The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1859-09-27 00:00:00

DORSET COUNTY EXPRESS

DORCHESTER, TUESDAY, SEIPTEMBER 27, ISM.

MONESTE ALMA X.

THE mystery which has so long hung over the
fate of Sir John Franklin has at last been solved
by the final searching expedition sent out by his
devoted wife, whose name has become as much
associated with the melancholy story as that of
the great navigator himself. Capt. M'Clintock,
who left England in 1857 in command of Lady
Franklin's discovery steamer, Fox, arrived last
week with the interesting intelligence that the
endeavours of himself and officers to ascertain
the fate of the Franklin Expedition have been
completely successful. A record signed by
Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, and dated the
25th April, 1848, has been found in a cairn
erected on Point Victory, Oh the north-west
coast of King William's Island, stating that the
Erebus and Terror spent their first winter in
1840-7 at &matey Island, after having ascended
Wellington Channel to the 77th degree of N.
lat., and returned by the west side of Cornwallis
Island. On the 12th September, 1840, they
were beset in the ice, and so continued through-
out the second winter. On the 11th June, 1847,
six months before any anxiety was felt in Eng-
land for his safety, Sir John Franklin died, and
thus escaped the privations and sufferings which
awaited the rest of his companions. The expedi-
tion then moved on till it arrived within five
leagues of Point Victory. At this point, during
the third winter, and nearly 10 months after Sir
John Franklin's death, Captains Crozier and
Fitzjames determined to abandon the ships, and
to set out, with the 105 survivors, on a land
journey to the Great Fish River. Cp to that
date they had lost nine officers and 15 mon by
death, and they intended to start for the Great
River on the day after the date of the record,
viz., the 24it1i April, 1848. Captain M'Clintock
hail previously been informod by the Esquimaux
that after the ithipa were abandoned, 0110 of them
was crushed and sunk by the ice, while the other
had I sesut Iniven on shore, where she has over
ii lieu remained, affording thi'lll all inexlusistiblu
; supply if woosl and into, Ile had also learnt
from the natives that in the following winter
they hail isseertained by the discovery of the ,
dead bodies along the line of route, that many of
the " white men" had "dreppod" by the way
ea they pursued their course towards the Great
River. Capt. M'Clititook, Capt. Allen Yowl%
and Lieut. Hideout subsequently verified this
information by a careful examination of the
route taken by our unfortunate countrymen, mid
found numerous bleached skeletons lying on the
snow with fragments of clothes and other relic* 1
At a !Radium of 05 geographical miles from the
ships they found a boat containing two skeletons
with quantities of clothing, food, and fuel, show .1
lug that death luul not been caused by want of
sustenance. Captain M'Clintock suggests, from
thu evidence afforded by these remains, that the
abandonment of the Erebus and Terror had been
deliberately arranged, and that every alba hail
been inside during the third winter to render the
travelling equipments complete ; but that dis-
ease had greatly reduced the strength of all on
board, far insure perhaps than they themselves
were aware of. After examining 800 miles of
coast, never before penetrated by such an expe-
dition, Captain M'Clintock and his officers came
to the conclusion that the whole party of WU
men who set out on this melancholy journey
after Sir John Franklin's death dropped down
one after the other on their march until the last
man perialied, inure than 11 years ago. Captain
M'Clintock ham brought home many highly
interesting relics of our lost countrymen, part of
which were obtained from the Eriquimaux, and
part picked up on the western shore of King
William's Island, a spot which will henceforth
have the deepest interest in the history of Arctic
discovery in connection with Sir John Franklin's
expedition, and with the heroic efforts mask for
10 long years by the great nations of the Old
World and the New to solve the mystery of its
fate.

