The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-05 00:00:00

then the witness' examined 7her,—the owners seemed
quite willing Id do 611 they could. He had great faith
in the vessel. She was. in the channel during those
severe gales in which the Royal Chartef Vida lost, and
she only put back for safety.,
to
Mr. Alexander, surveyor the Liverpool Association,
was next called. He corroborated the evidence of the
last witness respecting the seaworthiness of the Maggie
Walker: fla4 known the captain for some time. Never
SaW hiar &dr& or the worse for liquor: Did not know
him in Priiate
Wm. Thotrippn; the boarslain',.*ds- cross-examined
by. .Mr.'. Hull referenoe to',.the watef7aosef Tripe.
W,itness sa'.d it was cut with a hatenet.- The pipe Was
on the port site of, the khip, and was- cat near to the
deck. He was certaintEralfit Was on' Sunday.a:fternoon
when. the
.captain told him. they. were off St.. Ives.
Villtness:was unacquainted with the coast ge was
riietkhc Vt.* Maggie Walker. He. was
positive that it iltts when ,they, were off St. Ives that the
captain told him he *Mild finish the ship.. Curiosity
was the only motive which led him fes'enitd the pitinps:
before leaving the vessel. He thought it, was aid impro-
per thing to abandon the ship. Since he had been at
home he had applied to the captain for some money, and
was refused. He had never said that if, the captain would
not pay hiM £l5 he would find some one who would. It
ins fit Vale and Eyrie's office that he first related his
opinion that the.veSee, has improperly abandoned. He
went to the odce and. refal6d this story because the
captain ~hpd, llielferi hits word respeetintg the money. •
lrad sighed ine protest. he captain had told
him that he would riot be required`to'sWear to' it, bat'
only to sign the statement.
The witness was re-examined at sours' length by Mr.
Tyndall, but no new facts were elicited. . .
The investigation was then adjourned till half-past
one o'clock on Monday.
MONDAY.

The evidence given by the witnesses on the previous
days Was reed o'er: • •
Actandef,,sdrfelo`r, and the boatswain Thoinpson,
were recalled' and eianiineds birt nothing Material was
elicited from &ern.
! George , Sewell **asi sworn', and deposed that he had
been first mate Of the Ittag'gleWalker,' and
.Nll'6lllol' in
the month of July last
~iii the Albert Dock. He had
not got a chief mate's certificate when he
,joined her;'
since his return he bad obtained only a mate's certificate
of competency;' hethael ,not get it with him. The'
Maggie Walker took in a cargo, and sailed in,September
for Sierra Leone the saw the stowage of the cargo,,
which consisted of a hundred tons of set,;.tto6d in the
main bold, five tons of bar iron, stowed 111 the after
hold, fifteen tons of slates, placed underneath the after
hatch, on each side of the pumps, 'and about 150 to 20.0
tons of general goods, consisting of 100 barrels of
bottled beer, bales and packages of different kinds.
He superintended the stowage, which was done to
his satisfaction: She was not full, the fore and after-
' hated iseing full, but not the main hatch. A mat was
placed 'am donnagel and over the salt. On one
occasion the salt got into the ninny and choked it. She
was well found in sails and rigging, aftd,theroughly fit
for her voyage to Sierra Leone. The rigging NsYas not
all set up—the main and mizzen rigging not being
required, as the vessel could make her voyage to port
without it. She had ten hands in all on board. Left
Liverpool at noon on Thursday the 14th of October,
when they were drawing 11 feet 6 inches of water, and
d feet 7 niches forward on leaving dock. They took in
308 kegs of powder when the vessel got out on the river.'
The vessel was towed chits. As she was going down
the river they did not take dny #erson on board; did
not take a captain on board. The wind Wag soUth-east
at the time, and a steamer could not keep up with her,
as the breeze was somewhat strong.. Passed the Bell
Buoy about one o'clock, after which they discharged
the pilot. The steam-tug which towed the Maggie
Walker from the 'dock to' the river, belonged to a Mr.
