THE LOSS OF THE ISIS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 73, 11 April 1843, Page 3

THE LOSS OF THE ISIS.

! It may be remembered that intelligence was brought by the previous West Indian mail packet, of the original accident to the Isis, in her having run aground off the north-east part of Porto Rico, on the 12th of September, and in consequence of her bottom being severely damaged, proceeded direct to Jamaica, to undergo such repairs as the naval department at j Port Royal afforded. At this station a board of survey was held, and it was considered advisable that she should be accompanied by another vessel from Nassau, New Providence, to England; and she reached this latter port on the 3rd of October, and left that evening with the Medway for Bermuda. From this period, up to the 7th, the weather was unusually fine, and all went on well, when it began to blow fresh, which gradually turned into a gale from the eastward. The ship was now strained so severely by the violence of the storm and heavy head sea, that the leak increased considerably, and the men were obliged to be kept constantly at the hand pumps, though previously those of the engines were found sufficient to keep her free from water. From this time the storm increased until the next evening, when it became evident to all on board that things wore a most unfavorable aspect, and our fears were confirmed during the night, from the hand-pumps having now become choked, and a patent pump being broken from long use. The water now rapidly gained upon her, so high as to extinguish the fires, and the engines becoming deranged, it was impossible to get them to work. No hopes could now be entertained of preserving the vessel; during the whole of this night, owing to the heavy squalls of rain, and the thickness of the weather, it was difficult to ascertain the position of the Medway, and discern her rockets and her lights. On the morning of the 9th, the chief officer (Mr. Hamilton, whose coolness and exertions are beyond my praise) came to inform the other passengers and myself, “ that we must prepare to take to the boats.” Signal guns of distress brought down the Medway to our assistance. She took up her position to leeward, when, seeing our perilous situation, Captain Smith signalled us with the ominous words, “ Save life !” ” Don’t delay !” Accordingly the crew and passengers were with the utmost danger lowered into the lifeboats, and reached the Medway in safety; and through the zealous exertions of her officers and crew, we were all rescued from a watery grave, except one poor boy, in hopes of saving whom, the second and third officers of the Medway, Messrs. Sawyers and Day, leaped into the raging sea, and were themselves saved with much difficulty from meeting a similar fate. The Medway kept as near the wreck as the , violence of the gale would allow, till the following day, when the Isis was observed still floating, the weather having then moderated considerably, or she must have gone down during the night. She was boarded from the Medway by the commanders, mail agent, and chief officers of each ship, to ascertain if there was any possibility of towing her into Bermuda, from which island we were distant only 40 miles. A few moments sufficed to convince these officers of the impossibility of accomplishing their object, the water washing into her saloon, and her lower deck having already blown U P- . - In the succeeding night the unfortunate vessel went down, the Medway having sailed over the spot where she had lain, which .was. covered j with spars, hencoops, &c., from the wreck. I Horrible Situation and Providential ' Escape.—-On Saturday, Oct. 22nd, whilst the men were engaged , in one of the. pits of Oak ! Farm Colliery, near, this town, symptoms of fire-damp were observed, upon whihh, the men. hastened out, and commenced covering the, top of. the pit. While So engaged, they heard a noise at the bottom, * and upon mustering the hands, one of the men was discovered to have

been left below. To have uncovered the pit would have been useless, as the damp would have poured.out, and the poor fellow was giver! up for lost. The pit continued covered up ; but , on the following Tuesday some men going down an adjoining stone pit, to their astonishment discovered the supposed lost collier, who was immediately hauled up, and medical assistance having been obtained, he was quite recovered. It appears that on the alarm being given of the signs of damp, he made towards the shaft, but found that all the men were gone. After waiting some time in anxious expectation, he left that spot, taking with him about six pounds of candles, and well knowing the workings of the pit, he made his way into the stone pit where he was discovered. He says he never went to sleep, for fear his candle should go out. The preservation of his existence is attributed to his having placed himself near a small stream of water, which afforded him air ami refreshment. —Wireestershire Chronicle. Death of Allan Cunningham. —lt is with great regret we have to announce the death of Allan Cunningham, a name long connected with the studio of Chantrey and the literature of his country. This sad event took place on the night of the 29th ult. from paralysis and apoplexy. He had long been declining, but not to an extent to create any great alarm among those most near and dear to him. His last work, the life of Sir David Wilkie, (now to become a posthumous publication,) he had completed, we are glad to learn, but two days before his death. He died unconscious and free from pain, in the 56th year of his age.