Tux fatal explosion on board the Great Eastern,
and the verdict of the jury empanneled to in-
vestigate the circumstances of the catastrophe,
have not unnaturally become subjects of very
general discussion throughout the country. Be-
sides the immediate cause of death, it is the
office of the jury to ascertain, if possible, whether
the charge of criminality, or blame of negligence
or otherwise, attaches to any one, and to whom.
The cause of the injury is directly apparent, and
explained in two words—the bursting of a reser-
voir called the "kicket," in which steam was
generated which foun,l no vent but by explosion.
The safety-valve or tap was "shut of;" hence
the calamity. The jury find this to be a ease of
" accidental death," and in those two simple
words express their formal verdict
Brief and convenient as this kind of conven-
tional finding may have been to the jury, and
unsatisfactory as it Appears to be in the eye
of the public generally, it would perhaps have
been better had they left their decision in its
native simplicity and abortiveness, and abstained
from any 'penal registration of "opinion." We
agree with a London contemporary. that "the
'• jury, even if it had been a much brighter and
"wore studious body than it is described to be,
‘• might have had some diAiculty in discovering
• who it was that ought to have watched the atop.
"cock, or who it was that really exercised an
olli-
"cient command over the entire establishment
That was undoubtedly, under the circumstances,
a very difficult matter to get at, and it is another
branch of the subject under consideration, viz.,
the verdict of the jury; but, it may be said by
the way, that the very difficulty itaelf of tracing

negligence to its author, owing to the extraor-
dinary facility of disclaiming and shifting respon-
sibility enjoyed by every one of the superior
officers on board, brings home, in our opinion,
a very grave charge against the company
themaelves,—the employers of all this labour,
who called into existence all these means and
appliances, and through whose defective organ-
ization on board the responsibility is made to
rest nowhere! Thus, a frightful calamity is
dismissed with the ejaculation, " Accidental
Death !" It is true the jury seek to amplify
these brief terms by a rider to the formal
finding, in which they BCCIIII to be desirous of
doing fuller justice to their understanding of
the whole case, and to the serious duties which
devolved upon them. But neither public jus.
tice nor public security were in the least degree
promoted by this verbose appendage to their
verdict, the defectiveness mid short comings of
which latter were unredeemed by any tangible
mark of penetration and judgment. It was
hardly worth while to burden the "resolution"
—describing sufficiently in detail the medics
operandi of the explosion, and asserting the
inability of the jury to discover who was to
blame in having "shut off the tap "—with such
a thing as the formal expression of their opinion,
"that taps are highly dangerous when placed in
"such positions." No doubt of it. But is it
not something more than "highly dangerous"
to generate steam in a reservoir without a vent?
It is the same sort of " danger " as a Mall,
standing on the drop with the rope round his
neck, runs of being hanged. That this con-
trivance of the double casing, invented for the
special comfort of first-class passengers, is a
construction of the most unsafe kind, is proved
by experience and confirmed by the testimony
of scientific men ; and until further and most
satisfactory improvements aro made in the
double funnel system, passengers must he pre.
pared for a littlo additional warmth in their
cabins in return for greater security of life and
limb.

But the question of responsibility in the pre-
sent case is, we repeat, a very grave one for the
company, and a matter of very serious consider-
ation for the public. Here Is an undertaking,
the moat magnificent of its kind in the world,
owned and directed by a company, who can
boast of the employment of architectural,
mechanical, and engineering science in its
loftiest and boldest flights, who are yet wanting
in the comparatively simple business of dele-
gating authority over the whole, in such a form
as to be clear and unmistakeable, and so as M
the same time to carry with it its wholesome and
necessary responsibility. What follows? No
man is answerable ; no man among all the
officials on board felt the weight and sense of
duty so strong upon him as to inspire that Corn-
pieta and comprehensive vigilence and zealous
CACI: which known responsibility entails, alla
Whiell ill the present lamentable case would have
detected the existence, not merely of a ibuigerous
misplacement of a delicate piece of machinery,
but, under a proper examination, of a fatal
instrument as certainly productive of death and
destruction as a spark in a barrel of gunpowder.
All this is inevitably a sad drawback to the
honest pride with which those immediately con-
cerned might have justly viewed the construc-
tion of this modern wonder of the world. Some
say the ship is too largo to sail in a rough sea.
Are we to suppose that the proper management
of the ship is itself an undertaking too large to
be grasped by ordinary, well-defined organist'.
tint' I Only conceive the possibility of some
disaster at sea—crossing the stormy Atlantic. for
instance—with this confused heap of undefined
authority on board ; and the agitation and terror
of some ten thousand souls, perhaps, shut up in
this floating city, looking in vain for the pre-
Nervation of order in the absence of respect and
contideime in the gtiverid lig I his who ice,
like " vaulting ambition" Werlopt itself / What
will be said if there be any truth in the report
that the groat ship is, after ell, not to go to sea
—that the great problem she was built to solve
is not to be solved by her—at an events not for
twelvemonths to come ; that the ti rent Eastern
is to be made to pay simply as a great public
show, end that eight long years of tmiliiig mining
and lofty enterprise are to end in nothing butter
than the realizing of half-crowns by is species of
niagnitlemit inountobankery, exhibited to what
would then be the kilo gas. of gaping multi.
tildes 1

