, 1862-04-04

the occasion Of his first directing the telescope
to that star. 1t required but little time for
those accustomed to look at minute telescopic
objects to discern the little stranger hoyering
Sirius, and almost exactly followingit In light
ascension. It's minute, hemulous Tight, when
once caught by the eye, vas easily Kept in
view, and as tie star a.cended in altitude, be-
came still better seen. In point Of bri1liancy,
It docs not differ greatly from the well known
sixth star in the trapezium' Of Orion.'
This telescope has removed both difficulties
Of epherical and chromatic aberration, and
shows tie images Of the stars rs round uni
form discs, without any wings or wisps Of
Light distorting their aspect.
lus by Mt. Clark, Prot. Bond OF the Harvard
observatory has seen it with his refractory tel
escope. He says:
1.-THE low altitude Of Sirius in this latitude,
even when on the Meridian, makes It very DIFF
ficult to catch sight Of the companion, on &C
court Of atmospheric disturbances; when the
images arc tranquil, however, it is readily
eeen. It must be regarded as the best possible
evidence Of the Superior quality Of the object
glass, that it has served to discover this min
lianey Of Sirius. 4 defect in the material Of
workmanship would be very sure to cause 4
sispe:sion OF Light, which would be fatal to its
visibility.
It remains to he seen whether this will
prove to be the hitherto invisible body lang
disturbing the motions Of Sirius, the existence
of which has long been surmised from the in
VestigatloDs Of Besae1 and Peters upon the ir-
rcgp1atities Of its proper motion in right as
cension.''
Terrific Scene on Board the United
States sh1p-of-Eiae.Ltne Vermont.
Correspondence Of the Boston Journal
Euro Trvwn.cr p1ou} KIN n,s1ne fron, 1o,,d !
March Is, 1eG9-SP
4 4 At midnight tie howling Of the
tempest is fearful. The chip is rolling fright
fully, and fears are entertained that we shall
drift on to Cape Cod, as the ship is not over a
mile distant, the breakers being distinctly au-
dible from the ship, and the snow disccrnible
on the land- Every excrtion is made to save
the ship, and for this purpose the port anchor
is let 60, which ran out with ftarfnl velocity,
and the chain parted. The staruoard anchor
vas then let go, which hroueh* up il seventy
five fathoms. The ship dragged until Thurs
day morning, when we were of Chatham
Light, distant about eighty miles. Toward
morning Of the night succeeding, the tempest
Increased faster and faster flies the slip,
higher and higher rises old ocean: i is fear
full the vessel rolls frightfully; her hammock
nettipgs arc u1ler water her decks are de-
luged; the ber1l-deck and gun-deck ports are
burst inhoard the hospital for the sick, in
which are many patients, is full Of water; the
dispensary is carried away; the medicines are
all lost; the men On the sick list are powe--
less; each and every one looks ont for him
self, self-preseryation being NATURES first law;
and the sick, poor fellows, are consequently
left to provide for tlcmscIyes-to die strag-
Cling for life in the water. Still onward flies
the noble ship, pitching and stEainlng every
timber in her maddened race. Every lcart is
qrai}ing, every soul filed with horror.
In the midst Of this wild, Intense excite
mcnt, word is whispered round that the sick
In the hospital are being washed out Of their
beds, and are struggling il the water for life.
Meme can save, for It is as much as {: man
can do to stand, and amid the roar Of the
bowling tempest, without hand to save,
are lives thus lost. One poor fellow, who
had been sick for some days, on tue night Of
the storm was in his cot; the ship rolled and
lie Was thrown out in The water thlt hid
come in through the bow ports, aud there
was drowned His name was John D. Will inns.
Every thing in the Hospital was washed away;
iron heasteads that were screwed into the
decks were washed away, broken and destroy
q. Moses I Hawkes., an ordinary seanlar,
also died: Both cf these poor fellows we're
consigned to The deep next day. Throughout
the night the gale increased in violence
beyond description. The waves rolled higher
and higher now boarding lie With vas volumes
cf 4ater, Kissing and roaring, and anon gam
lolipg Of to return in concert with other
maddened wares to mock us in our fright.
At three \. NJ. the heart 1ending cry Of ssthe
ship is sinliDs'' is raised throughout the ship.
The quarter boats have been washed away,
also tho Captains gig. The sails are all blown
away our two anchors arc lost, also the
chains; aud now the order is given to Gu. away
tie masts. Eight stalwart men, with huge
axes, are selected for this arduous and hazard
GUS task, and rush on deck to cut away the
huge masts. T. is found to be no easy task
| Eot feasible-aud the idea is abandoned. 81 Let
then roll out,' It's said. What night!
| R1,$ a,1n I 411Jrn Dof twill half
| past two Oh "Wednesday morning, t1e32Gth Of
February, the tiller WAS reported insecure, and
| fears were entertained that We should lose 1t.
| Soon the iron sills.r, ahic wclgacd nearly two
tons, broke from its sockets. Fro e,l from the
| restraint, tie rudGer saailes about from side
TO side, and before another tillcr ca:, be got
tn Out oi tue hold, tie rudder drops FROM its
position, slips out OF the c:slsg, a1A is buried
| Ill The ocean. Immediately tic men rushed
with tlacir bedding and hammocks, to placo
them in the 1pddeT casing, to prevent the
every soul filled with horror. Faces that up to
this moment had been adansantine---on Which
fear had not shown itsclf-now b1alc:ied
with awe and terror The more nervous
crouched in the by-placcs ofthe ship, stricken
with tic horrors OF their position. Cold
frost-bitt:n, VII through, some without shoes
| Or stockings, without clps, they having been
blown away, tie crew looked more like mani
ats for the 1nonltnt endowed with reason tc
realize their sad position, than the crew Of the
| Vermont Drifting fast on Geornie's ShoaI
lay the huge ship. rolling like suu1e aquatic lc-
yfatisan, without sails, without rudder, and &
fearful tempest blowing, the decks delugce
with water, and the crew dispirited, frost-bis
ttn, frightened and sick at heart.
| lii this position We remained until Thursday
the eth Of February, when vessel was dc
serted, and, upon our hoistinsa signal Of dis
trcss, bore down upon us.
We are now waiting for assistance
What We require is 4 good, large, powerful
ocean steamer, and not d gunboat. They ar
useful only TO take off the creE; hut as til,
ship is light it is not right, SO says our frs
lieutenant, 10 abandon her, and lie will no
give up tie ship.