Fire in VnToolwich Arsenal. —About nine o’clock on Wednesday evening, the foreman of engineers, when passing the back of one of tlu: carpenters’ shops (No. 11) in the carriage department ‘ quare of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, observed a glare of light on the windows, and immediately gave the alarm, when it was ascertained that the floor of the workshop was on fire. The presence of the military in an instant, and a plentiful supply of water, soon put out the fire. The building is used for lining wooden boxes with tinned copper, for preserving shot, &c., from rust; and it is supposed the fire must have originated from some of the embers falling on the floor when putting out the fires used in stoves for heating the tools used in soldering the copper. Accident to Lord Londonderry.—A correspondent writes as follows : —“ The Marquis of Londonderry, when following the fox-hounds on Monday last, fell from his horse atTwo : mile Houses, near Stockton-on-Tees, and broke his right arm. His lordship was immediately conveyed to Wynyard Park, where he received surgical assistance.” The Agricultural Districts. —The nightly appearance of the country is assuming an aspect that must alarm all classes of the community. Incendiary fires are spreading anxiety around the country, and betoken a state of malignity on the part of the perpetrators, which excites very great apprehension for the safety of outstacked and unthrashed corn. We know that farmers holding land on yearly tenure have little inducement to improve their land by any outlay of labor, which may not be returned to them for years to come ; but we trust they will see the advantage of increasing the amount of labor on their land, in employing the poor villagers of their neighbourhood, whose condition without employment must be most dangerous to the well-being of society. We. recommend farmers to get leases where they can, and the assurance of. their landlords that they shall not be disturbed in the customary cultivation of their farms ; but, in the absence of these, they will find it to their interest to keep up at least, if not to increase, the amount of employment required on the land. We feel great regret that the farmers are disposed to curtail the quantity of labor required by them, and hope that landlords may make some proposition to them to meet the difficulty that must surround the occupant of the inferior, if not all, the soils of the countrv. —Bucks Gazette.

On Monday a fire broke out at the homestead of Mr. Dimmock, at Marston, and in a very short time completely destroyed a barley rick and a great portion of the homestead. We have not heard the full extent of the damage occasioned, but learn that there is no doubt it was the work of an incendiary. Hertford lieformer. Oq the evening of Wednesday a stack in the yard of Mrs. Browning’s farm, at Keysoe, Brook End, was fired by some miscreants, and in a short time the whole of the ricks and homestead were in flames,. The Kimbolton, St: Peter’s, Bedford, and St. Neot’s engines arrived, and were soon playing upon the fire, but some wretches,cut the pipes of the St. Neot’s engine, and rendered it useless for a considerable time. In spite of the incessant exertions of the firemen and neighbours, no less than thirteen ricks were burnt, and it is said that 200 quarters of wheat were destroyed; but at present it can hardly be ascertained what extent the loss and damage of property amounts to through this wicked act. — Ibid. .

_arlv on Monday morning,last an alarm was given in Derby, and the large engine belonging to the corporation was immediately despatched to the scene of the conflagration. It appeared.

that a stack on the premises occupied by Mr» Holmes, on Sinfin Moor, was on fire, which was effectually subdued in about an hour. The damage is not considerable. A boy, only 12 years of age, named Joseph Leason, servant to Mr. Holmes, was on Tuasday committed to our county gaol, for trial at the next assizes, on a charge of setting fire to the stack. —Derby Paper. A rick of hay, belonging to Mr. D. Butler, containing about 25 tons, standing in a field in the parish of Bromham, was discovered to be on fire about 7 o’clock on Friday se’nnight. It was wholly destroyed. There can be no doubt, from the situation of the rick, but that the fire was the work of an incendiary. A reward of 601. is offered (50/. by Mr. Butler, and 10/. by the Devizes Prosecution Society), but we are sorrv to say, it has not yet had the effect of bringing the guilty party to justice. —Wiltshire Pape>\

On Saturday se’nnight, about 11 o’clock, the farm called Nolcehouse farm, at Burghclere, occupied by Mr. J. Butt, was maliciously set fire to, and in spite of every exertion, a destruction of property, corn, and buildings, amounting to 300/., took place. • It appeared that the fire was first discovered issuing from the cowhouse, and it soon ignited two barns, which were filled with wheat, 50 quarters of oats, and a mow of peas, all of which were destroyed. The loss will be very serious to Mr. Butt, as none of the corn was insured. We hope that subscriptions will be set on foot to help him out of his present difficulties. A reward of 20/. lias been offered for the discovery of the offenders. — Ibid. Saturday, the 22nd, about 6 in the evening, a barley rick on Lower Eggerdon farm, in the parish of Askerwell, near Bridport, the property of Mr. T. Baker, was discovered to be on fire, and from the distance the rick stood from any dwelling, before any assistance could be rendered, the whole rick was on a blaze, and shortly after entirely consumed. The rick contained nearly 50 sacks of barley ; and there is not the least doubt of its being the work of an incendiary. A hayrick standing on the other side of the hedge, in an adjoining field, was providentially saved by the wind shifting from ’the direction in which it had blown the whole of the day, which carried the fire in a contrary direction from the hayrick. —Sherborne Journal.

