New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-05-02

I IF r,ntafn Macgregor. Her crew amounted to
OssyIy one husdred hands, thirty being English
| -nen and seventy Lascars. She had on board, as
,ssysge passenge rs ab0 al Of the sOth regiment
n foot invalids and their families, AMI thirty
| three cabin passengers. The passage from Cal
| cu,ts down the Hooghly passed agreesoly. and on
the evening Of the following Monday the 4th OF
| March she WA brought up for the night, and 70
/ discharge the pilot off Canterbury Point, about
/ ten miles below Diamond Harbor The weather
was fine, and most Of the passengers and soldiers
| were on deck, singing, dancing and otherwise
! amusing themselves. All seemed happy and
| cheerful. As night approached, they one oy one
disappeared below, and By half past nIne all " a.
quiet-with the exception Of the watch on deck,
| all had turned in asleep, and nothing vas heard
| bat the ripping of the water against the ship
| bow. Suddenly, however, a thrill OF horror ran
through the ship by toe cry Of FIRE, and the decks
were instantly crowded by the terrified passen'
gers in q state Of nudity.
The stintin alton Captain Macgregor received
pitts existence was about ten minutes before ~
o'clock, when man reported TO hln that ne
feared there was something wrong In the Tore
hold, az smoke was coming out ottbe 10 yer nescn-
way He went instantly forward ana tound sucn
was really the case, the smoke and heat almost
overpoweriDg the men below Sospecting that II
emanated from some jute slowed away Ia that
part Of the hold, the pumps were gotto work, and
the most energetic steps were taken by all hands
to prevent it getting ahesd-but, TO the great
alarm Of all, the smoke and heat increased 90 "a
pjdly a. 10 drive the men away from the hatch
way, and ere ten minutes had trAnspired from the
time Of the actual discovery body OF flames
burst forth and sho. up through the quarter deck.
Already the noise and confusion on deck had
alarmed the troops and passengers, and some, see
ing the fire through the bulkheads, screamed cut,
"Oh God the ships on fire." and in al instant
the scene became appalling.
it'll the aid Of the officers, Captain Aacgregor
succeeded in inducing the soldiers TO keep calm,
and with all hands, passengers aud Gil, made
another attempt to save the ship Tuns and tuns
OF water were discharged on the burning cargo,
in the hopes it would be accomplished, bat with
out producing s 40 s.;;shtest o%evs. The fire, in
fact, gained ascendaucy tremendously, aud comma
,;csssins 10 the fore rigging the whole vas quick
" in q blaze. As far as the eye could stretch
nothing could be seen but sky and water, which
was lit up by the glare OF the hre-tne night
being very dark Captain Macgregor, percelvlng
that the destruction OF his ship was inevitable,
with judgment, determined, if possible, TO run
her sshore-the only apparent chance OF saving
the lives Of those on board and gave orders TO his
men to slip her cables, which was at once carried
into execution. Although no land could be dis
cerned, he was positive it was not far distant.
The current fortunately favored the plan, for set
ting in strong in shore it drove the burning vessel
in that direction and in the course Of an hour she
grounded in such a position on the shore that
those who could swim could gain the land with
little difficulty. In the mean while the fire had
extended TO the mainhold, and the whole Of the
forepart of the ship with the malnmast, pre-
sented one sheet OF flame scorching it's living
freight who had taken refuge on the poop
Many ofthelsdy passengers exhibited an amount
of coolness and devotion in the highest degree
praiseworthy others were almost frantic with
despair, and their screams rent the air. Soon al
ter the wreck touched the shore, steamer came
down to the spot, the crew of which had heard
the firing of the Buckingh amshres signal guns
and was guided to the spot by the light OF the con-
hagration. Her arrival at the critical moment
was beyond measure fortunate, for had II not been
the case, the boats of the burning ship could not
have accommodated one half the numberon board
consequently great sacrifice Of life must 20 GER
tainty have followed. Captain Macgregor, with
bis FIRST mate and officers on board, acted through
out this tragic scene in a manner deserving OF the
highest commentator. and by their cool and de-
termned zeal. restored something like order
among the nvalids who the moment they found
the ship had struck, commenced to throw them
selves overheard. Several did So and were never
seen after they were swept away by the current
and were drowned the number was not exactly
known-it was presumed, however, there were
FIVE who thus persisted.
Hs at Last authortstively announced that Kos
suth " i'll not be released by the Turkish Govern
ment. All hope is, however, not to be abandoned:
the intercession of America and Eng and ought
to be powerful enough to reverse such decision
YeuTs "