The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-09 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE JOSEPHINE WILLIS

The wreck, which lies in l2f fathoms of water, was likely to be
broken up by the boisterous weather, a gale from the S.W. having
prevailed for 24 hours. Her topmasts. which were just above
water., have disappeared; and the divers who went down on Wed-
nesday report that very little of the cargo yin.' be saved. She lies
right in the fairway of the Channel, and the Trinity Corporation have
directed a " wreck 'bu to be placed over her.
The Mangerton steamer, which bad been seized at Ramsgate tinder
a warrant troth the Court of Admiralty. for the loss of the Josephine
:Willis, has ,r n rele tied, bail having been put In.

I !Mr. George Andrews, a young fa;mer, a- native of Trenance, St
Ausletta, Cornwall, a chief cabin passenger, one of the seven who
were taken off the topmast head some hours after the collision,
Turn shes some thrilling details of the catastrophe. In about ten
minutes after the ship had been struck, she turned over on her beam
ends on the port side, and the passengers clung to the riggin z. He
had taken charge of a Miss Logan, a young lady ei_lliteen years of
age, who, on the coil sion occurring, rushed out of her cabin, attired
only in her night-dress. He took ‘ff his great coat, and put it round
her, and when the ship turned ovtr he caught her round the waist,
and got into the mizen rigging; and a passenger named Golding.
who had a little child in his arms, was near him. In this posi ion
hey remained upwards of an hour—the i assengers who kept clinging
to the rigging shouting to the steamer to save them. About a
(limner of an hour after the ship had gone over, Captain Canny,
who was on the side of the wreck, was swept overboard by a sea
which broke on the ship, and disappeared. Perceiving that she was
sinking, he proposed to Golding to crawl along the mizen-mast, as
she yeas lin going down wi.uld be likely to right. The unfortunate
fellow replied that he thought it wood be bet er to remain where hs

was. Mr. Andrewg, with Miss Logan Li his arms, then made an
effort to get along the mast. The poor girl, boa-ever, if not dead,
was completely exhausted; and in getting her up the mast, he was
several Imes nearly overcome himself. On reaching tee crosstrees
a sea caught them both, took the girl from his arm, and she was
swept away. He 1 elieved, however, that she had before expired.
The sea even caused him to lose his hold, and it was only through a
desperate effort that he succeeded in regaining his grasp. He saw
poor Golding, and the child he was so anxious to save, swept into
the deep. The hull of the ship then gradually went down, and he
saw some 40 or 50 men, women, and children struggling in the
waves screaming for aid. Their cries were heard a tew minutes,
and all was over. He then made his way up to the mizenmast head,
and a little boy, named Sutton (whose parents and brother and sister
perished), a passenger, and the chief steward, managed to hold on
to the rigging of the yard near him, Three others got up to the
main to,,mast bend, and one poor fellow lolv his life in endeavouring
to pass along the stay between the two masts. The water gradually
rose up to their legs. They could see the steamer, and kept shout-
ing for help. About half-past 11 o'clock, their cries were heard
by a Deal lugger, which had been sent in the direction of the wreck,
and, benumbed and almost half dead, they were taken off by
the boatman Pearson, whose conduct Is spoken of in commendable
terms. About ten minutes bcfpre they were rescued a big passed
them within 150 yards; she, however, took no notice of their shouts,
and went on. Mr. Andrews expresses his belief that most of the
passengers could have) been saved by the ship's boats and the
steamer, had they lain by. With the exception of the captain and
the two stewards, he did not see a soul of the crew a few minu es
after the collision took place. The ship was lying on her beam-ends
more than an hour, with the pass ngere clinging to the rigging,
before she went down, and there was ample time for the li.e.boat
to have taken the whole of them off the wreck in two or three
journeys to the steamer, had they stood by. He was confident that
the steamer did not remain by the ship more than ten minutes. Mr.
Andrews speaks highly of the noble courage displayed by Captain
Canney.
_ _

It has been stated that the loss of human life occasioned by this
catastrophe numbers seventy souls, viz., twenty cabin passengers,
thirty-six steerage passengers, and fourteen of the crew. Those
saved are tbirty.five in number, thus constituted :--

chief•cabin Passengers—Mr. Henry Ray and Mrs Ray and Mr.
George Andrews.
Second. cabin Pass ngers—Charles C. Felming and William
Ripley.

Stee age FaSsengers—George Horner. William Ford, G. Sutton,
Wm. Wallis, James Scott, Catherine May, Walter Wright, and
David Garsides.

Crew—Mr. K. Clayton, chief officer; John H. Philipot, second
cfficer ; Air. Alexander Jarvis, ship's surgeon; Thomas Anderson,
ship's carpenter; Henry White, boatswain, Frank Needs, steward
Henry de Dina, passenger's cook; John Trel, boatswain's mate;
John Grindle, Char'es Gardner, Witliam Grindle. William Horman,
James Smith, Alfred Haven, Robert Apra, William T Smith,
James Durston, and William Moreley. seamen ; John Hodgkinson.
R. Jameson, and James Meggs, midshipmen: G. Cresswell, and
David Dickinson, seamen.

COUNTY COURT --....ESTERDA Y.

(BEFORE JOSEPH POLLOCK, ESQ., JUDGE.)

