Morning Herald

The Gratitude and John McKeon pilot boats have not yet been heard from. That they foundered in the gale of the 30th ult., there is scarcely any doubt. Their loss, with those who were on board, falls heavily upon a class, the most enterprising of any. There are no set of men so daring, so frank and so useful as those who are engaged in the dangerous service of piloting vessels in and out the thousand different seaports. Millions of dollars worth of property and millions of lives are annually entrusted to their care, and with perfect safety. They cruise at all times, and no matter how severe a storm may be, their rakish little schooners are to be seen driving all before them, boarding vessels over a hundred miles at sea and rendering important services to the distressed mariners. Of the thousand pilots scattered over the world, those of this port stand pre-eminent in skill and courage. Whatever seriously affects them is felt, not only by their own families, but by the whole shipping interest also. We have now to record a calamity, the like of which has not occurred for many years, and may it never take place again.

The severe hurricane which swept the coast from South Carolina to Maine on the 28th and 30th ult. undoubtedly carried down the Gratitude and John McKeon in its fury. The former was the New York pilot boat No. 3, of sixty-five tons burden, and valued at $6,000. She was built in 1824 by Messrs. Bell & Brown, and was launched early in January 1825. There was no insurance upon her, and the loss will fall wholly on the pilots. Just previous to her last and final cruise she had been put in complete repair, coppered, &c. Her usual complement of men was eight pilots, two boat keepers and three boys, making in all thirteen. Of this number the Gratitude sailed hence on the 26th ult. with only nine, but she was to touch at Staten Island for Jarvis Calvert, and thence proceed on her cruise. But before she reached Quarantine, Mr. Calvert had engaged to pilot to sea the ship Gondola, bound to St. Petersburg, which he did on the 27th. While the Gratitude was at Quarantine another of the pilots, William Stevens, was engaged to navigate a ship to sea, and he was landed for that purpose, leaving behind him only four pilots, the second boat keeper, her first having been detained in town by a death in his family, and the three boys. With these she proceeded on her cruise. David Kelso, another of her pilots, piloted to sea the packet ship Siddons, but returned to the city in the steamer Hercules. Mr. Thomas Goin left the Gratitude off Sandy Hook on the evening of the 26th ult. By invitation he was to have gone on the cruise in her, but in consequence of being taken suddenly ill the pilots made signal, the Thomas H. Smith bore down and took him off—so he was saved.

Those who went, and have probably been lost in her, had, with one exception, families to maintain. Annexed is a correct list of them:

Lyman Smith, second boat keeper, aged 33, had a wife and three children to support.

Enos Harris, pilot, aged 27, had a wife and two children who looked to him for their maintenance.

Owen Wilber, pilot, aged 23, had an aged mother and an insane father living in Newark, whom he supported.

Joseph Hendershot, pilot, aged 26, had a blind mother who looked to him solely for her support.

Sydney Waite, pilot, aged 23, brother of Captain Benjamin L. Waite, of the packet ship England, had only himself to take care of.

The New Jersey pilot boat, the John McKeon, was not quite one year old, having been launched in November 1838. She was valued at $9,000, and no insurance. Her builders were Messrs. Webb & Allen, and she measured one hundred and four tons. This boat had only four on board, her pilots having been 'put out.'

These four were:

Lawrence Jackson, aged 20, of Shrewsbury, boat keeper.

Keech, do, 20, do.

John Rogers, do, 28, do, Perth Amboy.

Enos Russell, do, 23, do, New York, cook.

With the exception of the latter none of the above had any families to support. Enos Russell has left a wife and one child in this city to be provided for.

The John McKeon was last seen on Thursday the 26th ult. off Montauk, hove to with every thing tight. John B. H. Ward was the last man from her. He left her on Wednesday evening, and piloted up the brig Aladdin. He thinks that she must have been run down by some vessel scudding from Montauk point to the Capes of Delaware during the hurricane.

When we take into consideration that these boats were manned by the most experienced navigators extant, and by men and boys who had been born and bred sailors, then we have some idea of the severity of the gale. We have conversed with pilots, and others who were out in the hurricane, and they all say that they never before suffered so much and felt such a blow. Not a rag of canvas could be kept on the yards, and their only wonder is, that so few vessels have been wrecked. These pilot boats were ballasted with iron and stone, and the probability is, that a heavy sea struck and instantly sunk them.