EARTHQUAKE AT PORT-All.PRINCE.....Extract Of a letter, dated April 14.—" We
experienced a tremendous shock of an earthquake here the night before last, which almost tossed me out of bed. The walls of all the brick houses in town were cracked, and some of them seriously injured. The commotion lasted about thirty seconds. The house in which I was, fortunately, was of wood, which kept such a twathing that I was afraid it would fall every moment. I ran out on the piazza, and was in the act of jumping from it, a distance of forty feet, when every thing became quiet again. Every house was deserted, and in a few minutes the streets were full of people, running in all directions. The lowing of the cattle, the howling of the dogs, and the cries and screams of the women and children, were truly alarming. This is the third earthquake since my arrival, the other two being very slight. After all was over, I went round the town, and saw large stones and pillars of brickwork thrown from the houses, and the walls ruined." —Baltimore American.
FALL OF THE GOREE MILLS AT LIVERPOOL.—Two persons, a woman and her child, were found dead under the ruins of this building on Friday morning. It is supposed that, had prompt means -been used for the removal of the rubbish, they might have been saved ; they were not bruised in the slightest degree. A young lady, passing at Charing Cross on Monday afternoon, wait knocked down by the shafts of a gentleman's gig, the wheel of which passed over her leg. Fortunately the bone was not injured, though the young lady was very much alarmed, and considerably hurt. At Appledon, on Monday last week, the leg of a poor sailor named William England, belonging to the brig Jane, was caught in the bight of a hawser that he was endeavouring to slack away, and actually twisted off. Very faint hopes were entertained of his recovery. On Saturday morning, a man named Pearce, employed by Mess". Speck and Redmond, Mill Street, Dockhead, fell into the dock while in. the act of carrying a sack of wheat to one of his masters' lighters. He pitched on one of the piles, and was most dreadfully, and it is thought mortally, injured in consequence.
ACCIDENTAL Stworixo.—On Tuesday, last week, a fine young woman, a Miss Collier, was shot by the accidental discharge of a gun, while standing by the pump belonging to the house of a Mr. Grove, 0"Stourbridge. She fell instantly dead on 'the pavement. It does not appear that any blame was attributable to the lad of the house, who had the gun, which went off by accident as he carried it on hi$ shoulder.
Sure inss.—On Friday evening, Thomas Farrand, of Melbourne, aged eighty-four, put a period to his existence by hanging himself in his cottage. This unfortunate man, whose mind had sunk under the accumulated distresses of dreadful bodily suffering, and, in old age, of miserable poverty and privation, was a lineal descendant of the family of Farrand, of St. Ives, in Yorkshire.—York Courant.
On Thursday, James Holmes, a mason's labourer, hung himself on the tester of a bed. He was on the point of marrying a woman belonging to South Shields, and had saved about twenty-five shillings for the occasion, which he spent in a foolish manner. This caused the parties to quarrel, which hung heavy on his mind, and was, doubtless, the cause of his committing the rash act. It is rather remarkable, that a woman hung herself on the same bedstead only a few months ago.—Tyne Mercury.
SUICIDE AND MURDEIL—A shocking occurrence took place ort Saturday, at Virellow, near Ramsey. Mrs. Petty, wife of Mr. John Petty, builder, without any apparent cause, cut the throat of her child, a boy about two years old, and, immediately after, her own • and so effectually did she execute her dreadful purpose,althoug'h her husband was aware Of the deed almost as soon as it was committed, she expired before any other assistance could be procured. The infant IS also dead.—Southampton Mercury.
STEAM-BOAT EXPLOSIONS.— The following letter, dated New Madrid, 20th April, appears in the Philadelphia Gazette. "I have the melancholy duty to let you know, that, on the 18th instant, the larboard
boiler of the Caledonia burst, killing and wounding about fifteen passen
gers, and seven of the crew. Seven or eight were blown overboard and lost ; some of the wounded will recover, although badly scalded. The
boiler bursted in the side while the boat was under weigh, and about two
hours after having wooded. The iron of the boiler must have been defective, as it has been but one year in service. We had a very heavy freight, with four hundred deck and sixty cabin passengers, which with the crew amounted to nearly five hundred souls. The hull of the boat is uninjured. We are now in tow of the Paul Jones, and you may expect us at Louisville in a few days." The number of persons who have lost their lives by explosions since the commencement or the season, is not much short of One hundred ;
sixty in the Helen 111`Gregor, four in the Huntress, nine in the Justice
Marshall, and fourteen in the Caledonia, besides of the latter who
it may be expected will not recover from the i es they have sustained. It is said that the accident of the Caledonia arose from the passengers crowding to one side of the boat, by which one side of the boiler was exposed to the direct action of the fire, and when the boat righted, a quan.. tity of steam was suddenly generated greater than the safety-valve could carry off
Previous page