ALEXANDER v. MESSRS. MCKINNOR AND SMITH.—
This was an action brought by a German tailor, against
Messrs. McKinnor and Smith, merchant tailors, to
recover a small amount which he claimed for wages due,
and also for the value of some patterns. Mr. Grocott
appeared for the defence. The plaintiff was examined
through an interpreter, although he spoke a little English,
and appeared to understand it very well when spoken to
him. He alleged that Messrs. McKinnor and Smith, in
whose employment he was, ordered him to go to Man-
chester for some patterns, which he did, that he paid for
the patterns, which he stated were still in the possession
of defendants, and he claimed a balance of wages from
Wednesday to Saturday. The defendants denied having
ordered the plaintiff to purchase any patterns, or that
any patterns of his were, to their knowledge, in their
possession, but offered to give up any which he could
show to be his, in their establishment. With regard to
the wages, it appeared that the defendants found that
four coats had been stolen from their house, and having
some suspicion of the plaintiff, had him arrested on:a
Thursday morning, when he came to work. On being
searched, a waistcoat, the property of defendants,
was found on his person. He was tried at the Quarter
Sessions, over which the judge of the County Court
presided, but was acquitted for want of evidence.
The defendants had paid into court an amount of wages
which they admitted was due. His Honour declared this
to be one of the most impudent actions he had ever tried,
and that the plaintiff was an unfaithful servant and a
dishonest mare He was tried on a charge of felony before
a jury-composed partly of his own countrymen, and was
acquitted, because the witnesses called
.were of such a
dishonest character that the judge directed the jury
rather to acquit the prisoner than to attach the same
amount of testimony to the evidence of dishonest witnesses
as to that of credible person=. :The indictment against
the plaintiff did not contain any count for receiving pro-
perty knowing it to he !stolen, and, therefore, as there
appeared reason to believe that the actual stealing of the
waiscoat was committed by one of the plaintiff's corn.
panions, it was necessary to acquit him. His Honour
stated those facts in order to explain why the plaintiff
should not be considered entitled to wages, although the
jury, under his direction, had considered it necessary in
accordance with the principles of the English law .to
acquit the plaintiff. He repeated the opinion he had
expressed of the plaintiff's conductiand the character
of that action, and gave a verdict for the defendants.;
A great number of cases were heard during the day,
but were principally undefended actions for small sums
and not pessessing any features of public interest.

The Czar has informed the Pope, by an autograph
letter, that he has restored four Roman Catholic bishop-
rics in Poland, and created six others in Russia.

Her Majesty has been pleased to confer a baronetcy
upon General Sir J. Burgoyne, in consideration of his
long and faithful services.

Advices from Constantinople state that the unlooked
for change from war to peace is expected to produce
some temporary embarrassment, as great losses will
accrue to houses that are deeply engaged in the pro-
vision trade in the expectation of the energetic resump-
tion of hostilities.

TRADE IN CONTRABAND Or WAR.--HAMBURG, FEB. 3.
—ln less than a week we have received no less than
eleven cargoes of sulphur, three of saltpetre, and two of
lead, and I regret to add that some of them were brought
in British vessels. Had Lord Clarendon sent three or
four ships of war to the mouth of the Elbe they might
bare been seized, or, at all events, detained. The above
sixteen cargoes are now halfway on their road to
Russia.

RAILWAY COMPETITION ANT) GREAT REDUCTION OP
FARES.—Announcements have been made on the part of
the London and North Western, the Midland, and the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Com-
panies, from which it appears that they have entered
into a strong competition with the Great Northern Railway
Company for the conveyance of passengers to and from
those towns to which the trains of rival companies run.
Passengers are now taken from the Euston Station to
Peterborough, a distance of 110 miles by this route, for 3
first class, and 2s second class, instead of 13s and 10s, as
previo:sly, being at the rate of less than a farthing per
mile for second-class passengers. To Doncaster passengers
are now taken by two fast trains daily, from the Euston
Station, for 6s and 3s, being at the rate of one-fifth of a
penny per mile. To a number of other important towns,
similarly circumstanced, reductions have also taken place
in the fares by certain fast trains. The Great Northern
Railway Company have not yet announced any reduction
in their fares for passengers to these towns.
JOINT-ETOCKUOMPANIES, AND PARTNERSHIP BILLS.—At
the meting of the Society for Amendment of the Law, held
on Monday evening, the subject of registration of joint-
stock companies was one of the appointed topics under
discussion. It was suggested, however, that as the
govean,lent had brought forward bills bearing on this
subject, the debate should be postponed. Lord Brougham
(who was in the chair) said he approved of the course
suggested ; he had just glanced at the government bills,
and, as far as he could see, they met his entire approval.
IRON IN NOVA Archibold, an extensive
landed proprietor of Nova Scotia, having discovered a
valuable iron mine on one of his estates in that country,
has conceived the idea of appropriating its proceeds to
the purposes of the 'War Departm nt. A 6--pounder gun
has been cast from a sample of the metal, and this he has
conveyed to England. The gun has gone through a
thorough process of trial at the proof.butt at Woolwieh,
and stood some good tests well, Mr. Archibold has con-
sequently laid a proposal before the commanding officer
of the Royal Gun-factory Department at Woolwich
Arsenal, to enable him to work his mine under a contract
to supply the British government alone.