New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-12-16
BURNING OF TIE BRITISH = POLAR
sTAR-TIIRILLING NARRATIVE.

St Helena under date Of Oct. 90 furnishes for pub
bca,ion the annexed account OF the destruction by
fire OF this vessel a, sea- and the prDvdentii ape
of her Messengers and crew from almoet instant ih.
The correspondent says;
"a few days since our quiet hamlet WA dlsturbei
nv The unusual arrival OF open boat from sea- hiv-
inc on board sight men, together With Lieut. Temple,
Of The Roy al Artillery and Czpt Walker OF fhe Poar
Stsr who bad left the ship AnnanookS, linaf hac
rescued then about II mills from toe lsana the day
previous ard pusn 10 the Island - give tue VI Ia.
t.ilgepce. The Polar Star was fine chpper-ship OF
coo tuI = bound TO New ZeaaDd With troops and em-
eranis il all ninety Fix souls an oDg whom we're many
women aud children For three days aud iw, nght,
they suffered the agohies Of asfu saspense-re and
wafer thr, at,blDg their DOOM
STATEMENT OF CAPT WALKER.
Sunday, Oct. /, 1854 lat. 81 90 -, Ion % OV
West at 8 A. NJ, wa. alarmed by the cry of fire.
which was Immediately confirmed by tue sergeant
Of the deta hmont Of Royal Artillery which was on
board rushing INTO the cudty calling 10 his l'euten-
ant THE chip is on fire, sir; the ship Is On hre
ime daiely rushed out deck, aud folnd the state
mem but too true. Ga gong forward found the
smoke issuing out of The fore hatchway in a dense
black cloud. Immediately ordered the helm 70 bs
Put up, and et the ship go OIL betJre the wind ihe
smoke then began to ass, nj in a thick black cloud
MI the main hatchwdy. All haads. troops AMI pas
streers were Immediately set 10 work with pumps
and buckets TO pour waite down the hatch ways
it being impossible for any one 10 get be-
w.
ard finding that the fire YVES gaining, ordered all
patches TO be Iu, and securely batened do Tn to
prevent any air from getting below After ge'tlnS
matches secured, cleared away the launch aud mug
her ON er the ste in the tackles fearing the flames
weuld burst up the hatchway ana consume her. Aner
SEEING the boats all right we cut holes IN the deck
fore and ait TO insert tunnels into being careful 70
stop up the holes when the fuDDe- were removed from
one hole TO another During the WIN of this time
no pen can describe the distraction and contl-
sion among the women and children, many OF them
with scarcely any clothing on them, and no p,ss'
bility of getting any. We now fouud ourselves IN
most deplorable positions for, in addition to
having our ship burning under us, we found thr
We had neither water nor provisions on deck, one
thousand miles away from lind and our boats no. ca
pate II containing more than wo-thrds our number
If obliged to have recourse to them. Noon: crew
arc passenge working INCREASINGLY With pumps aud
buckets i'll hopes OF keeping the fire under. ODserv-
ing great deal OF Ike TO escape out of the topsa
liant forecastle we Immediately filled mp all the seams
and creyces, and covered al over with wet sail
About i. NJ, made an attempt To get down through
the poop into the after sOre-rOon and succeeded IN
getting up two or three bsgs OF biscuit, two or
,bree hams, and small keg vi spirits Al L. NJ,
divided the troops passengers and sailors into two
watches; Lieutenant Temple taking charge of one
watch, ana myself the other. They were then
to in which boat they would have To go, In ctse
If necessity so to have little confusion "a pos
sible at the lasi moment Sixty we're namsd for the
launcb, twenty two for the pnnace, and fourteen Tor
the gig. The watch was then re to work agan, and
continued throughout the night to work incessantly
and chez rfuy. At day hit ON Monday morning sent
one hard up to the mast head, hoping some sail might
providentislly heaye in sight, as that our only
! hore Of escape-the boats being sure 10 swamp il
made use OF. NOon-strOng breeze aud dark
gloomy atmosphere; ell hands working most indefit
igably 6na making every effort to keep the IRE uoder
At L vi darkness again closed in. without haviDg
seen any sail signal OF delivery. DuIlng this day.