Reed, who came on board, and went down to the cabin
with the captain. The pilot had been in the cabin also,
hitt the captain of the stearn-tug that towed the Maggie
Walker, was not on board at all. After the pilot left
them, the captain of the Maggie Walker seemed to have
had a glass or two of whiskey, but was not " fresh," or
incapable of doing his duty.
Mr. Tyndall asked if the witness did not tell him the
other day that the taptain had been fresh ?
.Mr. Hull objected to such fancy phrases, or to such a
question being put, to the witness:. The other day Mr.
Tyndall asked if the captain had been fuddled, &c.
The question was overrtiled.
Examination continued—They intended to set up the
whole of the rigging, and repair it when wanted. When
the pilot left them they had on full sail, including the
spanker, &c.; the foretopsail not being hoisted up they
made all sail. (Handed a book, which the witness said
was the log-book of the Maggie Walker, Mid had been,
a now book the first time that the vessel went out.'
It was in the handwriting of the witness, who, having
looked at it,.denied that any sheets had been taken out
of it. He did not see that anyleaves had'heen missing,
either blank' or' written on. The .entries in .thatslog-
book were written by the witness each day' at' noon ; and
the last entry was written on board tie Ottila.)
By the Court—Had no occasion to re-write the book,
as that was the original log-book. :
By Mr. Tyndall--There were not any leaves cut out
of the book that he knew of. At nine o'clock' On
Thursday night they sighted the Skerries light, distant
.•
ten miles. They set the watch from six to eight o'clock,
which was the watch -of the witness ; he went below at
eight o'clock. How he got the entry " Skerries light,.
nine," it was taken down by the boatswain, and witness
espied-it into his book from the log slate. [Handed,a
chart.] Since they had started from' Liverpool they
had run a distance of 56 miles, when they were in sight
of Skerries light 'at nine o'clock ; they went at the rate
of eight knots an hour. He did not come on deck till
twelve o'clock. He did not know the channel lights.
He could not state if the south stack light was a steady
or revolving light. At half-past one an entry was made,.
in, the book "East by north ; Holyhead distant twelve
miles." The captain told witness to make the.entry.
They had fair weather that night up to the end of his
watch, which was at four o'clock. He then came on
:again at ei4it to twelve.. When at 8.25, on Friday
morning, th6v sighted Bardsea Island, which witness
knew by the ',Channel directory or by the captain telling.
him, but he Fould not tell which now. When he came.
on at four o'clock the wind was coming from the west-
ward,'but he not remember if they took in any sail.
They passed; at five o'clock the Small's light, which
bore north by east; witness did not know what light it
'vas till the captain told him. The witness was asked
to point it out on the chart, but seemed to have the-
greatest difficulty in doing so. At seven o'clock,
according to the 'log-book, Lundie Island bore south-
east eight miles distant, the *course being north-west.
Captain. Harris—Why' that would be -going back to
Liverpool again. (A laugh.)
Examination continued—Witness said his watch was
from 8 to 12 o'clock that night, and 'for the previous
hours the entries made in his log-book had been copied
from the log slate. It was blowing strong when he.
catne on •deck, and he saw the captain.. On Friday at
9 30, the ship was struck by a heavy sea which carried
away the jibboom, and started the stanchions of the
forecastle and filled the deck with water. A good deal of
water went down into the hold where the stanchions were
started,
when the ship dived. At eight o'clock he sounded.
the pumps hiluself before she was struck. The second
mate told 'him the pumps had sucked, but on sounding
the well ho found so very little' water that it did not
require pumping.. After the vessel was struck he sent,
two ordinary seamen to the pumps, and here they,
remained for some time. When the accident happened
he called all hands on deck and the second mate and the
captain. The 'captain was asleep on the sofa in the-
cabin, when he was apprised of the fact that the jibboom.