I)RellirsTF.ll l'ITI•11131 CoON NA lIKRT, tAntilrdsly,
tur market Wail nio.leretely supplied with w Mat
whirli met a stemly ilettimpl at In week's
tit..s. The demand for 1,31111 WM slow, nail to elfeet
mles lower prim% Mel to ho subiniite.l to. tubs in
hotter supply at former prices. Winter tares 7. Mi.
to ps. per bushel.

&emit o SOI•IIETY.—The mi
mud ploughing nuitch in oininection with thin sonictt
in final to ennui oil on Friday nuxt on Burton ram.
near Channitintor.

On Sunday morning last a sermon was preached at
Trinity Church. an well as, both morning and even.
lug, in the churches of Knit and Veat Fordington,
ill ni.l of the Irish Society for promoting scriptural
education and religious instruction among Irish
Roman Catholic... 'The collections were small.
Dit Sunday last the Rev. .1. NI. Colson preached
at St Peter's Church an excellent sermon in aid of
the bishopric iif lirishune, Australia, taking his text
(ruin the 2ilth chapter of the AMA, 2stli verse :
—" 'Fake heed therefore unto ymirwlyex, anti
to all the Hoek over which the holy lihost bath
made you overseers, to fee.l the Church of pod,
which he hath purchased with his own libsul.'"The
collection amounted to £3 155., among which many
pence and half-pence were to he found.
LIUTURY.II.—Ost Tuesday last the first of a series of
lectures, in connection with the Working Nlen's
Association, was delivered by the Rev. NV:Barnes,
who gave some nvulings in the Dorset dialect, inter-
spersed with philological observations. 'The usual
vote of thanks wag accorded to the rev, gentleman at
the close of the lecture.

Ihniciirwrztt CLun.---On Friday next
(not on Tueaday, this day, its was originally in-
tended) a windimpup match of the season is to be
played hy the members of the Dorchester Club, and
the 'mud annual ii r will take place at Longtuan's
preen I /rage!) Inn, in the evening.

I.:lsTEll'i.—lt will he seen on refer-
to our advertising columns that the ( /mat Eastern
will be open to visitors until Satut day next, Oct. I,
inclusive.

lir.nronn Mii.rria.—lt appears that the order for
the removal of the detachment of this regiment, sta-
tioned at our barracks, is suspended.

BonegTiiii t g I.ant sums. The Gardeners' Chro•
side and Agricultural (latette, referring to the
letter which appeared lately in the Timee, reviving
the question as to the lowness of farm wages in Dor.
eetehire, haa the following remarks upon the subject
generally :
" It is plain from.the letter in the Times, and from
the way in which it there appears that wages in Donset-
glare are paid only partly in money mei partly in the
fonn of perquisites, as cottage, fuel, potato... kce that
labourer, there are more liable to treatment accord-
ing to the will of the master and the personal feeling
which he bears towards his servants individuelle than
is generally the case. Of course there are two opinions
of the merits if such a condition of thing.. One will
:ay And a very fortunate thing for them, too. Merit
in thus sure to he rewarded ; a man is lint so able to
waste his means at the eublic-houge, and the imiet,
ideally workman and good parishioner is certain to get
on.' Another will reply : ' Poor fellow... in any ease it
makes and keeps them children inure or less. They are
inure completely under the control of a sort of petit-
archal master. Certainly, if he he an intellivent mid
kind-hearted man nothing can he Is. tter than their lot;
but if he he a iselfish, hard. and gombformothine,
nothing can be worse.' We meet abl we sympathise
with the latter view of the came rather than with the
former. The condition of the labourer in, we believe, in
more favourable circumstances for ultimate growth and
improvement where they are less dependent on the will
and character id their inaeter— where. owing to this in-
dependence, they have more perfectly their remedy
against the injustice ' of which the Times' corres-
pondent speaks—where it depends upon themselves
alone, and in no degree on partiality or fevouritisin how
they succeed. It is plain that in no way—by no such
device as making; the condition of the labourer depend-
ant on the will end judgment of any one • above'
him (whether the foreman, the master, or the cler,g-
inau)—can you get rid of the defect that after all it
Ling,* on the character and will of imperfect human
nature. Better accept at once the miter:ll ineviteldlity,
and let it hinge where, along with thin defect, the
greatest responsibility (a reeponeibilitv for the
use of his own poweie and opportunities) and the strong.
eat motive (pereonal seltinterest) exist as the guide' ii!
conduct. The more a laboerer—the more that mile
one sees that his prosperity depende upon himself awl
God alone, the inure likely, other things being equal, is
he to act aright and obey theme great laws on which the
well-being of his own and every other rank alike de-
pends. To make prosperity, on the other hand, depend

