The Republican journal., 1875-09-30
"A Little Duck"
From the London Standard of Sept. 2

lpii tht LpHtOH Nldluiiu Ol StDtt x
A young girl named Agnes Alice Beck
with, daughter of the professor of swim
ming at Lambeth Baths, yesterday ac-
conPlislled the difficult feat of swim
ming from London Bridge to Greenwich
The distance is rather more than five
mllcs, and the time was remarkably fast
namely, H. 7m. 45s Mr. Beckwith has
| been connected with the Lambeth Baths
| ior nearly quarter of q century, and for
fourteen years held the proud position of
champion swimmer OF England The he
roine OF yesterdays proceedings is bnt
| fourteen years old, Of slim make and di-
minullvc statue. The object was to de-
eide il wager OF go to e4O laid against
her by Mr. Baylis. the money being de
posted with Bells Lie.
The event created Il great deal of eX-
! element, aud all along the route the pro-
| gress Of the swimmer was watched by ex-
I cited croWds,on the wharls and barees.
/ In addition to the London Steamboat Com
\ pany's Volunteer, 4 private Steam launch.
and Il rowing boat containing her father.
I the referee and some half dozen others
| Immediately interested i'll the result, Il
perfect swan Of boats accompanied-and
| indeed impeded-the swimmer the entire
distance London Bridge was crowded, as
Were tie vessels and other points whence
i yew of the start could be obtained.
Miss Beckwith diycd from the rowing
Boat 1t nine minutes to five, and at once
commenced i rapid side stroke, which
She maintained TO the finish. She was
attired in u swimming costume of light
rose pink llama. trimmed with braid and
lJcc OF the same color. The water was
/ very smooth, and the tide running about
three miles per hour, Swimming about a
couple Of yards in the rear of the referee s
boat, Tunnel Pier was reached at - min
utes past five. At llorseterry Dock (3.22)
!; salute was fired and the swimmer was
encouraged with lusty cheers. The Com
mercial Dock was quickly left behind,
soon alter the lIilda. on her return from
! Mar@ate, crowded with eNcursionistS, pass
el the liotillr Passing Millwall Miss
BeckNith crossed to the north side and
took advantage OF the strong tide. At
this point she was met by the saloon
steamer, Victoria. whose passengers We're
yatitcrous in their applause. The Foreign
Cattle Market ut Deplford was breasted
/ at twelve minutes to siA, anu. rs Green
/ Wlch Hospital appeared in sight, the IN
telligcnce was conveyed to the swimmer
! bV repeated cheers, a salute being also li'-
Ell from the Unicorn. The pier at Green
Wich and the grounds of the Slip We're
rtnwdrd with people who cheercd to the
! trlo "hcH tro 'yititci strains "t 'Gco
| the ConQuernm Hero Comes announced
/ the success OF the attempt Mis- Beck
with swan some distance beyond The piel
ana was taken on board at lh, 5Sm 45s.
having accomplished the distance, as stat
| ed above, in In. I'M. los.
She seemed almost rs fresh as when
she started, and to all appearances was
! capable OF @oin4 considerably further. 1t
| is worthy OF mention that this was Miss
Becl>with's first ESSAY of the sort. il We
except tllul trip on Monday from Bat
tcrseu 10 Westminster Her nearest ap-
proach tn tue present feat was a swim Oh
/ two aud 4 half miles in the Lambeth Elth,
in three quarters OF IN hour.
lhc details Of the sinking ot the British
lrnn-clad Vanguard, one Of tn" lar9 st
ana best of the English war vessels. are
furnished by late foreign files Six YES
scl5 had started ont from Kingston for
/ Co,i, when Il dense tog came on, and
tiey we're not only hidden from sight OF
lanl, but also from sight ol one another
-Four vessels were ahead, and the Van
Guard ana Iron Duke both iron-clads, OF
fourteen guns, Were bringing up the rear
Shortly after midnight the Vanguard sud
denly saw II large sailing vessel imme-
diatelv before her. Following the rule OF
he road, She put her helm hard starbuard
! and escaped the danger, only TO fail into
an0tLtr more disastrous to herself. llel
change oi direction had brought her at
RIGHT angles TO the Iron Duke, whose near
ness the iog had concealed. The latter
was seen when Only cables length be
hind, and escape was then impossible
The Nanguard's engines were reversed,
but the Iron Duke come on with a mo-
mcntlm of 10 900 tons, and her ram tore
a great hole almost in the center of the
ship The water rushed in, and her foun-
dering would have been a matter of min
utes only, but for the TACT that the Van
Guard was built in Water-tight compart-
ments. The effect OF the water-tight com
partments was to keep the doomed vessel
atloat an hour after she was struck IL
that briei time the nobIest qllalt les Of the
British sailor were called into play. The
captain promised safety as the condition
ana consequence ol oDeulehce 10 olueIS
The men responded perfectly, and moved
only as they were bidden. Meanwhile
the Iron Duke, which had backed after
the collision got out her boats, the Van
guard lowered hers, and every man was
safely transferred to the former, the cap
tain being the last to leave the ship. Moth
ing was saved except what the men stood
IN, and no life was lost. When all the
men We're safe the vessel sank deep enough
to hide all of her but the topgallant mast
The Vanguard cost nearly two million
dollars, and with her guns and outfit was
worth two and Il half million. The olli-
GERS plate is valued at $1,000, and the
wines at $500. The position OF the Van
guard has been marked with buoys, and,
as she lies in the line Of much traffic. she
must be raised or destroyed. Preparations
have been made to raise her. which Will
be the greatest experiment in hydraulic
engineering ever made.
AS locomotive tender was being filled
with water at the tank in the Erie Rail
way yard, al Port Jervis, N. u, few
days ago, suddenly the water ceased to
flow. The apparatus was taken apart. and