Glasgow Courier. — 1864-06-30 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

BURNING- OF THE BERKSHIRE AND LOSS OF FIFTY LIVES.  According to Le Temps, there are two Confederate cruisers on the watch for the Kearsage off Cherbourg. In Burgundy the vines are in hlogsom, -and there is.an excellent prospect of an early vintage with good  By. the arrival of the Etna at Liverpool we have - been placed in possession of full Particulars _concerning this calamity on the Hudson. Captain E. E. Sherman, who was a _passenger on board the Berkshire when, she took 'fire, gives the following account of the catastrophe The steamer left Hudson at half-Past six, and stopped at 'Catskill, where she took on some passengers and butter. The wind at the time was blowing heavy from the south-east. About ten o'clock I heard , some one say on deck that the boat was on fire. lat once went on deck, arid found the flames issuing from the freight in the,gangWay, near the engine-room. Went below as quick as possible and gave the alarm. I then seized a .life-preserver, and., followed 14 a few passengers, went awtin on deck. The fire and smoke had progressed KO far that there -was.no escape otherwise than from the • stem of the boat. lat (Alec went aft, and remained until the flames were close to me,- When I jumped into the water 'and swam ashore. At the cry of " Fire," the boat u'a's headed directly for the shore, and -the 'engines continued 'working after the boat struck. - The passeiwerS on the forward part of the vessel' were able td wade Ashore, as the water .was only up to their armpits.. It was in this manner that most of them were _saved. A number of the lost were in the after part of tile boat, 'and' could not get-. forward on account of the They,- Were' therefore suffocated, or in jumping iatd-the Water met with a watery grave. • The strong; cUrrentand,the Motion of the :wheels Carried those' unfortunate nto the -middle of the river, and it was a matter of Intliossibility to Stem. this current, or make headway to shore: - After the boat took fire, it was but a few minutes before the flames enveloped her, and it became impossible for the officers of the vessel to do much in the way of saving life. • •.There were no small boats near at hand, and there could be no assistance rendered to those who were compelled to leave the •vessel by: the •stern. The steamer J. Baldwin saved Some of the passengets. I think there must have been a number of ladies suffocated in the after saloon, as the shrieks from that quarter were most heartrending. One of the *Omen on board jumped into the river with three children, and was saved. The boat burned to the water's edge, but the engine remained standing. , No baggage other than a trunk and a small valise .was saved. Two ladies, the Misses Day, of Catskill, were. saved ; also a Miss Pierson and a Miss Heath. There have already. been found about twenty-five bodies. Nearly . all those saved • were in their night-dresses. The cargo consisted principally of hay, butter, stock, Scc, but the value is Unknown. The boat alone cost 200,000 dols.  wine. . . A New York paper states that the •transportation train of the army of the Potomac would make a line of waggons sixty-two and a-half miles in length. "At the news of the. destruction of the Alabama." says the Currier du Havre, ." the North American vessels in this port dressed themselves_ out with flags as a token of rejoicing." • Thirty-seven persons belonging to the American ships Buckingham and Socone, captured by the Alabama on the coast of Brazil, have been landed at Havre-, from a • French steamer. The revelt against the -French rule in Algeria is being. rapidly suppressed. It is expected that by thelkgiii,; riing of July all need for military operations will beat • f •, an end. • - . . • ... The New York papers say that men are se scarce in. Richmond that women had been called On to act • as clerks in the Post Office and other Government departments. At Mobile the Post Office is said to be entirely. served by women. The Milan journals state that a clerk in . public office, named Figini, committed suicide three days Since by shooting himself :through the heart, on his wife's tomb, in the cemetery of San clregorio, jrist'outside that city. He had been in a desponding state ever since hi wife's death. The mother of the Viceroy of Egypt has brought many rich presents, on her visit to .Constantinople, • to the ' Sultan and the Court.- Conspicuous amongst_ them is a superb diadem of diamonds and other precious stones, valued at £6OOOO, and a single ring diamond, -valued at £15,000. The Journal de St. Petersbourg states that the harbour of Sebastopol is being cleared of the hulls of the ships sunk at the entrance of the port at the bekinning of the Crimean war. The same journal adds that iu three years the railroad from Moscow to Koursk will be extended to Sebastopol. The steamer Yeddo, supposed to .be for the Confederate service, has left Bordeaux. She. is 700 tons, and has a French crew of 65 men ; her captain is also a Frenchman. She has a cargo of good's on beard, and is bound for Amsterdam ; but there is great mystery about her. The Spanish squadron in the Paeific is to be reinforced', and 'the Chincha Islands will be retained till the assassins of. a Spanish subject recently murdered in.. Perh•are punished, and the innocence of. the Peruvian -Government in regard to the attempts on the life of ' Senor. Mazzaredo, who. ,was. lately Spanish • Minister. or Special Commissioner' in Peru, shall have been, .proved: A '