DESTROYED BY FIRE OR—?

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 26, 23 September 1893, Page 5

DESTROYED BY FIRE OR—?

The loss of the “City of Boston” of the Inman Line, is still remembered as one of the most remarkable in the history of marine disasters. An ironbuilt vessel, fitted with water-tight compartments, she seemed well adapted for braving the storms of the ocean. Tlie day soon came, however, when she was tried and found wanting. She left Few York on' January' 25, 1870, and cleared from Halifax three days later for Southampton and Liverpool. Besides the crew she had on board 112 passengers. From the 28th day of January to the present time the vessel has been as though she never existed. A month after the “ City of Boston ” leaving Halifax a search was organised, but no trace of the missing vessel could be found. Intense excitement was felt in this country and America over the fate of the ship. When, in March, a despatch was received in Hew York from Liverpool stating that the vessel was safe, the joy was boundless. The news was announced in the House of Representatives, where business was immediately suspended, while the members congratulated one another on the good tidings. In Hew York itself preparations were made to fire a cannon in the City Hall Park, and otherwise to celebrate the safe arrival of the missing ship. But, alas! a second despatch arrived a few hours later announcing there was no foundation for the news that the “ City of Boston” was safe. Some practical jokers appear to delight in doing all the harm in their power, for how else can the fact be explained that bottles containing alleged news from passengers aboard the “ City of Boston ” often showing at once their bogus nature —were found yearly for half a dozen years alter the disappearance of the ship ? Many surmises were made as to the fate of the vessel. One theory was that the “ City of Boston ” had been destroyed by fire after a dynamite explosion ; another, put forward by Mr Inman, suggested that the vessel had got into a big field of ice, where she had probably foundered in a storm.