Star.
London, England, 1829-01-27 00:00:00

THE THAMES.

Nothing can equal the alarm and damage produced
upon the river, by the late very dense frost. The shipping
in the lower pool 'has in a great many instances been
driven from the moorings by the immense floating bodies
of ice, which have continually, upon the return of the
tide. been lotced between thr tiers of shipping. Since
Wednesday last until yesterday, not a single vessel de•
pas ted frum the fiver; the wind first set in heavily from
the N.N.E. and but slightly ve red until about four
o'clock yesterday mtaning, when a heavy fall of rain
commenced, and the vane changed to S by S.W. a
brisk taw commenced, and the ice on the shores broke
up an J swept away towards the mouth i,t the Channel,
and during the entire f the day fl 'aced down the rivet
in great masses. Among the disasters produced by this
accuo.ulat ion of ice, the following have come to our
knowledge.

A large c, llirr brig (the Arabella) was driven by
the force of the current from her m'nring chains and
lines, and su.•k in Limehouse-reach. Ater of about
fifty sail of colliers drifted from Limehouse, and one
or two lost their masts, and others were much damaged.
Several light:•rs were carried away w ita resistless
vetuosity, and three laden with corn capsized and
swamped at Woolwich; one only was recovered at
Erith, where she had been driven ashore. Toe small
craft, early in the danger, wt.re removed ashore, and
the watermen have been altogether unable to put out
from dreir respective stairs. Tr e s•ulors and masters
a the vessels in the centre tiers in the river, in many
instances, were unable to quit the r slips, and only
in some places could assistance b: rendered them from
the shore.

The river yesterday evening was getting tolerably
clear of 0 e icebergs—the vitid is a fine one tor the
channel, and will di ift It 4 way, it ',expected, altogether.

The nut-door thermonieler, which was at 22 on Sun-
day evening, rose to 34 during the night; while the barometer
•
dos ing the same period, sank nearly a whole degree.

We noiiced, irclfllalght •iiice, th t, by the contem-
plated reduc•ion of the Militia Staff, Di om-Major
Clan k, of the Ea-t Devon, would he discharged from the
regiment, after a service of vsty•nine yeas and seventy
days!!! Within these few day, we have had •he hollow•
ing particulars communicated to us relative to the.
mother of chi, veteran:—" In the month of Januat y,
1812 M try Cl/1k made .n application toJohn Hawker,
Esq. at the Guildhall of this borough, retative to some
parochial matters, when, from her extreme old e, th,
worthy Magistiate WAS induced to make some Inqui,le:,
of her. She then gave the following account o• rer-
self and family. She stated that 'she was 'lron'
Dundee, in Scotland, and was one 'hundred years
of age on Michaelmas Day preceding ; she was
baptized in Dundee, at the Ne,. Kirk,and produced her
certificate; her father was named John Gourley, was
a blacksmith by trade, and lived in the Nethergate; she
was married to Philip Clark eighty years ago, before
the rebellion in Scotland ; the Minister who married
her was the Rev. Mr. Davison ; she had eighteen chil-
dren, fifteen suns and three daughters; her husband
had been dead twenty one years; he died on the 15th
day of January, 1791; at his death he was a serjrant
in the royal veteran battalion ; he had been wounded
at the battle of Fontenot; be belonged to the Bth regi-
ment, and was taken prisoner; she was sith him at ihe
battle; Duke William commanded at the tine; five of
her sons were killed in Keppel's battle, and two were
swallowed up in an earthquake, with Captain Bulteel,
of Topsham ; and one of her sons. Richard Clark, was
drum-major of the East Devon militia; she had an
unmarried daughter, aged forty-siz years, living with a
grand-daughter aged twenty." These were the parti-
culars .she gave of herself. From being born in Scot-
land she had no settlement, and she was allowed three
shillings per week from the parish ; but when the par-
ticulars of her life became known—principally through
the exertions of Dr. Stewart, who met its the highest
praise for his humanity—this once respectable old fe-
male received a weekly sum of five %billings; this was
continued up to her death, wh-ch event occur red in Ja-
notary 1817, being then in the 106th year ut her age.
We learn that exertions are making to obtain the churn-
major a pension sufficient to maintain him with credit
doling the remainder of his life.—Plymosith• Ucrald.