Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1859-09-28
RICHMOND WHIG
EUROPEAN NEWS BY THE NORTH AMERICAN.


ING OF THE CHINESE wAR-DErEAT OF THE
! ANGLoFRENCH FLEET AT THE MOUTH OF THE
PEilIO.
| The steamship North dnericas. from Liverpool at
so A. NJ Of the ith in>t passed Father Point at Las
4. NJ yesterday, route 10 Quebec.
On the afternoon of the 9th, when the Grsat Easfern
vas oil ila.iing- ieedpipe casiug in the or~ard fun
mel, which had been introduced the ground Of econo
Ia heat and to keep the heat Of the tunnels
cabin. exploded with terrific force, bo~ing the funnel
into the air and tearing 10 pieces the grand saloon and
lower deck cabins, through which the funnel passed. aud
otherwise doing damage 10 the internal fittings
| Great CONSERVATION prevailed board but prompt
efforts made to get at the men in th.
engineering department who either buried in the
rubbish prosrated 10y the Three were
found in dying state and soon EXPIRED while eight
Others injured, two Of whom subsequently died One
tremsn lost overheard having either fallen into the
water or jumped into IL to escape scading The inu-
red men were generally progressing favorably although
two or three OF them in precarious condition.
The numerous guests on board had only quilted the
grand saloon through which the funnel passed aud in
which they had been dining, few minutes before the
explosion took place. But for this the consequences
would have been most serious The explosion stated
to have probably been of the terrific which
vessel has survived, and which in the world
could have wiihstood, structure OF such marvel
strength the Gredt Easern She only resisted
IL, her frame sustaining injury whatever but il made
40 little difference in the of the vessel that
the engines were never stopped till she reached
Portland.
1t is asserted that great objection had been made to
|
in adopting the plan Notwithstanding il had been tried
and abandoned in the Collins and other steamers.
| The Coroners inquest was commenced at Weymouth
on the l2th and the evidence clearly showed the
of the explosion to be-Fy, the supply of the boilers
through the waterack OF the funnel was stopped be-
cause OF failure in the auxiliary pumping power;
ondly slant pipe which "a safety valve had in IL
tap when the casing hydraucaly tested aud that
tap turned, apparently Intentionally so that the pipe
was useless The inquest adjourned till the 18th
l'ror to the accident the performance OF the vessel
was most satisfactory, and she almost without mo-
tion while large vessels in her vicinity pitching and
| tossing a stormy
| survey of the vessel had been bad and estimates
sent in to forthwith repair the damage n eo of not
more than $4,000 the injury being far less considerable
| than was at first supposed
Little If any delay, would take place in the departure
OF the ship on her first voyage, but rumor prevailed
that she would not proceed Hoyhead but sail direct
The accident caused slight decline in the shares of
the Company, but did influence the general conf
dence in the ship.
Scott Russell undertakes to have the Great FaSfsrb
| ready for in three weeks.
| CHINA.
Highly important but meagrc telegrams in anticipa
ton OF the arrival of the China mail had reached Eng
land.
The following dispatch had been published by the Co
| vernment
Admiral Hope arrived of the Peho river on the 18th
of June, and found that the foFticaons had been re-
built, hut no guns visible. The entrance
into the river barred with booms aud stakes The
ienipoentiaries joined the squadron the goth and
no notice having BEEN taken OF the announcement of
their arrival attempt made the 25th to fierce
passage, when, sudden, batteries supported by
mongrel force of apparei ty 10000 men, were unmask
ed, aud opened destructive fire. After severe ac-
on, the squadron obliged to withdraw with the loss
oi the gunboats cormordHt lee and Piorsr, and I64
killed and wounded. The French had fourteen killed
and wounded out of sixty. The Picnipocntaries have
returned TO Shangiac.
