of the owners in permitting the vessel to leave port without
compasses properly adjusted, or a sufficient trial
having taken place to learn whether she was under the
control of her helm or not, and we find that Captain
Noble did not take sufficient precaution to insure the
safety of the vessel by rounding-to after he found the
compasses were in error; but we consider, from the time
the vessel came in sight of land, that he acted with
coolness and courage, and used every exertion in his power
to save the lives of the passengers."

A frightful Fire, with the loss of eight lives, occurred
in Prince's street, Soho, on the morning of the 7th inst.
The house in which it took place was let out in
apartments. The shop and parlour were occupied by a man
named Reeve, a print and bookseller; in the first floor
resided the landlord, James Arthur, a painter and
glazier, with his family; the second floor was rented by
an interpreter named Puzzi, who, with his wife and
three young children, occupied the two small rooms of
which it consisted; and in the front and back attics
lived an aged woman, whose name is unknown, and a
journeyman tailor named Adams, with his wife. The
alarm was first given by a policeman about five in the
morning. He gave an immediate alarm, and messengers
were despatched to the various brigade stations in
the neighbourhood; the constable, with other persons,
endeavouring to arouse the inmates. The flames had
made considerable progress before the discovery took
place, and almost before the inmates could be alarmed
the fire had reached the second and third floors, at the
windows of which several persons were observed imploring
assistance. In a few minutes Puzzi, who with his
wife and three children, had been observed at the
windows imploring assistance, threw himself into the street,
falling with great violence on the flagstones, and
sustained such injuries as necessitated his immediate
removal on a shutter to the Charing Cross hospital. In a
very few minutes afterwards, and before the arrival of
either the engines or the fire escape, all those previously
seen at the windows had disappeared, and their terrible
fate was too apparent. When the engines came, the fire
was soon subdued, leaving the ground floor untouched,
and a large portion of the first and second floor
staircases standing. In the second floor front room, and
near the window from which Puzzi precipitated himself,
were found the half-charred remains of his unfortunate
wife and three children, the youngest only two years of
age. In the back attic the bodies of the journeyman
tailor and his wife, and of the old woman who had
occupied the front attic, were found lying in a heap, as
if they had fallen down and died together. The
remains of all the deceased persons were gathered up
and conveyed to St. Ann's dead-house, to await the
coroner's inquest. Next morning, the engineer left in
charge of the ruins, made an inquiry to ascertain how
the fire commenced. Mr. Arthur, who occupied the first
floor, said that he was awoke by the servant, who slept
along with her daughter on the same floor, but nearest
the street, by hearing her clapping her hands, and
crying "murder!" and "fire." He got out of bed, and
found the room so full of smoke that he could scarcely
breathe. He, however, shook his wife for some time,
and at last succeeded in awaking her. Owing to the
confusion they were both in, neither of them were
able to unlock the room door. Mr. Arthur, therefore,
was obliged to force it, when on entering the front-room
he found an exceedingly small portion of a wooden
cornice, immediately over a cupboard running from
the floor to the ceiling, in flames. So dense, however,
was the smoke, that neither he nor his wife had time to
collect a single article of wearing-apparel, and they were
obliged to rush into the street in their night-dresses.
He also stated that Hannah Dady, his servant, on
discovering the fire ran up stairs in her night-dress to Mr.
Puzzi's floor, when on entering she found the room in
flames. She cried out "Murder and fire," but was
unable to awake him for some time, and when she at length
succeeded he jumped out of bed, said nothing, but
opened the window, and without attempting to arouse
his wife and family, leaped out of the window. After
that, the woman had time to return to her room on the
first-floor, and save her boots and two or three articles
of wearing-apparel. It is an extraordinary fact that the
fire took place within a few yards of the engine-house
connected with St. Ann's parish—so near, indeed, that
Spendlow, the engineer, an old-experienced fireman,
could, had necessity required it, set the engine to
work from a pump in front of his engine-house, and
thereby have confined the fire to whatever part of the
house was then on fire. Strange to say, about twelve
months ago, Spendlow received orders in writing that
he was not again to take his engine out to any fire that
might occur in the parish.

A Fire took place in Clement's Inn early in the morning
of the 9th inst., which caused the death of a young
woman named Sophia Harrison. The younger branches
of the family were at a party, and Mrs. Harrison went
to fetch them home, leaving her daughter asleep, and
the candle burning on the table. On her return home,
the room was on fire, and the girl in the midst of it.
The flames were subdued, and the poor creature taken
to King's College Hospital, where she died shortly after
her admission.

A horrible affair has occurred near Bantry. Mrs.
Sullivan, wife of a farmer in the vicinity, from some
cause had fallen helpless in a field, and a Number of
Starving Dogs Devoured Her. Her remains were found
in the field, the bones of the limbs stripped of the flesh.

A child, fifteen months old, has died in Dublin from
an Attack by Rats. They got into the cradle at night,
bit the child in several places, and ate away half of the
inside of one of the arms.

One of the most awful Colliery Explosions which have
ever occurred in this country, took place on Saturday
the 18th inst., at the Arley mine, near Wigan. About
two hundred and forty persons descended in the morning,
and about three o'clock in the afternoon the report of
an explosion of gas was heard at the top. It was soon
discovered by the statements of some forty colliers, who
came up from the south workings, that it was the north
levels in which the explosion had occurred, and that they
were still on fire near the shaft, thus cutting off all
escape for the greater part of the colliers. Some hours
were lost before the manager and searching parties could
get into the levels, but when they did they found heaps
of the slain, and had a most appalling task to perform.
One of the first men brought to the surface alive, from
the north levels, was James Murphy, a collier who had
been working at the very far end, or 1,200 yards from
the pit shaft. He and another man, it appears, on
feeling the shock of the explosion, started towards the
shaft, but, on reaching a point in the level where the
sulphur was overpowering, his companion turned back,
whilst Murphy, resolutely putting his cap between his
teeth, ran towards the shaft and was saved. The other
man was lost. About twenty minutes to eight o'clock
at night a man and boy were taken out much exhausted
with sulphur, and soon afterwards another man was
found, who was so far spent that he has been insensible
ever since. In all, about fourteen persons made their
escape alive from the north workings during Saturday
evening, and these were the last. All that were found
during the night, and on Sunday, had been killed;
forty dead bodies had been discovered on Saturday
evening, and on Sunday morning, at ten o'clock, the
number had been increased to seventy. On Sunday
night, at a late hour, eighty-seven had been recovered
and brought out of the mine. The search has been
continued, but the number of people killed is not yet
ascertained. It is believed, however, that above a
hundred persons have perished.

A Shipwreck has taken place attended with Appalling^
Circumstances. The vessel was the "Bona Dea" of
Liverpool, from Savanna. She was found at sea on the
4th inst. by the brig "Cuba," water-logged, with
several people on board, in a dreadful state, having been
eleven days without food (except what they obtained
by horrible means) or water. The following painful
account is given by the survivors. When the ship was
struck by a sea on the 25th of January, she lay on her
broadside for some time; the crew succeeded in cutting
away the main and mizen shrouds, and the masts going,
she righted. But everything had been washed out of
the cabin and stores. They had not a single thing left
—not a morsel of bread or drop of water. They managed
to get an old sail over the stump of the mizen-masts and