oh how sDXiously every eye was directed round the
horizon, so long blink daylight remained; but
in yain-bothing was TO be aioat but burn
ali fhe oke ant
ereture where any air was admitted Al
Pm. set the watch again. and relieved each other
during the night At day ght sent another look out
up TO the mast head, but nothing was TO be At
A. NJ. got water out Of the tank and found il
to be almost up 10 boiling heat The deck bee ,mng
very much teaied NoOn-strong breeze aud cloudy.
Noibpg in sight crew all at work making every eff
tort 10 suppress the fire and keep it from bursting
forth. AZ p NJ, just night again closing in
for the third time, ard with il almost every hope Of
any ,uccor it pleased GOD TO bless our eye and cheer
heer1s with the sight of ship on our weather
bow. All hands Immediately rose up and gave
three cheers; but as darkness WAS closing in fast,
they were admonisbei not 10 build their hopes
too high, for fear they should not signals,
whereby the disappointment would only be the
greater. We Immediately CONNIE need firing minute
guns, and burning bue-lights which were promptly
swered and had the happiness of kno Sirg th 1t
We were seen and our signals understood The ship
was fast bearing down 10 Us. AZ seven L. III. che
rounded TO under stern, when Lieuten ant Temple
and myself went Oh bosrd TO explain our stu ,tcu.
The ship proved TO be the AnnamDCks from .li),
bound TO Csdiz. Capt Hutchinson promised 70 ren.
Der Us all the assistance in his power Gnday by rs
til daylight At eight L. NJ. we returned on board
again and sent AL the women board the Anna
mooka. A. daylight Captain Hachins, went
round the decks with me, and examined all the
holes that had been cut, feeling the beat of the
decks sc. His opinion perfectly cOincdsd with nine
and Lieut. Temple that she could no. possibly hold
out much longer, aud that as soon as the bitches
were lifted the flames would ascend nothing but the
uDceasiDg eNeitons OF tue crew and passengers aud
having kept thing batened do En had saved tie
chip from being consumed before. linn ia;ey sent
what live stock, &c, we had, together Nth the pas
ser gers and some of the troops, % boud the Anna
mooAe, leepng sufficient Oh board for the boats II
carry without being toe deep After making the
boats fast under the lee quarter, with one or two
bands in TO Keep them of, | ordered the matches
TO be taken of, when Immediately the ship was
enveloped in cloud of smoke 10 less thsn ten
n Iuos the fsn is burst up the main ha,ch.ay. All
bands were then ordered 10 the boats aud 70 shove
OF, which had not been done more than ten minutes
before III nainmast fell over tue side With loud
crash, tearing up the decks and dragging down the
fore iopmast and mizen.topmast with IL In short
time after both fore ard mizcD nasts fell. The -hp
one lisid OF flame from end to end, and
feet consuming. Al dDsk, near as We could tel
she was buIIt To the waters edge. At . r. 81.
nohf to be seen so, concluding that she hld gone
down made sai and stood away to the eastward for
~. Helena
iF'~'iP s yos.: respectfully vv1v w,,vy,
la'e commander Of ship Polar star.
u Nslsna Oct. q, l554
ACCOUNT 90 TIM los. on THE SNIP Nf.G,R, AID
BARK NEPTUNE.
Exfrad from q PIRATE yop4al
The bark Excel-or lef anchorage "A New Haven,
Oct. 49, 1854. with strong breeze n W. which kept
checking 10 north ward a. advanced down sound
with every indication of ea-terly breeze. II
down Us next day, and obliged Us 20 reduce our
canvas into the smallest possible space We ran
before it until Tuesday, 2'ih inst the gale being ac-