Wilmington journal., 1876-01-21
RUESNlNG +UF THE ROY .

An Exciting scene ON ShIpbOard-
Rurnins OF ane {: oltath-a Tr.in-
ing ship on Fire. with Four
Rumdr. d Boys Aboard.
The London Neeos, of recent date,
gives the following tuH particulars OF
the burning of the training ship Go
hath: A terrible disaster occurred Oh
the river Thames yesterday morning,
the Goliatn, "a school ship, lying Cf
Grays. and having 400 boys on board,
being destroyed by fire The full ex-
tent of the calamity cannot yet be
measured, but many of the boys and
one of the officers are III isoiug, tld art
thought either to have been drowned
or perished III the fftmes. The Gbt-
ath WAS an old wooden line Uf-b.tttfe
snip, which carried eighty guns, witt
engines OF 400 horse power. 5 IN"
years ago, after laying by Ia ordinary,
she was lent by the admiralty to tht
poOr Ia Y authorities of tue metropolis
in order to try the experiment OF traiu
ing the poor boys Of London for the
sea, and wits placed for administrative
pu. poses under the care OF managers
Of the Forest-e,te school She was il
lsrge ship o nearly 5000 tons burden,
nd, lying SOLITARY in ttie b. ght of th
river off Grays, was an object of inter
est 10 excureiunists on the river. AT
few minutes to 3 some were preparing
breakfast and others Gle ning he ship,
while the btlik of the lads were below,
many of them n,:dre sed. The lamp
room, i'll the forecdstlt of the ship, Was
THE SCENE OF THE OUTBREAK.
L.
after dark are fed with petroleum oil,
and 1t appears TO have been tue cus-
tom to collect them in the lamp room
for the purpose of having them filled
aud trimmed It Is said that one of
these lamps was accidentally dropp-d
by lad, and the petroleum igulted
and spread III liquid fire over the deck
and lamps. Tue alarm was instantly
given, but so rapid was the sprea of
the flames that when Captain Bour-
chier. ct the Royal Navy, the officer
IN command, was called up from his
cabin, the whole deck was one sheet Of
fame. -.-......
A terrible scene then ensued. The
terrified children rushed up from the
lower deck through the various hatch
ways, which were with difficulty kept
from being choked up by. the crush
nd struggle, and as fast as they got
ia deck they hurried to the side Of
the ship nearest to the land as the
point Of escape Unfortunately, how
ever, it was she most dangerous side
IF the ship, for a strong southwestern
wiud was blvwing full upon the whole
hroadsde of the ship, and rolled the
smoke and flame over in the direction
of the shore.
The poor lads, however, climbed
over the buIwIrks aud down into the
chains. aud wiIeuever they could get
hold for baud or foot, al q the boats of
the ship being instantly on hand, pro-
ceeded to take them off as fast as 1t
was possible 20 be done Que or two
of the boats were sWamped, ID, as
may of the lads cjnging to the ship
We're compelled to drop one alter
anoth Ito the water, there was am
plr occupation for the o,Eer boats,
Which had come to the rescue. to pick
up those who were swimming or
q row uIng .
Tie ship lay only about hundred
Yards or may be even less than THAT,
fIom snors:, and
A GOOD MANY LEAPkD OVERHEARD
and swan TO lard, nmnngs- whom
were two I,dIes, the daug of Cap
tain 3 ,ur c1Ier. Tie boats of the
training ships Arcthusa aud Chiches-
ter, lying 1T Cfrtenhithe, came dowr
il ho:liia to f.efp, II "Ommaiid Of
Capt. Walters and several officers, and
were Instrumental IN saving many
lives. Capt. Bourc,lier was the last to
!eave the bn ming ship, and IT was his
belief that ali the lads Were saved, but
there is too mitch reason to know that
h, was mistaken, for two bodies have
Already been washed ashore, nrd the
scbo0lma astcr, Mr.. Wheeler, is said t
lave sunk. As the survivors wer
taken on shore the p ope of Grays,
small town Of some g, 600 inhabitants
turned out en- alasse to receive them
The school rooms, places of worship
hotels, and private II buses were placed
at their i sposal, white all the coppers
and kettles that could lie obtained
were pressed into service TO get break
fast for the 400, less those who were
missing. Kind hearted people
brought clothing for the naked little
ones, many OF whom were TO bn seen
throughout the day clad in garments
OF ali sizes and IF both sexes. An
attempt was maue TO make IL uHtef
Of lbs. lads in order to find ous who
were missing, but they were SO scat
tered about the town that the process
WAS unsatisfactory, besides which
some picked up by ships passing up
and down the river and Carried to un-
known destinations, while others, it
is believed. have taken advantage of
their liberty TO ahscond, so that it
may be some days before the actual
results will be known.