The news of course, created much Sensation and the
violation OF the treaty in such treacherous manner
sailed forth loud G..r- terTiiir vrngrsrncr
The Times says: "lIenceforth negotiations must be
earr aaI paL Nh. n,
will soon be much At home and safe az at Paris "
IL concludes the article with the following uncompmen-
tafy reflections on the American Ambassador: The
American Ambassador. without force of arms said to
have been admitted at Pekn. Of course be- bad pecu-
liar Claim to this exceptional privilege OF the
assistance given TO the Chinese mandarins deprive Ills
OF the uts of the late successful war Whether this
or some claim Of the character rendered him
admissible than those who had opened the way to
him, does not yet appear IL the Americans open
China by peaceful methods let them do IT, but thus far
they seem better able to help themselves than DO any
thing for the world at large"
LATE~T.
LOSDoS Wedneslay.-The China mail has arrived
bringing complete accounts of the Peiho affair which
resulted ia the total defeat of the British forces with no
less than five gnnboats and about third of the whole
force engaged The mouth OF the river ehectualy
barred by iron stakes and booms This was raked
by the fire of the newly constructed fort on the other
side of the river, mounting 90 to lOD guns Admiral
Hopes appearance. 10 iLe GEst nstaRce
pacific; solitary man nofwar boat carried ia hs first
message the Fury aud two gunboas being lett outside
the while the OF the squadron
miles OF. The Ambassadors finding proper officers
to receive them decided TO the bar aud pas u
the river Six seven hours, however spent in
vain endeayOrs effect this aud during that time not
gun sfsd from the forts, although the gun-b
were at distances Of 4O0 10 70Q yards only aud some Of
them had got aground Al IL o'clock !. NJ, the sig.
nal for action up aud the Oppss, aud PiosS.
pushed la close up 10 the rst barrier Suddenly aboUt
y. NJ, the guns in the forts opened fire. and the
action became general The IRE OF the Chinese both
in weight and precision, such before
| a. nj In ala tUn al,
fire of the Chinese began to sackcn, and was soon
afterwards almost silenccd although every shot of
thas told while the British guns did complratively III.
tie damage 70 ihc mud walls At about O'Clock T. NJ.
the signal made f9r tha troops to land and there
were then no doubts Ql SPECIFY victory. just the
first boat Onched the shore the forts opened ucrf.c,
hurricane Of she'll gngal balls aud rockets which
ed down the men they landed The ships threw in as
heavy covering fire they possibly could. The enc
mys fire continued so heavy, and the mud landing
being upto the knees and sometimes TO the waist that
out Of one thousand men who landed barely one hun
dred reached ,he first Of the three wide aud deep bitches
which, after Lupdrcd yards of wadng through
the mud presented themselves. uf the gallant few who
got through the mud difficulties scarcely twenty had beer
able TO keep their rifles ammunition dry. Neverthc
they boldly 9ced dees aud some fifty Of them in
cuding crowd OF officers succeeded in getting far
the third ditch They would certainly have made goo,
attempt 10 scale the walls but their ladders had either
been broken by shot had stuck in the mud With IN,
ono, however which remained ton devoted men spranG
forward three OF whom we're Immediately shot dead ant
five wounded severely. vertical fire Of arrows a,
well as constant iusiladc was Kept the scleC
, band, who crouched in the ditch, waiting, but
in vain, for roinforcements Orders were at last
given 20 retire. aud la eecng the retreat probabl,
lives lost than in advancing ~ the Chinese
10y Of blue lights, discovered the position Of III,
men, and shot them down like birds. Many boats had
also been smashed by shots, aud there enough
to take OF the survivors Sew ral boats full Of wounded
we're struck 10y balls aud sNampcd The belief was uni
vcTa throughout The squadron that Europeans manned
the batteries well ~ the Chinese Men IN gray coats
With closely cropped hair aud Russian features we're s.
tiucy visible The whole oi the foriifciiions we're cy
dcnuy Of European designing. The total number ol
killed and wounded on the British side was iGt. The
French had Z killed aud iO wounded Of the Marine
brigade, officer killed aud rs wounded OF the
uOn-commi'soncd officers aud men, % were killed and
l21 wounded. Admiral Hope severely wounded, a.
also we're several other prominent 0cers Some of the
wounds are said 70 have been ialcied by Minnie balls
The Americans oWed up several boats into action and
after the action took 20 their respective ships
| ber Of men.
The Government dispatches say that the English n
Pciho had the flag ship Chesapeake sx large steamer,
aud ten gunboats aud the French had irigate aud
|