Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-07
southampton on January Cd 1852 on her first

then launched from an English dockyard, and
| was built of oak, teak and DantZic pine, the
| last being an exceedingly inflammable wood.
] Her officers and crew numbered one hundred
| and ten men. and she carried fifty passengers.
From the first doubts were entertained about the
| engine. which worked badly. and heated the sur
| rOundingwoOd She had not thrty-six hours
| at sea when, as she was entering the Bay of Bis
/ cay against a strong head wind flames suddenly
| burst forth from the engine room, overcoming
| all the efforts made to extinguish them. The
| boats would have carried all on board. but the
| last fatal act OF one of the engineers, had been
to turn on the pipe of the cistern which fed
| the boilers so as to allow a continuous supply
and prevent an explosion. Thus no power
could stop the blazing ship, and the captain
not knowing what had occurred, in expecta-
ton that the boilers would exhaust themselves
waited till too late to lower the boats several
OF which were on fire. The keels of others, to
prevent them from swinging, were grasped in
IRON cradles, and when attempts were made to
lower them by those ignorant of the fact, cap
sized with all on board of them Ultimately
two life-boats. the pinnace and dingy. got oil
win nfty-elght persons, the OILY ones saved.
Among those who persisted was Eliot War
burton. author of the " Crescent and the Cross :"
lhe loss OF the vessel was owing to her defec-
i've engines ard the unprotected condition of
the surrounding woodwork. The destruction
OF life, however, was entirely due to the engi-
neer S error in Judgment and the way in which
the boats were secured.
Inc PRESIDENT heads the list OF
MYSTERIOUS DISTURBANCES
There have been other missing ocean steamers
with more passengers than the President, but
none whose loss made more painful sensation
IN England and America Passengers and crew
numbered 12O, among the former being a son of
the Duke OF Richmond and Tyrone Power the
Irish comedian. She left New York on March IL
1871. and with what awful anxiety tidings of her
were waited for can be remembered by many.
None ever came. Whether she caught fire. like
the Amazon or rushed headlOng against an ice
berg, OF ran into or was run down by another
vessel will never be known. Towards the end
of March, 1856, no doubt longer existed that
the Pacific. one OF the fleet of Collins Line of
Mail Steamers, running between New York and
Liverpool, had persisted, with one hundred and
eighty persons. Nothing, at any rate. has ever
been heard of the missing steamer. She was a
magnificent American built ship. fitted up with
every appliance necessary for comfort speed
and success in the competitive work for which
she was intended. She belonged TO the same
company as the Arctic, spoken of above and
the loss of these two splendid vessels was a
blow from which the once prosperous Collins
line never recovered.
With the City Of Boston we come down to
our own days. She is another missing ship.
ana he must have short memory who can
not recOl!ect the letters in the newspapers
the ANXIOUS inquiries of friends, and the SYM
pathetic comments of persons casually meet
City of Boston. This remarkably fine vessel
belonged to the Inman line. and sailed from
HalifaX-whither she had gone to take I'D
certain British officers returniIls to England
on January IS 1910, having on board tifty-fve
cabin and tfty-twO steerage passengers and a
crew of eighty-four men. The hopes of those
who had friends on board were buOyed I'D
from time to time by rumOrs brought by various
ships of the appearance in distant waters of a
vessel that bore some resemblance tOthe missing
steamer. All the old excuses for q shin over
due were made. she had been driven out of her
course by stress of weather. she had become
disabled and had found refuge in some far away
harbOr; she had become hedged about by ice
bergs. and would in Gods good time be released
Towards the end of February however if was
openly said that the City OF Boston was lost and
as the summer came garments of mourning
We're put on for the dead. believed to have found
tomb In the great grave yard of the Atlantic
ocean.
touching circumstance connected with this
vessel IS related ola widow living until lately i'm
Detroit. whose only son was on board She for
long time comfOrted herself with the fond de-
fusion that the boy would yet return to her.
fancying that the Boston papers would first re-
ceiYe news OF the steamer named after that
city. she subscribed for Boston paper read it
carefully hoping her sons fate might be ex-
planned. His plate Was always laid at the table
the hopeful mother saying to her friends: Il
have not heard from Willie yet but hope .to
get news this week"
THE BURNING OF THE AUSTRIA.
More melancholy with regard to the number
of lives sacrificed than even the loss of the
CITY of Boston was the destruction by fire of
the Austria. of the Hamburg and New York
Line in mid ocean, on September 49, 1858.
with four hundred and seventy of her pas
sengers and crew. No sooner did the flames
appear than all discipline was Overthrown. and
lin the mad rush to the boats many persisted
who, had order been maintained might have
been saved. One of the most frighttul and
sudden catastrOphes in the annals of Ship
wreck. was that of the Atlantic. OF the White
Star nine She left Liverpool on March 30.
1875. for New York. with nearly one thousand
persons on board, the greater number of whom
were steerage passengers. Being short of coal
she was steering for Halifax on q dark night,
when the officers of the watch, under the belief
that the ship was much further off the land than
was the case, mistOOk one light for another and
she ran stem on to ledge of rocks off Meagher'e
Head, twenty miles from the port A frantic
attempt was made to lower the boats. when,
after striking several times the ship rolled over
into deep water and sank engulfing over five
hundred human beings, the remainder having
In the meantime sprung on to the rocks or
| Climbed into the rigging. Not a woman or child
| was saved out of the two hundred and ninety
| five on board