Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-05-13

| The SINKING OF TIE ERlcssoN.-The New
York Commercial Advertiser, of the 18th ult.
in noticing the violent storm at that place on
the afternoon of the 9th, gives the following
account of the sinking Of the caloric ship
Ericsson:
The Ericsson, with a number of ladies and
gentlemen on board. left the Thirteenth street
wharf at p. NJ, and proceeding down the bay,
rounded the Spit buoy at 2H P. M. She return
ed homeward safely until opposite pier No. s
North river, when she. was struck by the squall
which careened her to starboard, so that the
water rushed through the port holes. 1t is said
that these ports had been opened by the men
below for the purpose of marking the speed ofthe
vessel, but instead of closing them as they ought
to have done when the steamer careened they
ran on deck to tell the captain that the water
was rushing in. In the meantime, the evil had
grown beyond control.
The ship gradually filled and then sunk in
about six fathoms Of water, within three hun
dred yards of Jersey City-all the persons ton
board escaping in the steamers mall boats or
i'll other boats which came to their assistance
among which were those of the royal mail
steamer Arabia, Capt. Lott, to whom the captain.
of the Ericsson feels much indebted. The
Ericsson lies in soft mud, perfectly upright, her
upper deck being about 4 feet under water.
The performance of the Ericsson was said by
her owners to be satisfactory: They report that
on the return trip, she made Is revolutions per
minute, the engines working very smoothly.
Her wheel is % feet diameter, breadth of bucket
10 feet and 6 inches dipping 8 feet and 6 in
ches. The consumption of fuel averaged at the
rate of about ten tons for "a hours. The in
tention was to place her on the sectional dock
<o-lov for fho mn nf avor;r;n~ <ho hn%<op,
prior to a longer experimental trip at sea.
Gun N DESPATCH BoArs FOR THE BALT1c.-
We announced about ten days since that the adj
miralty had ordered some half dozen vessels to
be built as gunlboats and despatch vessels for
the Baltic. They are to be of AGO tons, and to
have screw engines of about 100 horsepower.
Mare & Co., are building four, and Messrs.
Green have two in hand. Messrs. Penn, Messrs.
Maudslay and Messrs. Humphreys have each
two pairs Of engines to construct, and it is ex-
pected that in the course of ten weeks some of
these ships viii be ready for the warm work in
the north. They will be powerfully speed as well
as in armament.-London Times.
TEMPERANCE HERo1NEs.-The ladies of the
town of Pontiac, ILL.,, s~trong-minded and strong
handed women, recently resolved in public meet
ing 10 put q stop TO the sale OF alcohollc drinks
in that town. Some twenty of them assembled
together, and proceeded to execute the resolu-
tons Of the meeting. The grocery they visited,
was q somewhat notorious place, the keeper of
which, thinking that discretion was the better
part of valor, complied with their terms, and
submitted to the destruction of his liquor. The
keeper of the next grocery demurred at first,
but finally yielded to the outside pressure, and
his house was closed. This closed the business
in Pontiac, and the ladies returned in triumph
to their homes.