Oxfoud. —Between two and three o’clock on Tuesday morning last a fire broke out in the workshop of Mr. Henry King, cabinet-maker and broker, in a thickly populated part of the parish of St. Ebe. An alarm was instantly given, and some engines were soon on the spot, but before the fire was extinguished, the workshop was burnt to the ground, with the whole of its contents. Soon after the fire was discovered in the shop, smoke was observed to issue from the window of the dwelling-house, at a distance from the shop, and totally unconnected with it. It came from a room occupied by a clockmaker named Rainer, who lodged in the house. There is no doubt that the premises were wilfully set on fire.

South Lincolnshire.— On Monday morning the whole of the contents of the stackyard of Mr. John Foster’s farm, about seven miles from Louth, including nineteen stacks, barns, &e., were being rapidly reduced to ashes. An attempt had been made on the previous day to destroy the premises; but the fire was extinguished before it had reached any head. There appears to exist no doubt whatever that the fire on both days was the act of an incendiary; and the second, which has proved so destructive, commenced in a part of the stackyard the most likely to communicate with and destroy the whole. The damage done is estimated at from 1,000/. to 1,500/. Mr. Foster was insured in the Norwich Union, but only for 800/. The Lincoln Mercury says, “ We are informed, on the best authority, that the dreadful fire on the premises of Mr. Foster, of Great Carlton, on Monday last, was wilfully caused by his servant, who has confessed to the fact.” Disastrous Voyage and Extraordinary Feat of Seamanship. —On Tuesday, the 18th ult., the brigantine Enfield , of London, Shaddick, master, from Tampico to Liverpool, laden with fustic, arrived at Milford, having left the former port on the 7th of August. The disastrous voyage commenced by the vessel striking on the bar in coming out, where she hung for some time, and which caused her to be leaky. The next day John Powell and John Ellis, two of the seamen, who were natives of Port Madoc, were taken ill of the yellow fever, and both died on the 19th. The weather being hot and sultry, their bodies were in a few hours afterwards committed to the deep, the captain helving previously read over them the burial service. After being at sea for four days, the whole of the crew were below ill of fever, with the exception of the master. Shaddick hoped to be able to make one of the ports in the islahd of Cuba ; he, therefore, at one a.m. 6n the 23d, bore away for the Havana, and at six a.m., on the following day, made the land to the eastward of Havana, but could not get in, in consequence of the lightness of the wind. All his efforts to make the island having proved unsuccessful, the captain, notwithstanding the whole of the crew were ill, determined to navigate the vessel across the Atlantic by himself, which he has succeeded in doing, having derived

only occasional assistance from the carpenter, who partially recovered, but whose .services were, however, not of much value, he never having been to sea previous to this voyage. On the 21st of September he spoke the American ship Kentucky, from Liverpool for Boston, and asked the captain the latitude and longitude, and told him that part of his crew were dead, and the remainder very ill, and begged he would spare him a man. The captain of the American vessel gave him the latitude and longitude, but made him no answer respecting rendering any assistance, and proceeded on his voyage. On the sth ult., the mate, Mr: Edward Baninster, a native of London, died. Five days afterwards Cape Clear light was seen, and on the 18th ult. the vessel was safely anchored in Milford Haven. The remainder of the crew, consisting of an ordinary seaman and a boy, continue very ill. Captain S. is worn quite thin from his unparalleled exertions, and deserves to be handsomely rewarded for bringing the vessel home under such trying circumstances. He is a native of Pembroke Dock. Some extraordinary feats of seamanship were performed by him during the voyage. For instance—on the Ist of September, in lat. 31 degrees N., the weather being squally, he took in the flying-jib, royal top-gallant sail, gaff-topsail, and took a reef in the fore-topsail, a cross sea running at the time and the ship labouring very much, On another occasion, a heavy squall threw the ship on her beam ends, and he had to cut the sails to save the vessel from upsetting; and again, to bend others in their stead when the Weather moderated. He managed to hoist them up with the windlass, holding on with one hand, and heaving with the other. On Monday morning week he was two hours by himself double reefing the topsail and reefing the mainsail. What added to his accumulated difficulties was his having to attend daily to the pump, which has worn him down, he states, more than anything else. He has been whole days constantly pumping, and succeeded in sucking the pumps when there had been four feet water in the hold. When the weather was fine, he would set all sail, and when it changed, he took in or reefed as circumstances required. Thus, he performed all the arduous duties of a whole ship’s company, having only the occasional help of the carpenter, whose health was weakly.