The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-03-20 00:00:00

THE , GREAT ,TASMANIA:

INVESTIGATION' AT THE CORONER'S COURT;

YESTERDAY

' 'f •
The inquest in this extraordinary eaFte'l4EtS ebtrimeneed
yesterday, upon the bodies pf the followiug2soldiergnow
lying dead, some in the workhouse and some in the dead-'

house :—Thomas Holt,- 'John Murphy, Wm. Mathi4s,
Thomas Beach, William Coleman, James Pyett, and
John Phillips. 7-
The following jury were sworn in :—Thomas Gibson
(forernalf),'Samuel Richardson, Edward Gundy, Thomas
Syers, Thomas W. Shaw, Thomas P. Walker, Watson
Peck, Wm. Tassell, Bothwick, Hugh o‘ven, Edward
Hartley, Hy. Longsteth; Geo. Hetiitson, George Medley,
and John Tilley.
Mr. Lawford;,the solicitor to the India-office appeared
for the Secretary of State for India, to watch the
,case on
behalf of the Government; Mr. J. B. Aspinall, barrister
instructed by Mr.: Bateson, appeared •for the military
officers in charge of the troops; and Mr. Forshaw for
the captain and owners of the ship.
The-CORONER, addressing the jury, said, the Under
Secretary of State for India ,was present and wished to
make a few observations.
The FOREMAN said, before hearing that gentleman the
jury had, a very strong unanimous wish ,to hold the
inquiry at the workhouse, on the,ground of .humanity
to the men who were laid there on sick beds. The jury'
theught 4 wonld 1:,00 irilinman, 'to say the. least of it, to,
bring those men down to tiny couit in fife town, unless
they had been finally. discharged by: ,the miaieal 'flan
who attended them in the workhouse.
The ConosTEß said he had made an arrangement to
hold the inquiry at St. George's-hall, which would be
not only more convenient for the jury, but also for the
professional men engaged" in the case, 'and lie h. al
arranged with the governor of the workhouse to bring
fr(hia foir men from the hospital inn car. and to take
them back again 4.140 i 4
The FoREN4N sgid that, 'having_ seen ". the 'ntn Qll
their sick beds on Saturday, the jury had a very Wong
desire to hold the inquiry at the workhouse, but how-
ever they must give way, and bow to the decision of the
court. If the men were brought-down to Sti George's-
hall or to the Coroner's Court,
.there might be, some
'clia ;08141T thotigh =
Cit would•be-very eh more
hainape to hp si thp,.;.iivtiry 84 the sot.
',Yes 'abundance of evidence
to be MP hefOre thei .gai'tn` fli4t filirSilf 'the I
case where it would be ROOM* I i pall any of the sick
men. The inquiry couli he opened in St, Clamp's-
hall, and, if necessary, adjourned to the workhouse.
. Mr. T. G. BARING, Under-Secretary Of -State
for India, sa'd,--11 wish to say, Mr. Coroner, that I have
come *Where on the mixt of the tratary of State,
partly to see that 'aid igto tti).6 q
holsPitqf vete
properly cared for, which, I am happy to say, fa the'base
to the greatest possible extent ; for, having seen many
hospitals, I never .saw a hospital in et better .state • than
the 'hospital of the" workhouse, of men who were more
Anu§triy,sstisfied with the , treatment they received
there. 'cii4e, `alsß, to hotroi, ororier,' that
the secretary fifittg of' the Council )yiihes 'thi§
ease Woad he fully rind eompietPli iiiveraistea
has directed Mr. fawford, the solicitor to the India_
Ace, to attend for the purpose-of-affording any auk-
lance, and getting any further -information which the
Coroner may require; to investigate the case. It appears
10 file Oft it Ninp.ild he useful in the enquiry, that the
provisions remaining in thFs.bili shoidd Be sube,•ed .bY
091pfte0-. :iart4. 4.44 eve '14604e. -dit
umirwit' 411mi/from 4.gents here 144 that
sdr-
vey as soon as pioSihic,
ThO F9nßwitor---Does that include a sample' of the
lime-juke
The CORONER—Everything. •
The FOREMAN said there was on the jury Mr.
Walker, a member of the Pharmaceutical Society- of
great Iritlith and it Blight be of assistance to the jury
W a 1/4404 hi We pion logs were pLrect in NS 4afids
for e*ernination•
The inquiry was then adjourned to the Nisi prig
Court at sat. Georges-hall.
The CORONER having taken his seat said, it had been
suggested that the survey of the remaining stores
should be entrusted to Lieutenant Prior and Lieutenant
Bouchier,_ two Government emigration officers at this
port, and he thought there could not be two more
coapeteat genttenley. fps siRll an office..
The .rOREIN said the pry tnsea stores
fOf themselyes. The jury were o opinion tb4Ctbey
ought to go.ddwn -to the ship and inspect the remajninc,
stores and provisions. As to coupling anyone with the
two Government officers; to examine the stores, the
' jury thought, it would be wise to. ask Dr. Inman to
undertake the duty.
The CORONER said he was quite willing, for Dr.
Inman was'a most respectable man. - - -
M. AsprNA'i,i, said he had no interest in the matter,
lint lie woi,ila-.Obserye that 00010 no one would
question Dr. Inman's eminent fitness fOr anythingcif
the find, it had been thought that snipe provision
merchant conki have been employed te) inspect the
stores, rather than a medical man.
The CORONER thought it would be better to appoint
a provision merchant

