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

THE LOSS OF'THE M AGGIE
WALKER.

.BOARD TRADE YW4IJIR '•

incjuiry, On Friday artl/14er tip atisniees of the
Beard of Trade into the hss of the Maggie
.ffalief, -as
commenced. in. St,. George's-ball,. before T.' S.
Esq., stipendiary niagistrate, and. Captaie Harris, nauti-:
cal assessor. 114 r. Tyndal selicitore appeared . for the.
Beard of Trade, and Mr.- Bateien fot the underwriters ;.
-whilst, Mr: Ifaigh watched' the case 6ri helialf 9f the
owners, ahel,Mr. F. S. ,Hull.on behalf of the mastet.
M. Tyndal .(of whose speech we presented a
brief slittele In the Daily/ Times ;of Saturday)
said he appeared on Velleilf ~)eard of ,Trade,'
.which (at the'instance of the iiiiderekitets had
caused an enquiry into the cause of the abandonment of
a small three-masted schooner, called the Maggie
Walker, 'of about 182 tons burtlien. From the infor-
mation Which he had gleaned she was originally a French
ship'; lhit at Bordeaux In 1846. Some years after, she
was detleleMned et ISierta teone, and then bought by her
present ,owner, Alexander Walker, of Freetown,
Sierra
.Leone, and. regietered . bet feeit, obl OM 4th
Sugitet, ,18e8. , Since then; he believed' shelied. made
one or two,voyages betw.eenthite port.* Sierra, Lone.
In September ldtt she tdole in a general, cage
pool, a cargo consisting of ifed, and general goods,
and left for Sierra Leone on the 12th Septeniiier, With a
crew of ten men, all told, including the master. She
was towed out by a steamer beyond the Bell Buoy. On
the 13th she lost her jibboom, and put back to Liverpool
in a leaky state. Her cargo was discharged ; she went
into the graving dock and was thoroughly overhauled.
She left
.th'e poft again on Friday the 12th of October.
She had. thened: creW, all told,_ of ten; was towed out
beyond the Rell Rani, and then waceedeel. apon her
voyage.; On Sat tfrday,the 13th of October', when ahotit
eight thifee from' ledudy Island, ;she Was truck bYa.sea
and..again carried aWaY•lier fibbOonie At that time, es
he found by the log-book, she Wee' steering.a W. S., Iv:.
Tours% with,a N.N.W.. wind. It also app4led from
the log that there was'a'heavy sea,on, and that the next
day the shire's' was in .king, a geed. deal of water, the
pumps constantly going. At the same time she. carried
away her jibboom. On the Monday they hailed a ship
called the Ottila, which took all the crew on board; and
they were landed at Kingstown on the 18th of October.
These (Mr. Tyndal said) were the simple facts of the
abandonment. Nothing has been heard of the vessel
since; and the principal reason, he believed, why this
-enquiry had been requested was that lately it had come
td the knowledge of the underwriters that previously to
the vessel being abandoned the pipe of the water-closet
was 6iit, ao as to cat,ise large quantities of water to come
into the vessel, WithelfeeeieW, evidently, that she might
eventually sink,—therebyeteating a suspicion an the
Minds of the underwriters that she Might have been
abandoned improperly, especially as no mention what-
ever was made of that very important circumstance in
the log-book, nor was there any mention made of it to
any one till after the master and-crew had been two or
three weeks in Liverpool. He was sorry to say that
there were only two of the crew who could be called as
Witneesee--ethe fiat mate and boatswain, who acted as
second niate,.--eall the rest having gone to sea in other
ships.
William Thompson, the boatsviain, was the first
witness called, and deposed generally to the facts stated.