upon the favour of a master, whether he be the owner
of the property or the head of the parish, is to en-
courage what is called • eye service —it is to direct
the man to a code or model for guidance or for imitation,
which is good only in so far as it resembles that one to
which his hiss dependent mighhour amwals or goes
direct Let us confess again, however, that
nothing lan he more delightful than the effect of a
rtriarehal rule where the head of the parish or the
property is a right-minded man. And it is well that
the same county which doe., we think, fairly give
occasion for the above remark Amnia repeatedly illus-
trate the bright aide of the picture which patriarchal
rule presents."

Itottornii POeicr.. Monday. Sept. 2&—(Before Henry
Lock, Esq.. M. Devenish, Esq., anal J. Ensor, Esq.)
Thomas Sharp was brought up on the information of
Superintendent Pouncy for having thrown a stone
against 11111: of the South Western trains while passing
under Came-path bridge on the 7th instant. Complain-
ant, an engine driver of the South Western Company,
who was driving the train in question, stated that he
saw bOVA on the bridge before his approach, and they
appeared to be waiting an opport 'ty to throw stones
at the train. He said the stone thrown was about the
size of a walnut. The defendant, a little boy only ten
years of age, and who pleaded guilty to the charge, is a
respectable looking lad, and, it appears, is generally
quiet and well conducted. The Bench, remarking upon
the stringent nature of the law and cautioning him for
the future, fined him 11l including costs.
Frttheirk Allis WWI brought charged with
vagrancy. Kt'. Consent; said that he was on thtty on
Saturday night, and saw the buy Gbrait eleven 'dock,
who asked him where he could get lollgings, and lie re-
ferred bins to Fordington, where be went. He, Low-
ever saw Itim again at two o'clock in the morning,
when he ordered him to be off out of the streets, if not,
be would take him to the lock-up. Defendant then sail
that if he were put in as direct road for (crime he would
proceed to that place : but, notwithstanding the injunc-
tions of the police officer, lie was again seen by witness
in the walks, when he was taken and locked up. Upon
witness examining his pockets he found them to contain
tt knife, 4a1., end a spoon. On being asked several ques,
lions lay the Bench, the defendant gave a very unfavour-
able account of himself. Tho Magidrates discharged the
prisoner, having cautioned him that if h. appeared lie•
fore them again lie would be sent to prison for three
months.
to:4l'll7En TO DORM:ATER tlAOL.—SttsiOnit :
11, LIT IginC.... embezzlement at Blandon' Abralsatn
Roberts. stobbing at Lyme 1:C;:iA ; Robert Wilson. steal-
ing a coat at Woymnith. -Han( I`,,bu;
•• de..Cto; edees. at Windmill(' St. iii a,
:• Walt r weariug
1 w,k ; :olor,;o Whiting, poach-
; . ...ar mouths; Thomas Matthews and

a

otcy at Reantinster, 3 calendar
t'. ; I ' Ilinehin. vagrancy at Lleatninster, 1
hiontis ; Henry Wilson, vagrancy at Wood-
bury Hill, 14 days ; Francis Johnson. disobedience of
or4ers on hoard the Great Eastern. Portland Roads, 4
weeks; Joseph Brodie, for a like offence, 3 weeks;
others for ditto, 2 weeks cacb;