. She was only partially insured.

EXPERIMENTS WITH LIFE-PRESERVING APPARATue
AT WOOLWICH.—On ThursdayAgit Captain Sir Thomas Hastings,
Ent., R.N., clerk Of tl:e Ordnauee; Lieutenant-Colonel Barney, com-
mandant of Royal Engineers at Woolwich, Lieutenant-Colonel
Dundas, C.B. Lieutenant-Colonel Colqaholm, and Captain
Palliser, of the Royal Artillery, assembled at the Royal Ar-
senal to witness experiments to Illustrate a simple mode of cav-
ing the lives of persons when shipwrecked on the sea coasts, of
a plan submitted by Captain Jerninghatn, commanding the sweat
guard at Yarmouth, a station which has afforded him an oppor-
tunity of twititessing in many ease. the complication and limn-
ciency of the plans adopted at present. The experiment& on
Thursday were made :leen a a% Inch bras, mortar, by firing
an anchor, weighing 341b5., wee. on a similar principle to
Porter's auchor, with the exception of its wanting the small
projecting part to give it the first holding quality, and the two
nukes moving on the pivot independent of each other, for the pur-
pose of both being enabled to lie close to the shank when placed in
the mortar. On being fired, the flukes open dlinuieritieilragegthxtrteeenontichdtoproossfeitvittoinitie:
Whene h ) r
firedand haft: tsheectTtimebsyitareqspuriiregd thine united
teen men to drag home the anchor. The experiments were resorted
on Tuesday, in the Marshes at Woolwich, in the presence of Lieu-
tenant-Colenelliundas, C.8.l Lieutenant-Colonel Dansey, C.b., Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Chalmer, As:istant Director-General of Artillery t
Lieutenant-Colonel Barney, Royal :Engineers ; find Captain Palliser,
of the Proof Department at the Itoyej Arsenal. The object of the
experiments on Tuesday was to ascertain the length of the range
by actual measurement, and the best mode of coiling the
ropes for service in severe weather. The range of the
anchor was found to be ISO yards, carrying a two-inch 'rope, arid
when it alighted its holding power was so treat that it required the
united strength of twelve athletic artillerymen to drag it home.
mroinlitearesatitnee,
whedinditago auph,aanit
and appeared greatly superior to the
arrangement et a rope adjusted by a wooden rack, which is far more
.veered remarkably
kaaropet,ly occupiedu
well,poe xra can yw threeo'wooden
cumbersome, and requires a greater number of hands to work it. The
rope used by Captain Jernitwhatn is known by the designation of
.` icll
wherehide leather previously
t o the s
used
shpt,
s and
possesses ;
as when dry and lying tbr some time untied, the latter become.
"manilla."
great." u.
advantages a
half
inch
over thickt h
liable to break when fired. Twelve rounds were fired on Tuesday
with the manilla, which answered the purpose effectually.
SUICIDE.—SUDBURY, MARCH I 6. Yesterday after-
noon, between twelve and one o'clock, another aught and melan-
choly case of suicide occurred in this town, Mr. Alexander Frost,
postmaster, having cut his throat with a razor. It is supposed that a
deficiency n his accounts relative to the Post-office department, with
the anticipation of being shortly removed from his situation. led him
to commit the rash act by Which he has loft his wife a widow, and
four very young children fatherless and wholly unprovided for. Thla
afternoon an inquest was held at the Angel Inn, before William
Dowinan, Gent., termer of the borough, when a verdict of " Tem-
porary insanity" was returned.—Bury Past.
A mistake has been ii,a,3e in the papers which an.,
nounced the arrival of Joseph Buonaparte, ex-Ring of Spain, frosts
America, that individual having died in Italy about two years ago,
rovided t --ey
utehwa t ,fore
utehr rhl
butte-
fell si
butter
Tem-T.—The butter merchants at Brew'; Quay
on Wednesday, received intimation, through the bonding ereeee of tee
a, tn,roUhtletimilmioeduldiatetheefflineecast
Wuraes,
Majesty's Customs, that Government were prepared rat once to is% move the duty of lOs. per cwt. from foreign butter% p
from 130 s. to 128 e., this, added to the 511. per ce
nt Dutch
mwoeulntdnguotabreaeontmStetlialw'
article altogether 13s. per cwt. This roducti d .-
reduces
the
on om not appear to
have affected the price of English fresh batter.
13oD1 FOUND IN THE THANES. weanii
—es ay the body
of a man
oaf found in and names near Bermondaey, which appeared
to be tha a sailor, and had evidently been in '
the water ten or
twelve days. The body now lies at the Bermondsey workhouse, 4
await the Coroner's inqueSt,
WOODEN PAVEMENT.—
Sewers decided on Tuesday. by fort t
y vo es to ono, that Neirgate-
street should be paved vith granite, and that the street should be
closed for that purpose for three weeks, the dissentient being Mr.
Eagleton, Of Niewgate-street. Two years ago the votes in the same
body were forty to one against stone, and in favour of wood, that ono
being Sir Peter Laurie.
-INJURY TO AN ORGAN.—The new organ of St. Olaveis,
Southwark, now in course of completion, was on Sunday last di-
Triaged by some evilly disposed person, who must have gained ad-
mission into the interior by a false key. The action of the great
organ key-beard was tampered with and injured. The new pipes
pinched together at the top, and in one case rent down, the iron
counterbalance of the bellows torn up (an act requiring very consi-
derable force to perpetrate), and the valve of the pedal bellows very
I much damaged. The organ was the first instrument in England
constructed on the principle of a double-double gamut, having a 32-
feet diapason throughout the grand manual keyboard. It has been
two years in the course of perfecting, under the design of Dr. Gamut-
lett, the organist, and had been lately placed
of
certain stops, and
in Mr. Hill,a hands for
completion. A first trial was made on Sunday .
during the morning service the instrnmetit was in good and perftet
order, but at the evening service the mischief perpetrated was so
groat as almost to occasion an impossibility of playing upon it. The
extent of this malicious mutilation was ndly discovered on the
workmen assembling on Monday, but how admission was procured
into the interior is yet a mystery. It is evident that some know-
ledge of the mechanism of an organ must have been possessed by the
perpetrator, as all his
exertleus were directed to those portions of the
instrument which could suffer most from violence.

Too MUCH Tnoum.r..—The newspaper reports from,
the Western Circuit state that at Winchester, the week before inst.
three colliers were Indict:39 for assaulting a woman name. lint.
Edmonds, and robbing her of half-a-crown, her property, The first
'vitnees proved that the prosecutrix was a married woman. where.
upon 3lr •lusticc Erie said, that " as the money in the indictment
was stated to be the property of Lucy Edmonds, and it turned out
that she was a married woman, the prisoners must. be acquitted, be-
name „wried womancouldnot hare half-a-crown afher own." row
thin may seem a very hard case ; and it may appear a Teri' easy
matter for th 6 Legislature to pass an enactment rendering the seed-
&mi. of the person actually robbed sufficient, in a case of felony.
for tharanidity of an fildietlafint. But this change in the law is net
ealled for; that is, there is At. Fe: loos danger oi an insurrection or a
revolution front Its not bitter adopted : why, therefor% should
tars take the trouble, to erect it? _punch
letter from Ronne mentions the death, in that city,
on 414 of Cardinal Mangelli, aid 81.