Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-10-12


extract from il The following;
GisRALrAR, Angus, %, 1913
Afer paying the customary honors to the
Governor, by salutes from tho ship, the Hon.
Mr.. Gushing and myself came on shore to
pay our personal respects, first 10. our consul,
Mr.. Sprague, who, afterwards, accompanied
us TO The Governor, Sir Robert Thomas VIII
son.
| We remained on shore and spent the sfteI
noon with our consul, intending to return tn
the ship in the evening. and ] had order
ed my boat TO be on shore Tor Us by y
o'clock. At about 8 O'Clock o message was
brought to me that the Missouri was on fire.
When arrived on board. which was in about
twenty minutes perhaps, from the moment
received the startling intelligence, found
the flames rnging with violence. and the
officers and crew exertipg thonselvesto the
utmost To overcome them. t..
The powerful pumps on board had with
aacrity been rugged, with their hose q,
tnchcd, and were in operation those men
who were not at the pumps, were employcc
10 drawing and passing water IN buckets, and
pouring it upon the flames. Al single
glance. however, discovered the prudence
of fooding the after magazine, which was
mmc cdiaiely done the forward one having
already. very prideDily, been ordered TO be
flooded before | reached the ship soon after
did so, two engines in large boats, vel
manned came alongside.
These were sent off by Sir Rober, Th ON.
as Wilson. the Governor, and at one time
was in hopes the devouring element was con-
quered, but the hn,tering hope was soon dis
sipated by its breaking ont again with IN.
creased violence this only increased the
energies and zenlous efforts OF The officers
and crew of the Missouri, and our friendly
anxiliaries, until they were driven from their
stations by the farnes.
When ! saw that there was not ray oi
hope left 10 save that noble ship, summoned
u council of the officers, aud those English
officers who were near me, to ascertain Their
views they quickly and unanimously de-
cided there was no hope lcft OF saving the
ship. therefore gave the order for every
person to quit her without delay and without
confusion, for by this time there was very
little space remaining for those on board to
stand clear of the flames and smoke the
wind had increased, and the ship was IN
flames lore and aN; the crew Immediately
took to the water, and received The ready as
sisionce Of boats, anticipating the exigcn
cies, from her Britannia Msjesty's ship Mala-
bar. and from the vessels in the harbor.
Such was the state of the ship, when the
officers and crew were compelled to give her
up, they saved nothing bu, what they stood
in.
Ahcr had seen every person out Of the
ship, lowered myself down by a rope from
the starboard wheel-honse, and was taken on
board one Of the boats in waiting. This oc-
Cured at half past I o'clock.
Fortunately the magazines did not explode
until 3 O'Clock in the morning. so completely
were they funded and, as they exploded
under water, the shock was not severely felt
At the polite invitation Of Sir George Sarlo
rus. the crew were sent on board his ship,
the Malabar, and have remained there until
to day. have had them removed to ship
chartered for the purpose of conveying them
and the officers to The United States.
The ship chartered is the Rajah Of GOO
tons, Of Boston, and bound to that port, and
will sail in eight days from this date. have
had the crew employed as well as lighters
from the shore, IN saving Ms much OF the
property rs possible from the wreck +; the
guns, anchors, chain cables, &c., will probo.
bly, be recovered in time TO send them by the
Rojah, aud all such articles us con be got
from the wreck before she sails the remain
der will be sent to the United States by the
next vessel which sails from this.
The machinery, boilers, and many valuable
parts will he recovered. After saving all
that is valuable or can be of any use what
ever, will rcqnes, Mr.. Sprague, our consul.
To sell the remainder TO the hest advantage.
Until to-day, have not been enabled To ns-
certain any satisfactory evidence as to how
the fire originated. The following, sir, is the
Testimony of three coal heavers, who were
at work ut the time in the engine room, and
IN the vicinity where the fire broke out. ]
will state the circumstances in their own
words taken down as they related Them:
John Sutton states that "atout ten minutes
to eight o'clock J went into the starboaid en-.
ginecr's STORE room, with globe lantern, to
get o PAR Of beam scales TO weigh coal,
WHICH They were at that time taking in; ~
getting down The scales q wrench fell aud
broke a glass dcmij john, containing spirits %!
inrpentlne wiped up os much ns could I:
then went down to the cylinder where they
were at work to see how much Of the spirits
had run down.
II was on my way TO the chief engineer to
report the circumstance OF breaking the
demijohn, and had Just got on the berth deck
ladder. und had moi reached the spar deck be-
fore heard the cry Of fire. | turned round
imme diately and saw the fame bursting up
through the gratings above The steam chest
| ran on deck, got fire bucket aud endea-
vored TO extlnguish the fame"
Il w illiam J. Williams states, 81 was BY the
starting oars in the engine room, at work on
the outside Of the cylinder; we heard some.
thing dropping down, and we sung out to
Sutton not to be dropping his water here, (for
there was usually bucket OF water kept in
the store room above y he said you need mo-,
be afraid, no more would be coming down /;
we went on in our work, and the first thing
hoard Clum sing out fire q, the same time
! saw the fame burst up suddenly from the
felt and canvass which was around the steam
chest. jumped with Clum 10 the steam
chest and pipe, and endeavorcd TO haul the
felt of, which we were not able to do; | then
went TO work to try aud extinguish H."
| Alfred Clum states, IL was at work putting
on the cover Of the cylinder saw some
thing like water dripping down. and | sung
out TO sutton, who was in the store room
above he said something which did not
understand had lght near ,ne, and the
water, as supposed II to be. had nearly wet
through The felt and canvass which was
around the steam chest, when il fell down
upon my lamp, which was below; immedl