The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1866-06-30
TIE PACIFIC
Conn ercial Advertiser.
Blu II = y O.
American ship Hornet.


unfortunate disaster than the burning Of the
Hornet, one Of the finest Of the California fleet
Of clippers, OF an escape more pro'idential than
that oi portion of the ships company. Tie
following account has been gtth,red from the
lips IF Mr.. Thomas the third officer Of the ship,
and Mr. Clpuzh, seaman. both Of whom have
relatives residing in san Francisco, who Will
welcome them from the grave.
The American ship HOTAct, of ] 1913 tons bur
then, Captain Josiah y. Mitchell. left New York
On the 18th of January, bound t. San Francisco
with z neral cargo. consisting Of Goals. iron,
G2UO boxes candles, 2ibO Gases kerosene oil, and
the usual assortment of miscellaneous Inercian-
disc Beyond Speaking two vessels,
nothing occurred tie passage out worthy
Of note, till seven O'Clock on the morning OF
the Sd of May, at which hour the mate went
below with one Of the hands to draw varnsh.
taking a lantern. While 50 engaged, an ex-
ploson suddenly topk place, which set fire
t. the sails in the sIil-locker, between decks
The seaman rushed deck, shouting =. fire.
while the mate remained below trying 70 put out
tue fire. with blankets, which he took of from
three sick men.
The ship was at this time scudding along beau
tifully under Il six-knUt southeast trade wind
She had Just crossed the Equator the evening
previous IN the usual track of vessels bound -
California in longitude liz" s. The matches at
the time off for yentii.ltinS the ship, a. -
customary. Hardly had the alarm been given.
before FIRE and dense smoke Of the
alter hatch, communicating almost instantane-
CGsy to the - cross yIck-sail," =" which was hang
ing cewed up. In very few minutes, tine
flames burst through the main batch, and set fire
to the mainsIil. With the fret alarm, Caut.
Mitchell promptly deck, and set one
watch to work endeavoring to control the fire,
while the other watch was ordered To lower the
boats and get them ready. The quarter boats
We're safely lowered without troable. but in
launching the long boat, her bottom stove
IN by eyebOlt, making q hole in the bottom
about foot square, which was stopped up with
blankets and shirts, during the entire cruise.
The boats TrOvid, with sails, hut these
being in the sIIl-lUcker. il impossible to- get
1T them y studdng sail, 4 main royal. and
some pieces of canvas lying handy on the deck
thrown into the boats, with what provi-
siuns were accessible, consisting of four hams,
twelve tins of assorted meats, box of rdisins,
seven pieces of pork, hundred pounds of
bread. and four buckets of raw potatoes. Four
deniiOhns and IL barrel. containing in NJ but
twelve gallons of water, also passed in the
bouts. The ships chrOnOmeters. eptUme, COM
pa-ses, quadrants. and Il few blankets were also
saved, but clothing, except what the men
stood in.
vt this time the whole ship was in flames over
head the fire creeping and l,aping from spar To
spar. and euyclopug the rigging. sails and masts
in one vast sl-cet of flame. 1t possible To
remain on board any longer, and at quarter be-
fore eight % clock, three quarters OF All hour
after the first alarm, the order given to leave
tire ship, and all hands took To the boats, and
pushed OFF from the vessel. Here one of
ines. grand sights. often described, but seldom
witnes,ed-a noble ship, which an hour before
was gliding cneeriiy along her course, now all
wrapped in flames from tine deck to the trucks
grand and costly pyrorechnIc display, in which
the masts, spars, and rigging formed the bold
outlines. The scene was enough To strike terror
into the bravest heart, when he remembered that
it was over Il thousand miles 20 the nearest land,
and the chances of reaching land next to none
vt eight O'clock the masis OF the noble ship went
over her side. but the burning hull, like huge
lamp, fed 10y 20 900 gallons of kerosene and 5000
boxes of candles made awful cpn0Igration,
lighting the horizon for a hundred miles around,
while the flames and sm1ke rolled up in black
masses reaching to- the very clouds.
The boats remained by the ship during the day
and night while she burning. ~ the cargo
gradually consumed. tie ship lightened. just
she would aIong-ide the dock when dScarging
cargo. There explosions during the
burning At five o'clock the morning of the
Ith. the FIRE having burnt through the null 10
the water. the noble clipper made plunge for
ward and went down bow first, leaving no trace
of her, but few charred spars and pieces OF
wood fl Jating about. This was in y. Lat. - 2U
W. Long. ll2S s., about 600 miles due south
from Cape ST. Lucas, Lower California, and 2jUO
miles east of Hawaii
During tine first night Capt. Mitchell, who
had. throughout the disaster. shown cOJlHeSs
and bravery equal to the occasion, distrbute3she
men into the three boats. according 10 their k.,i
pacity. In the long boat, with him. Tie
two passengers, the third mate and eleven
men, n follows:
Capt JOSIAH A. Mitchell Maine;
J. Sidney Thomas Cic-r Richmond, Maine;
Harry Havre Frsncei
Charles Cariulnn, Drumar<; John Haskell of FGtuvl,
Mass Jp WIttm@ % New Bedford native q Mtd-rI)'
F-'< ClnuEh % Th1matpn Mainr John FarTi> % Mdir;
Thrs l. Portsmouth. y. H.. James y Y.
Pssc Of Cape dc verde Islands, Neal Turner % New
YORK city.
The second boat was plIced in charge of the
first ofic r. Samuel Hardy. of Chatham. Mass.
Besides him. there were William Lang, of New
York, (whOse father is Il stock broker in that
city.) George Winthrop. of London, England.
George Washington (colorcd cook, steward and
four Others. Whose names we have not yet learned.
The third boat in charge of the second
officer, Mr. PIrr, of North Shields, England
With him the carpenter and six seamen,
whose names we have not been able to obtain.
The provisions and water all equally dis
tribute1 among the three b, ats during the first
night, mIsts fitted. and sails out for them.
we'll circumstances and materials would per-
INIT. Being in the track of CaliiOTnja-bound
vessels, Capt. Mitchell, concluded IL best 10 head
northwest. in the same course, hoping u sight
some passing ship. The two quarter boats We're
taken IN tow by the long boat. and thus they
started oH IN search of some mode of deliyerance