In answer to questions by Mr. Tyndal, he stated that
about eleven o'clock on the night that the pilot and
steam-tug left them, the captain was under the influence
of liquor. He was drinking a little the next day, but
was capable of doing his duty. He was not sober, and
he was not drunk. He was giving the man at the
wheel five or six different courses to steer in ten minutes,
and keeping the men bracing the yards about when it
Was net required.On Saturday night, the 13th, it was
'his (witness's) watch froni eight to twelve o'clock; and
'he was. belie* Whert at two
'the
next morning the
jibboom was carried eiWaY: The Mate eame down and
told hini. what had occurred ; he also told the captain
that the jibbooni had been carried away, and, the captain
replied "she shall never have another one." ' He (wit-
ness) went on deck. The wind was blowing fresh ;
there was a pretty heavy sea running, and the ship was
labouring a little. She was shipping some water, but
not a great deal; it washed off the deck as it came on..
She leaked down at both sides into the forecastle,.and
also at the bow, the bowsprit having been badly coated.
Part of the crew went into the cabin to sleep. The.
Vessel had sustained no. other damage whatever. It
took three or Mar hours to clear the wreck away, and
when that was done, all hands went to the pumps, and
she was pumped out. They had two pumps, one of
them patent.. They continued their voyage after the
less of the jibboom: The weather was more moderate
on the Sunday than it had been-for the pievious night.
After that, there were only the Watch at the pumps, and
they were not kept constantly going. She was pumped'
every two hours all day on Sunday, and was several
tines pumped till she eucked.. On Sunday forenoon,
about eleven o'clock, he (witness) was called into the
cabin by the mate, when the captain said they should
look out for a ship, with the view. of leaving their own,
as: they would go in the. first vessel that would take them
on board. -The mate answered that he thought it Would
be foOlisli to leave her they had got an advance, and
the notes would not he paid before they got home. The
captain said they would be all right, that the advance'
notes should be paid, and a month's pay besides. Pre-
vious.to, that conversation, the mate, on the quarter-
deck, had asked the captain if they should have to go
into harbour for a new jibboom, to which he replied
no,---that he was not acquainted where they were.
Previously to the conversation in the cabin, of which he
had spoken, the men bad tome aft to the captain, and
refused to pump : they, however, afterwards turned to.
In the course of the afternoon he (witness) had a con-
versation with the captain.. The captain began talking
abent leaving her, when he (witness) replied, he did
not see 'how he could leave her in the'state she was in,
and told him he thought it would be better to run her
ashore or take her into harbour, than leave her where
she was. He said he would not take her into harbour,
as she would cost the owner a great deal more than
she was worth, and that he would not run'
her ashore, because some one might get hurt. Witness
told him she" was not making enough of water to justify
leaving her, when the captain said they would finish her
before they left her,—that he should do something to
her, and not leave her in that way. Witness asked him"
how ? when lie made answer that he would break open
and cut a pipe of the water-closet. At that time the
captain was well on in drink—he was drunk. The sail
they were then carrying consisted of a double reefed top-
sail, mainsail, spanker, and foretopmast staysail. —On
the Sunday-night the course was altered for the Irish
coast. On the Sunday afternoonthey they. seen land on
the port bow, which the captain said was St. Ives. They
had 'bead steering a southwardly course, but it was
altered on a Sunday night to a northerly course. At
night they burned blue lights . and rockets to attract
attention, but at that time the ship wrs making no more
water than usual. The next, morning , (Monday), only
one pump was going, with two hands at it, and at ten
o'clock he (witness) reported to the captain that the
pump sucked.. • The captain told bim not to keep the
crew too constantly at the pumps, and to let her get
some water in her. At 12 o'clock, he sounded- the
pumps, and found two feet
.of water. He then retired
below; and about three o'clock was awakened by the ,
mate; who said there was a ship in sight, and they must
fit out the long boat. On the ship coming up, the
captain hailed it, and asked the master to take
them on board, as their ship was in a sinking state.