The FbREMAN said there was this difficulty in the way
of such a proposal, that provision dealers were not
practical men generally, and sent stores on board ships
out of bond.
Mr. "TALKER (a inryman)„..said thatin Bitch a_casa as
this: an analytical Chemist. was not iettiiired; 'lint 'a
Mi9rosooOst wciuld be extremely useful. It was—well:
known that there was not a more eminent microicoPfst
in the kingdom than Dr. Inman.
The CORONER said Dr. Inman should be communicated
With on the matter. As to visiting the-ship, the jury,
could go down later on in the day.
Mr. George Can, the governor of the Liverpool
workliOnse, was the first witness Added, and e4ainined
by the coroner. On Thursday evening, the 15th inst.,
a number of soldiers, about 192, were, brought from the
GreafTasmania to the workhouse. Some came in cabs,
but the greet majority were bought in spring carts.
The spring carts were not covered, hut, I had sent down
from the workhouse stores about sixty coverlets to the
Great Landing-stage. I at first understood there were
only silty men pemlng to the hospital from the Great
Tasmania. One of 'the men on arrival at th'e workhOn.se
was found dead, lying on his back in the spring cart.
was told his name was Thomas Beach. lie was emaciated
and very much wasted away, and very naked. Not a
single one of the 102 men were able to come into
the wards without assistance, and the great majority had
to be carried on the backs of the able-bodied paupers
and officials at the workhouse. They all appeared to be
deficient in clothing, and they were all crying out that
they were' cold and wanted fire. A great number of
them wore the linen trousers, which were only suitable
for a hot climate. The net morning report gas made
that two more of the men had died, William Coleman
and James Pyett. 04 the 17th, John Phillips died ;
this moraine. two Others were reported dead—John
Purcell and William Bird. The men appeared to be
generally laboaring under dysentery, scurvy, and gene-
ral ,debility: or exhaustion. None of them are yet
convalescent, and some of them are in a dangerous
condition.
Py the Jury—ln the case of the ban Beech, he wore
linen tronseFs, nq *bees nor stockings, no drawers, a
cotton ow, nnd tern singlet; the weight, of the platllpa
on his body weighed 1 lb. 15 oz., and they were all
saturated with water. It was raining when the men were
brought to the workhouse; and save an occasional-blan-
ket, they had no covering except the coverlets I sent.
A gentleman frOM Mr. 11,attilloile!s, ,applied tn,me fer
the rugs,- The next day thirty-seven more men were
brought. They are now under the care of -the
,parish
surgeon and parish officers. Mr. Rathbone said expense
in making the men comfortable must not be spared. I
was told that the second lot of men were also brought
in spring carts. The men were all perfectly sober when.
they came into the house. • They were loud in their
complaints about want of bed clothing, bad food, and
being short of water when 'on board the vessel.
By Mr. ASPINALL—I don't know who sent the carts.
It was fine in the mor4ing, but wpt wlten tll9 men were
brought' up to the workhouse. I never saw the surgeon
of the ship ; I only saw Captain Pond ; he was the,
only officer connected with the soldiers whom I have
seen.
By Mr. LAWFORD—I heard Mr. Baring came to the
workhouse yesterday.. Every attention had been paid
to the soldiers since they came to the workhouse. Mr.
Rathbone's instructions are that everything shall be
