We have nearly missed a terrible calamity. The trainin g -ship Goliath,'
moored off Grays, in Essex, had on Wednesday 393 workhouse boys on board, all under training for a seafaring life, when she was discovered to be on fire. A paraffin lamp had been upset and had exploded. So rapidly did the flames mount, that within an hour the Captain, who was the last on board, was forced to leave her, and his wife was compelled to jump some 25 or 30 feet into the water. The ship's boats were away, having been removed in apprehension of a hurricane, but boats from other ships and from the shore carried off the boys, who were all saved but two, though the ship itself burned to the water's edge. The loss is great, as the system initiated by Mr. Goschen had proved most beneficial both to the workhouses and to the lads, who, it is stated, all remained in or returned to Grays, having a horror of going back to the workhouse life.
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