National Intelligencer
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Contributed by Susan
Description: Accidents, &c.
Date: October 14 1818Newspaper published in: Washington, DC
Page/Column: 2/5
Accidents, &c.
In the city of New York on the 19th ult., James ARMSTRONG was stabbed with a knife by Thomas GREGORY. Coroner's verdict, murder.
A youth of the name of William ALLISON was killed in the same city by a bank of sand caving in upon him.
Soon after 12 o'clock on the night of the 3d inst., a store belonging to Mr. F. MAJOR, in the town of Boston, was discovered to be on fire. The alarm was instantly given and the greatest exertions were made to extinguish it. The store had been erected on the hull of an old ship, it was of great extent and contained, among various other articles, a large quantity of straw, and about 80 cords of bark; from which the flames burst forth with incredible fury. Happily, however, the dwelling house of the proprietor at the head of the wharf, was a stone building; the night was extremely damp, and the breeze being light, as the dawn arose, the anxiety which had been excited for the fate of the surrounding neighborhood began to subside. The loss sustained by Mr. MAJOR, we fear, has been great. Messrs. BROWNS also, and others in the vicinity, suffered materially.
On the night of the 3d inst between midnight and day an attempt was made to break into the store of Mr. John Tomlinson, in the front part of the house occupied b Mrs. Elizabeth VICARS of Easton, Md. Two persons climbed over the alley gate, ripped off two planks, but the room being sealed, they were heard to express the fact to each other. They then repaired to the door of the dwelling which was fast; they forced a window shutter and took out the lower sash and laid it down. In the interim, Mrs. VICARS had intrepidly got out of bed, took a broad sword, repaired to the spot, and when one of the men put his head in the window she with both hands made a blow on the back of the neck and shoulders and then pushed the point at them, when he withdrew his head and retreated out of the alley, leaving a good deal of blood on the window and sword.
On the night of the 20th ult. The public gael in the county of Chatham, in Pittsborough, N.C. was consumed by fire. There is no doubt the fire was applied by two Negroes who were confirmed in it and who were burnt to death before any person could assist them, the fire having been communicated about one o'clock at night. One of the Negroes was a runaway of an abandoned character, the other was confined for stealing.
A Mr. SMITH, aged about 17 years, was accidentally killed at Durham, N.Y., on the 1st inst. A brigade review was held on that day; the deceased was in a store near the parade, where a young gentleman was practicing the manual exercise; in the course of the exercise the gun was unintentionally discharged, and the contents entered the head of the deceased, who instantly expired.
A number of men near Mount Pleasant Cottage, Canada, in firing a salute to the Duke of Richmond on his passage down the river on the 4th inst. having neglected to pay proper attention to the piece after the first fire, one of them named John LEVIT, while in the act of ramming down the second charge, had both his arms shattered to such a degree that amputation was necessary. He was blown 30 feet from the piece, and nearly 20 feet high, his clothes all on fire.
The distillery at Corlaer's Hook, N. Y., accidentally took fire in the afternoon of the 7th inst. And was consumed by the bursting of a still containing spirits of wine. Two men and a boy were very much burnt, not having had time to escape.
On the 4th inst. The steam board Car of Commerce, on her passage to Quebec in Canada, going at the rate of 8 miles an hour, was met near the Sulpice by the steam boat Quebec going to Montreal at the rate of 5 miles an hour, when the boats ran foul and caused a tremendous crash. The Car struck the Quebec about 15 feet from the stem, which injured her considerably. No lives were lost.
At Fairfax, Me., on the 13th (18th?) ult. Mr. Humphrey MASON came to an untimely death as follows. The company to which he was attached had been ordered out for regimental review and inspection at China. Very early in the morning, in conformity to a ridiculous custom in the country, he, with others met at the house of an officer for the purpose of paying him a salute before the company paraded. After performing this ceremony and partaking very liberally of the bounty which the officer had provided, MASON and another young man by the name of ROLLINS began to play with their muskets, when the latter, forgetting that his piece was loaded, undertook to frighten his companion by snapping it at him. The piece being directed at the abdomen of Mr. MASON literally blew out his intestines.
On the morning of the 28th September, in Quebec, a Mr. POTRAS, in a delirium arising from a fever, threw himself from the upper story of the lodging house of Madame CHEDEANVERT, and unhappily put an end to his existence.