done for the comfort of the men without reference to
expense. .
Lieutenant Henry Goschen, of the 3rd Bengal Euro-
pean Regiment, deposed as follows—We embarked on
board the Great Tasmania at Calcutta, on the 9th of
November, for Liverpool. We had drafts from nearly
every regiment in the service at the same time. There
were, including 20 officers, 985 men, 17 women, and 21
children : that. was 'the number, exclusive of the crew.
They were pi:imposed as follows ,—Engineers, 4 men, 1
woman, and 1 child; Ist Light Cnvalry, 10 men, 1
woman, and 2 children ; 2nd Light Cavalry, 7 men ;
3rd Light Cavalry, 12 men; 4th Light Cavalry, 5
men ; Bengal Artillery, 30 men, 4 women, and 4
children ; 2nd Bengal Fusiliers, 6 men ; 3rd Bengal
Europpons, 18 officers, 487 men, 1 woman, and 2
children; 4th Bengal Europeans, 2 men, 1, woman,
and 1 child ; sth Bengal Enrol:mans, 201 men, 9
women, and 10 children ; 3rd
.Madrns Europeans,
191 men and 1 child ; Governor-General's band, 1 man t.
then.there was the surgeon of the ship and a dispenser
of medicines. The surgeon was Dr; Ferinandes, and the
dispenser of medicines was, Wm. H. C.-; _Tessier.; both
belonged to her Majesty's service. There was no Other
medical man on board but the one I have named. I
went out to India three years and a-half ago; I went over-
land. In a regiment which is supposed to consist of 1,000
men, there is one surgeon and two assistant-surgeons;
but I don't know whether there are any particular
regulations on board vessels bringing' troops. I con-
sider that a sufficient (implement of medical officers for
a regiment, especially as they were assisted by hospital
stewards, apprentices, and,s(eon. I.think one surgeon
and a dispenser of medicines are sufficient on a voyage,
because the men are generally considered to he healthier
on sea than on shore., I should say the men on the
'whole were sickly, from excesses, when they were taken
on board. ; Previous to embarkation they were .ilearly a
fortnight in depOt at Chinsurale and it was one on,
tinued scene otdrunkenness. On seyeral occasions the
men were so drunk that they were unable to turn out
on parade in the morning, and they were lying. about
on beds, tables and benches, drinking from morning, till
night. They sold their beds, clothing, and every-
thing they could lay hands on to btu drink. Every
inducement was green by the sergeant-major and
the canteen keeper at Chinsqrah to drink as much
as they could hold. The sergeant-major, who
was in charge of the canteen, made them take drink
and .charged exorbitant prices for it. Ile made an'
amazing profit out of them. It was impossible to keep
them sober; there were upwards of 1,000 men there:
All cases of, driinkenness brought before the command-
ing officer were severely punished of course, and the
men were confined for seven days in the cells. This
state of things continued up to the very day of embark-
ation. It was with the greatest difficulty that we col-
lected the drunken men on the morning of the embark-
ation. I cannot say what number of them were
invalided. I "helieve some arrangement was made
between the government and contractors at Calcutta to
put proyWons and other stores on board. I believe the
contractors employed were Armuti & Co. Committees
to inspect the provisions were held, but not one of the
oMoers coming home 'in 'the ship were appointed on
these committees. We saw nething of these provisions
till we commenced to consume them. (The certificates