The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-23 00:00:00

THE WRECK OF THE RUSSIAN SHIP Arto

The Board of Trade has forwarded the following
letter to the Collector of Customs at Wick, in 1.14;
spect to the noble and daring conduct exhibited
a party of fishermen at the recent fatal wreck of the
Russian schooner Ahti, in the Pentland Frith
" Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade,
Marine Department, Oct. 20, 1856.—5ir,-1 am
directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy'
Council for Trade to inform you that my Lords
„
have carefully considered the report of the tiec
troller on the circumstanees attending the Wreak'
of the ship Ahti, of Wasa, and the gallant reso,u,,
of two of the crew of that vessel by Dona
Thompson, Donald Lyell, John Dunnett, Jain
Murray, and John Nicholson. lam to reclio
that you will inform these men that my
entertain the strongest sense of the skill, eollrabt;
and humanity which they displayed, and thatdoj
mark their approbation they have awarded a oletor
to each of them, and have also given directions
the distribution among them of the sum of 16/"5/
the following proportions :—Donald Thompson',
Donald Lyell, 21. 10s.; John Dunnett, 21. 1,1°"
James Murray, 21. 10s.; John Nicholson, 2/. 17:
The medals are in preparation, and when rea .
will be forwarded to you. A draught for the O
1_""_
of 151. is enclosed, which you are requested
..
cash, and to divide in the proportions stated abos;
You are also requested to transmit receipts ,fr()„,_
the men to this depot on the form enclosed. 111..7
&C., T. H. FARRER. To the Collector of Custow-,
Wick." The following is a copy of the Wick Offs
troller of the Customs report to the Board of errn
of the conduct of the men on the occasion referruk.
to :—" Sir,—ln reply to your order of 10th inst.,
annexed, respecting the saving of life off Ham fr°lll ,
the schooner Ahti, on 16th ult. it affords me Plea:
sure to state that the conduct Of the five fishermen 2
of Scarfskerry has been noble. On witnessing to°
melancholy event Donald Thompson, fisherraant
with four others, launched a boat at 6 a.m. from
Scarfskerry, a narrow, natural, and very ruggea
.
creek, about one mile to leeward of the wreck.e
On getting to the entrance the sea was so terrifi
the rowers would go no further. Thompson then
went on the cliff opposite the wreck, and on seeing
the people perishing he started from the crowd,
and begged that a crew would go with him. All
saw the great danger. Two of his first crew volun-
teered, viz., two and three, and were followed by
four and five. They launched the same boat again/
and after a desperate struggle got through the sail
at the entrance into the Pentland Firth, rowed
against a terrific sea and heavy gale to the wreckr
where they were half an hour, every moment in dan-
ger of being thrown on the vessel by the strong wind-
and heavy sea. After getting the two exhausted sea-
men into the boat they had to encounter their great-
est danger, to row against a very strong ebb tide witlr
the sea meeting it, and this in the Pentland Frith--
a place of terror to all who know it. This took one
hour and a quarter, the sea running so high that
at times the boat could not be seen by the peoPle
on the cliff. The following is an extract from an,
official letter from the acting principal Coastguard
officer at Thurso, who was on the spot on Tuesday
afternoon, and who is an excellent boat sailer, was
reared on the Pentland, served his time to the set"
for the last five or six years, and has been eeir
stantly boarding vessels in Scrabster Roads as tide"
waiter. This letter is the more valuable from his
not knowing that it would be made any use of for
the benefit of the men. I never witnessea
such a terrific land surf as was at Ham.
seen life-boats thrice uo off to wrecks, but nevrt.
er
thought a yawl could have survived to raw'
the wreck with the heavy sea that was roll
on shore. ' Had not Thompson persevered co Wit
would have gone off. A stronger evidence of the
value of the services rendered cannot be given than
the estimation theircouduct is held in by the county
magistrates, as embodied in a testimonial passe,
by them on the 30th ult. at their half-yearly woe":
ing. This being the first case of the kind here
since the new law came into operation, 1 would re;
spectfully suggest that their Lordships would ad'
their approbation to that of the magistrates, in ad-
dition to any pecuniary reward, for I feel satisfied
it would act as a great stimulus to others, 5h007.,
such a painfui affair occur again, by holding up this
brave action.—C. W. PEICII, Controller."