Litchfield enquirer., 1844-03-07

baltimore, stood on forward bow gun on the lar
board side, close 10 Col. Benton. Behind the
breech of the gun stood Charles A. Davis with Mrs
Wethered on his arm. Mr.. Secretary Wilkins OBJ
served although am Secretary of War; yet l
confess am a coward, and will stand a little fur
ther off" with that he turned and walked about
IL feet aft, behind the foremost when the gun eX
ploded.
All the upper part at the breech was blown off,
and piece weighing 200 or 800 pounds struck
Messrs. Gilmer, Upshur, Maxcy, Gardiner, and
Kennon, and knocked them all down; the piece
lay across the legs of Gilmer, Upshur, and Gardi-
ner, when they were found after the smoke blew
away; Gilmer and Upshur were also struck with
pieces of iron or rivets in the head and temples,
and Gilmer behind the ear and in the side Mr..
Gardeners lower limbs were torn all to pieces; all
their clothes were much burnt; and Upshur, Gar
diner, and Kennon, all fell touching each other
Upshur'S lips moved for few seconds, and then
all was still; Gilmer breathed once or twice, and
then all was over; the others never stirred, Cap
tain Stockton was blown back against the fore
shroud, Che was behind the breech of the gun when
| it was fired his whSkers and eye browS were all
blown of, and as soon as he recovered from the
stunning effect of the shock, and the smoke cleared
away, he sprang with delirous effort on the gun,
shattered as it was, and exclaimed in agony would
to God alone had been killed.. His friends then
carried him down stairs, and laid him the Set
tee, where he nearly tainted from exhaustion, and
|
Immediately put to bed.
The President appeared the most sorrow strick-
en- man of the whole party; he rushed on deck,
and when he saw the dead bodies of Upshur and
Gilmer he wept bitterly. 1t was horrid scene
God keep me from seeing another like it. One of
Virgil Maxcy's arms was blown off, and struck
| Mrs. Wethered on the side of the head, covering
her face with blood, and knocked her bonnet off,
and Miss Elizabeth Woodbury. had her bonnet
blown off, but was not knocked down. Miss SOM
erville's dress was covered with blood and brains
Jaragin and Hannegan We're blown fiat on their
backs; MIR. Postmaster Tyson had hole blown
through his hat Mr.. Strickland, the architect had
a hole torn through the tail of his coat: General
Jessup narrowly escaped, piece Of the gun pass
ing close to his face; two three of the foreign
ministers were blown down, but otherwise uninju-
| red many Others were blown down by the shock,
hats and bonnets blown off, faces cut, and clothes
torn. Mr.. c. A. Davis had his lip slightly cut.
To describe the agony Of the surviving relatives
to night is beyond my power; shocked as have
been by this horrible scene Of suffering Mrs. Gil
mer, Mrs. Kennon, Miss Upshur, Judge Upshur's
wife's sister, the two beautiful daughters Of Mr.,
Gardiner, and son and daughter of Mr.. Maxcy,
were all on board. And leave you to conceive
their shrieks and agonzing, heart-rending sorrows
and cries.
Mr.. Gilmer left wife and nine children. Mr.
! Upshur, aged about IS, has left wife IS years of
age, and daughter in i'll health, aged 16. Com.
kennon has left wife and family. Mr.. Gardiner
has left his two daughters. who have long been
bellies in this place.
From The Washington Corresp. Of the Jour. Of Com.
| Amid the general burst Of grief and agony, it
may be in vain to call attention to the causes of
this disaster. Vain it is for the Dead but not for
the living. The two hundred and twenty-five
FOUNDER was said, and so reported to Congress,
to be Of wrought iron, as it was to some extent.
But learn from Mr.. Barney, that the scattered
| pieces OF the gun were seen every where. Com.
Kennon was evidently struckby one of them. Mr..
Rives Of the Globe, has piece in his possession.
They say that the breach Of the gun was of mortar
| shape, and was of cast iron and welded on to
the other part. The other parts appear to have
been in sections, and welded together. The parts
of the gun that were BURST were all below its axis
| But it does not matter as to this. We have evi.
dcnce Of the strongest character, that experiments
that they signally failed. am told by good au-
thority, that the plan was tried and exploded, in
Europe, two centuries ago. VIM. Cost Johnsons
valuable reports on this subject have been enheed-
ed He investigated this whole matter, and show
cd the er Of sa g 5 MSSas sanG up
Europe to examine all the mysteries of the art of
making cannon, &C, also reported on the subject.
The celebrated artzan, Mr. Ames, Of Mass, was
sent with them, and we know what he and they
| recommend, as to this matter.
! Correspondence ofMe ". Y. Jour. of Commerce.
| WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, Feb. 20.
The Public Offices were all closed to day, and it
was ordered that public business be attended to
until after the funeral.
At eleven o'clock, the hearses went down, in
melancholy procession, escorted by numbers of cit
liens in carriages to take the bodies to the Pres
dents House.
The House met at 12 o'clock, and after an appro-
pirate prayer, paused for some time till the Mess
age was received from the President.
The following Message was received from tho
President, by the hand Of John Tyler, Jun Esq, at
half past ~, noon.
! To the Senate AMI House Of Representatives ofhe
United States:
have to perform the melancholy duty of an.
nouncing to the two Houses Of Congress the death
of the Hon. Abel p Upshur, late Secretary of State
and the Hon. Thomas w. Gilmer, late Secretary of
the Navy.
board the United States ship OF war the Princeton,
on yesterday, at about half after four o'clock in the
evening, and proceeded from the explosion ofone of
the large guns of that ship.
The loss which the Government and the country
have sustained by this deplcrable event, is height
| ened by the death at the same time, and by the
same cause, of several distinguished persons and
valuable citizens.
shall be permitted to express my grief at an oc-
currence which has thus SO suddenly stricken from
my side two gentlemen upon whose advice SO
confidently relied in the discharge Of my arduous
task Of administering the Office Of the Executive
department, and whose services at this interesting
period were Of such vast importance.
In some relief Of the public sorrow which must
necessarily accompany this most painful event, it
alto rds me much satisfaction tosay that it was pro-
duced by no careessness or nattention on the part
Of the officers or crew Of the Princeton, but mast be
~ I-x Il II.