Pioche Daily Record

PRESENCE OF MIND.—A remarkable instance of presence of mind on the part of a Captain of a man-of-war is related by the St. Petersburg papers. About the end of the last month the Russian war frigate Olaf, which had accompanied the yacht of the Czarowitch to Copenhagen, was lying at anchor among hundreds of other ships in the harbor, when a fire was discovered in a coal cellar below, which was only a few feet from the powder magazine. There was no time to put out the fire before it could reach the magazine, and an explosion of the large stores of cartridges and gunpowder contained in it would probably have destroyed not only the Olaf and surrounding ships, but part of Copenhagen itself. Captain Rehbinde, commander of the Olaf, saw at once that the only thing to be done to prevent the catastrophe was to sink the ship. After sending away the crew, with the ship's papers, cash boxes and most valuable instruments in boats, he ordered the carpenters and engineers to make a leak in the vessel, and half an hour afterwards she sank in not very deep water. Next day she was raised again, and, after some provisional repairs, was taken to Cronstadt, where she is now lying in dock pending her complete restoration for service. The damage done is said to be comparatively trifling, and the Court-martial held on the officers of the vessel unanimously expressed the highest praise of the captain and his subordinates. The Emperor has appointed him his aide-de-camp, which is one of the highest honors conferred on Russian naval officers, and the officers and men under him have received gratuities from the Emperor's privy purse.—[Pall Mall Gazette.