Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1840-01-23


past seven o'clock in the evening. when, berg II
tween Eslon,s Neck and Cranes Neck. 2 hre 1S'
discovered 10 have broken cut near The smoke PIPE,
among some bales Of cotton which were slowed
near Il. or to which. at least, the hanes sPeeony
.nread. An attempt Mrs then made 10 get cot me
suction pipe, and BY means of water thrown ifosa
IL on The flames, extinguish them lot these sPfesu
with such rapidly, that soon ali accfss TO me .h-
glne was impossible, and il continued to ~oiA ~
i time with fearful rapidly. CaPf. ctai'A' =
would appear, Then determined 70 steer the D"A4t
fof the nearest part og tie Lpne Island spots' p'
10 was last seen 10 the ~heeEbouse vt the bffm.
n Ghe.n minutes. bo.ev er, the engine became m
noseabIe, and the course Of the boat srIesiFa =
bont two miles from the land HIRE she coFttPp-
"a 10 burn until about three o'clock N The fnoiD'Dg'
when what remained u her sank.
/, we're oeedIess 10 attempt TO iescribs fbr scene
~ agonIzed confusion which eHsued among tbe
passengers, aid indeed oil on board, az soon a. lNs
Gre was discovered. No order was presefsea' y
any attempt made TO preserve Il. he iie-DgHe,
,.hich was on board, was thrown over, tcrwafd q
10 uheef. WAS struck BY the paddles, and broken
70 pieces. The Lexington bad three boats besias''
WHICH we're launched by The passengers while snF
was under nlI way, and Immediately swahansa
s,ue twenty OF them who had life preseryefs ABOUT
hem, Jumped over board, and tie rest were "s'
seen as the flames drove them from lhe higher parts
uf the steamboat. c~Iinging in clusters 70 ne easi'
braces, where they hagg, III all went down 'ose
Their.
c,o,a;p billiard. formerly uf The slip MississiP-
pi, d this port, and one OF The passengers, escaped.
When the progress. u The fire was sued as 70 @aSe
no hops, The passengers commenced throwing ihe
deck freight oyei board, probably 10 the expeeta-
ton that some parts OF 1t would remain hos''ns'
and might hr fhe means d saving some OF them
Captain II insisted ia throwing about ten palea
Of cotton overheard. asd leaped on enc Of Them
One OF the fremen OF the boat also succeeoed !"
getting on The same bale, and these TWO, ny means
Of n pie,e of board which they picked up, suceee
ded 10 keeping the bale head on the sea until abo'li
four o'clock il The morning, when the bale capszeo,
but righted again with both Of them on il. until
this time they had kept the upper parts Of their DO
dies comparatively dry, but were now completely
wet to The SKIN. AID now tho fireman brgan 70
despond, talked Of his wife and children, tod espt
n. that bis name was Cox, and that he resided N
Oak street., New York. Captain II endeaeored
to cheer him up, and NJ lost lashed him to The baNe'
bit at about eight o 'clock IN the morning he expfed
At II o'clock, Capt. H.. was rescued BY captain
Meeker, ia the sloop Merchant, Of Southport.
The snme vessel also rescued Captain Manches-
ter. the pilot, and a fireman, named Smith, who
were each on a bale Of cotton. The hreman says
that soon after tie FIRE was discovered, he sought
refuge on the rudder, expecting the boiler "ould
burst, but while there, Two boys, who could not
swim, enIIcated bin to give them his place, when
be consented to, on condition that they threw him
! bale of cotton, VI ich they did, and to which nc
swan. The boat then dtilted some distance ahead
II him, but when her upper works were burned,
he ngain foatcd near her, and saw several OF me
passengers and crew on pieces ofthe wreck. They
all gradually became exhausted, and fell
off.
Captain Manchester, the pilot. adds little 10 the
above particulars; he and the fireman last spoken
of were badly frozen.
We annex a list Of as many passengers rs on dil-
igent inquiry we could learn were on board. we
do not. however. vouch for it's entire accuracy;
though in the min We believe it will be found cor.
rect. as far as It .oes. Captain billiard estimates
The number Of passengers at one hundred and city
but Capt. Manchester says he thinks there were
,ot more than seventy five on board, and We find
latter number il considered al the Office Of
he company TO which the boat belonged, 10 be the
nearest probability. What chance is there that
nv more have been rescued2 Capt. I.illmd says
hat at about eieh t O'Clock in the morning, a schgo-
Ier beating to westward passed him While On the
of cotton, about a mile of. She did not see
i'm, bat it is possible she may have fallru IN with ,
cine &C the other passengers floating on pieces Of
he wteck. The coulsgratior or the boat was seen
-om Norwalk aud Bridgeport, on the Connecticut .
hore. but the state Of the tide and the ice prevtu- '
I'd them from getting out their bonts to g. To her ,
and though the attempt was made, II
,as found impossible To succeed. From the Long
land shote, We have as yet no accounts, aud it IS
,ossible. as the fames must have been still more
i.ible there, that some e~ifectnal assistance nny
been rendered TO the unfortunate beings who :
we're floating on The waves, yet The sea was SO vc-
v high, and The cold so intense, that ii seems a-
nos, a forlorn hope. :
1t is stated in some Of the accounts, that the TIL
ropes we're burned. This is not correct. Cap !
ain tillard says positively, that the boat answer
Il her helm up to the time that her engine step
and that bad she not had metal rods and chains
with her rudder. it would long before
ave been useless. Th9t she was provided with
hem is indisPutable.
Yet we cannot but think the company TO which
he boat belonged are highly censureble for encuin-
,ering her deck with SO much freight, aud p%orticu-
arly with a material so inHammablo as cotton
Ooubly censurable are they in the present instance,
Is we know that not three weeks since a fire broke
,ut on board the same boat among the goods on
leck. which was not exlinguished without consid-
,rable loss. Not only is the danger Of FIRE always
great on hoard Of a steamboat, with metchandize
III around, aud sparks falling among it, but the DIFF
iculty of gp,,ing to the spot which has ignited be-
comes propor,iounhly increased, and prevents is
being cxtinsuished when discovered, as il naturally
will be, before il has gained much Roadway. We
turn to the consideration of this part of the
subject on another day. We quit it now, as will
Inc reader, with the most painful reflections on the
appalling sacrifice of human life, and the bitter sor-
row which has been brought home to many. by
this very unhappy occurrence. Here follows u
list OF passengers as far as ascertained
GEORGIA AND MAINE.
The reference made a few weeks ago to The con
tents of the Message Of the Governor Of Georgia 10