LOSS OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 34, 11 February 1869, Page 3

LOSS OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS.

The ill-fated hoat left Benton harbor, <& little port near St. Joseph, Mich, about half-past 10 o'clock, on the night of September sth, having on board about 55 living souls all told, with a cargo of fruit and sundries sufficiently heavy to fill main and hurricane decks, and to cause the boat herself to settle down in the water. She Tvas towed down the canal hy the tug , ■Daisy Lee. The men on the tug remarked that the propeller was heavily laden, and _aw that she rolled somewhat unsteadily. But overhead the sky was clear, the day had been fair and calm, and uo ■one had a suspicion of a terrible fate towards which the unfortunate vessel, with her still more unfortunate 'passengers and crew, were then -surely moving. As if it had been a warning, the propeller, after reaching St Joseph, ran agrond. A towline was made fast to her stern, after ♦considerable detention the boat was got off, her head was put right and she Slowly -steamed on the voyage of death. The rest is a blank, and the page will probably never be filled. A few hours of iinciderit and quiet, the story of whose •moments will never be told, and then the 'certainty of the occurrence of so terrible a -calamity. This is the conclusion to which the disappearance of a precious cargo and a few broken disjointed pieces of wreck inevitably points. But the intervening moments, the two or three short hours that preluded an eternity, it is iprobable that no survivor will ever be spared to say how they came and went. The presumption is that the fate was that of a vessel top-heavy, overwhelmed and •sunk in the waves by a furious squall : ■that those on board, thrown into the sea, battling for a short moment of agony •with ineffectual effort, went down •one by one till the last cry was stilled. Failing to arrive at Chicago in time, the •steamer Dunbar was sent to search for her, and steamed down to St Joseph and back without seeing a vestige of anything belonging to the missing craft. On renewing the search, however, the Benton fell in with piecesof the boat, furniture, and fruit, which formed the cargo. At length the >news came that the Hippocampus lay wrecked about twenty miles south-west from St Joseph, but not one of the -souls on board was discovered. The most natural supposition is that the boat carrying nearly twenty tons more cargo than on any previous trip, and with the entire weight of her cargo disposed on or about her main •deck was capsized in a squall. If the disaster occurred in this manner, she must 4iave sunk almost immediately, and the tfate of her passengers behn a speedy one.

The following is from the Pall Mall Gazette: — A circular is being sent to the •country clergy announcing the establishment of an office for the manufacture and sale of sermons, '' whereby every clergyman of the Church of England who subscribes • to it can have it in his power to deliver a carefully written sound orthodox sermon every Sabbath.' To be successful, this plan should be carried out tb the length of which it is obviously capable. Every clergyman should have it in his power not ouly to deliver a sound orthodox sermon, but to choose from peculiar qualities, aa in another trade we have the advantage of selecting from various vintages. All sermons are supposed to be orthodox, but there are as many sermons as of wine ; and we venture, therefore, to suggest to •the enterprising advertiser that he should compile a sermon list, from which clergymen of different tastes and schools might select, with a better chance of getting the precise article required. Thus, for instance: — 1. A good sound discourse safe and moderate, ss. 2. High and dry, 6s. •_. High, 7s. 4. Extreme ditto, with Roman bouquet, Bs. 5. Gushing ditto, very delicate, suitable for, ladies, Bs. 6d. 6- Full-bodied, after-dinner ; an excellent digestive, 6s. 7. Deep, thoughtful ser- i mon, with Broad Church flavor, 6s. 6d. j 8. Ditto, very broad, 7s. 9. Old fashioned | Evangelical, suitable for family reading 4/9. I