The captain was sober at that time, but had been
drinking. Witness went below and got his clothes.
together. Before leaving the vessel, the witness and.
the first mate went into the water closet, when the.
mate 'knocked down the bulkhead belonging to the
water-closet ; and he (witness) cut the pipe, and knocked
it down altogether. A man came to get some liquor,
when the mate pushed bins out, and told him (witness)
to finish the pipe. When lie had done so, the water' I'
rushed in. They were acting under the orders of the
captain in doing this : after they had got the longboat
out, he told them not to forget to burst the water-closet.
At this time they had the erisign, as a simnel of distress
torjok part of
flying, Union down. He (witness)
clothes with them. Most of the crew also took their
clothes, but there was one chest left on deck. 'When.
he and the mate came up from the water-closet, the
crew, including the.eaptain, 'and with the exception only
of the steward and another man, were already on board
the 'loneboat. After the pipe had been. cut, and just
before leaving the vessel, he (witness) sounded the patent
pump, and found that there; was only three feet of water
in her. She was not settling down at all, so_ far as be
could see. The captain had told them to
that
teaye their
clothes, as they should be paid for them;th
oftlikeLsboat
had. got plenty of chests in her. Mr. Burnett,
Burnett and Kidds, agents for the owner, had.a told hTne.
(witness) 'since that the men, at the captains request,
had got 10s..each for their clothes.
applied to the captain on his own account several timeshad
got nothing• He
since they came to Liverpool, but
then went to the office of Burnett and Kidd, where. he
met the next' day the captain by appointment.
promised
any
The.
captain then. denied that be had ever
compensation for clothes. The day followinge he went
with the mate to the office of . the underwriters, Messrs.
Dale and Ryrie. The mate stood at the door and did
not go in ; but he, (witness) entered and made a state-
ment about ,having cut the water-closet pipe. 'The
captain had told him more than once that he had himself
a small interest in the vessel, but did not know 'whether
his share was insured or not. He expressed a hope that
his sister had gone for that purpose to the_ place where
lie had directed her ; and also mentionedthe sum which
he would have to pay for his-share of the repairs. On
the Sunday witness proposed to the captain to put into
Milford harbour, when he said he was not
acquainted
with it. No salt was pumped up
.before leaving her.
It was his (witness's) opinion that there was to cause
for leaving the ship.
At this stage of te enquiry being then five o'clock,
the court adjo inertill two o'clock next day.
The' investigation was resumed to-day, before Mr.
Raffles and Captain Harris, R.N. nautical assessor to
the Board of Trade.. The same legal gentlemen were
present as on the preceding day-
The first witness
called was
Abraham Peter Kleine—He was surveyor to a
Frenchassociation similar to the English Lloyd's. He
classed ships for that society. He wascalled upon to
survey and class tlB5B.amyM called the.
aggie n Decent-
ber or January, She was origillanY
Echo. She was built in France in 1846, and then
classed A 1. She stood in that class when she was
abandoned in 1858. In that year she came over to
England, and witness was called upon to class her. He
at first objected to surveY her at all, because vessels
whichhave been abandoned are always looked upon
with suspicion. It was, howeYer, represented to him
that she had made a passage to this port, and discharged
a cargo of dry goods in perfect' order since her abandon-
meat. He did survey her, and she was repaired accord-
ing to his directions. This was in January or February,
1859. She got a second-class certificate. Witness had
not seen her since this until September in the present
year, when she came in leaky. He and Mr. Alexander
jointly surveyed her. They did not see. any particular
sign of strain either inside or outside; the metal sheet-
ing was slightly wrinkled fore and aft. Upon taking off
the sheeting they found some of the planks loose, espe-
cially.near the bow. There was no sign of general
straining. They recommended that she should be
stripped, caulked, and zinced. All the repairs ordered_
were carried out with the. exception of two patent pumps
which were ordered, and only one of which was supplied.
These, however, were not indispensable, and a certificate
of seaworthiness would have been granted without
them-. After these repairs were made, she was as likely
a little vessel for the voyage as any that ever left this
port. Had he not thought so he would not have granted
her a second-class certificate. On this last occasion