The bravery of David Marshall, on the occasion of the sinking of the barque Chinaman, by the 8.8. Craiglands, will be fresh in the minds of our readers, and it will be remembered that he received one of the highest marks of appreciation from the Relief Fund Committee. He was the boatswain of the Chinaman, and soon after the conclusion of the official pi ceedings that followed the collision, joined the out-door staff of the Imperial Maritime Customs, and has since continued in that service. We now hear of another noble act accomplished by him.
Tt appears that on Saturday afternoon he was employed on "lorcha duty," and was crossing the river to the Pootung side when he saw a two-masted rice-boat, of about 100 piculs capacity, carried by the force of the tide against the British ship John R. Worcester's main braces, of which her masts got foul. A heavy squall of wind was blowing at the time, and the rice-boat was driven under the' vessel's quarter, and soon filled and sank, As she went down her masts got free of the John R. Worcester and she presently floated to the surface again, bottom up. When BIr. Marshall saw that she was sinking, ho immediately went to the assistance of those on board. Fortunately another Customs sampan, that had been sent from the Custom House with a chit to a Siamese vessel, was at no great distance, and this sampan was also ordered by Mr. Marshall to come to the rescue. When the rice-boat rose to the surface again the strong tide carried her up the river very rapidly, Some of her crew were clinging to her and others to pieces of wreckage, while others were struggling in the water, but ultimately they were all got into one or other of the two sampans, There were 23 men in all. A woman was also rescued by Mr. Marshall; she was almost insensible when she floated to the surface, and in trying to pull her into his boat, across which he was lying, he fell into the river himself. However, he kept a firm hold of both the woman and the sampan, and succeeded at last in yetting her into it, Besides the task of rescuing these people, Mr. Marshall protected the wreck from being plundered by men in a crowd of boats that came flocking round to get some of the rice that was floating on the river, and to steal the boards, etc., that were strewn round. Not one ofthesemen, however, made the slightest effort to save the lives of the men in the water and clinging to the wreck. When all the people lad been saved, Mr. Marshall succeeded in getting two boats to lash the wreck between them. What rice could be got out of it was transferred to one of these boats and the rescued crew followed the cargo. The three boats were soon run ashore, having by this time been carried up the river some distance above the junks; the John R. Worcester was lying just opposite the French Police Station. jo labour of saving the lives of these people was increased by the roughness of the river caused by the strength of both wind and tide, which were moving in contrary direction: Having seen the rescued people and their boat and cargo, or what was left of them, safely ashore, Mr. Marshall proceeded to the American barque Quickstep. Here he was invited to dry his clothes and take some refreshment after his cold bath and arduous exertions, and he remained on board that vessel till 8.30 a.m. on Monday morning, it being impossible for him to get ashore on Sunday.
Not one of the rescued people evinced the slightest feeling of gratitude in any way. The rescue of so many lives under such circumstances is an instance of bravery that should meet with some recognition at the hands of the Chines authority Saw Reports, CIVIL SUMMARY COURT, Shanghai, 30th Auguat,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.