'had gone. lie also went down the companion ladder
and called the second mate. This was about half-past
? O'clock on the Friday night. They tried to save the
jib as the boom was not of any use. They succeeded'.
saving the jib. Sonic of the men left the forecastle
in.
c9nsequence of the water. At 4 a.m. on Saturday
the second mate reported that the pumps 'sucked.
Captain Harris said how the vessel had, arrived at
'Mandy Island when she was steering a northward
course was beyond his comprehension."
Mr. Hull renlied that if that were so it must be
,
ueYend any person's comprehension. He explained
that" some of the entries in the. 16g-book had been
copied from the log slate by the, witness.
Captain Harris said if the log-book were a correct'
One, that the vessel would be on the coast of Ireland
long before she arrived at Leidy Island. His impres-
sion was that they mistook the Arklow Light for Lundy
Island,
Examination continued—From twelve to four o'clock
en Sunday morning it was witness's watch. 110 did not
make any request to the -captain . that morning that he
was aware of. He (lid not ask the•captain on Sunday
morning to put into port; but he did ask him at break-
fast time on Saturday morning was he going into port
for a new jibboom. He said, "No; as longas the ship
waslight and seaworthy lie would not think of going into
port for a new jibboom.". He was quite certain that that
took place on the Saturday morning. On the Saturday
night it fell calm, but it was the watch of the second
mate. When witness came on deck it was not calm, as
there was a breeze up. In the middle watch complaints
were made to him by some of the crew. He could not
state what sail they were under at the time. The crew
complained that if the ship were not put into harbour
they would pump no longer. They had been continually.
at the pump during that watch. The whole of his watch
were at the pump. He gave the second mate orders to
keep the men constantly at the pump. He did not tell
the captain what the men said, but he advised them to
wait tid daylight and speak to the captain themselves.
He reported the circumstance to the captain at eight
o'clock, when the captain said that the wind would
stand as it was then, and he would get the vessel
through the English Channel and go into Falmouth.
Ile-did not think it would be as well to go into
Milford Haven or make for some port in the Bristol
Channel, the course of which he did not perfectly
know. He recollected that on Sunday night they held
out signals of distress in order to attract the attention of
a steamer that was passing by. The reason they did so.
was because the men refused to remain any length 'at
the pumps. - He himself had sounded the pumps that
day, but could not state what depth of water was in it.
The second mate reported at the end of his watch that
he had got a suck put of her. He and the captain and
the second mate had a conversation on Monday morning
at breakfast as to the state of the vessel. The captain
said it looked very like as if it were going to blow, and
.asked them did they think that they could keep out
over the night till, they could get into Cork, the wind
being south by south-west, it having gone round with
rain and fog. The ship was labouring very heavily,
and all her waterwiays mid butts of the deck and plank-
ing started; the poop was working at a drift of about
three or four or six inches on either side. There were some
butts started forward on the starboard side. There
were double bulwarks on the main deck, , and the po6p
would roll about six inches outside the bulwark, and
looked as if it would go overboard ; it Was adrift alto-
gether. One of the deck butts started abaft the wind-
lass. The injury to the vessel was done at both ends,
and was not chiefly confined to the forwaid part. Wit-
ness, the captain, and second mate agreed that if it' -
came on to blow again they would. take the first
chance of a vessel that would pass theM by, and
not tell the 'men anythinossat . all about it, but
keep the men on pumping. There was nothing said at
that time about an advance note. They had a second
conversation at dinner time about leaving the vessel.'
The captain said tlat they should leave the vessel, as ho.
did not think they could get to Cork. Witness said
that was the second .time they'had to put back, and it
would he hard-upon them if they could not. get...their
second notes; the captain promised to get them cashed.
He asked the captain would it be safe' to leave the vessel
afloat as it. might be dangerous to other vessels,' and
witness suggested that she might be scuttled, to which
the captain replied that it would be dangerous, as it