The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-11 00:00:00

was perfectly sober, and:attending to his duties in his
usual way.
By Mr. Read : He had never seen the captain drunk.
Mr. Shillinglaw asked for the official log-book.
Mr. Read stated it was in the custom house, and that
that was the first time it had been applied for.
Henry Cooper Keen, late chief officer of the Schoenberg,
was then examined.
The first question asked was on what night the port
and'starboard chains were got up.
Mr. Read objected to the question. It had nothing to
do with letting go the anchor.
The Bench decided on confining the questions to the
night of the 26th.
The next question was whether or not the anchor was
bent on the night of the 26th, when the ship struck,
which was also objected to, on the ground of its rendering
the witness liable for a neglect of duty if answered in the
negative.
Witness examined : The anchor was let go after the
ship struck. He could not tell the time,' as he was not
then on duty. The ship was under the captain's direc-
tions. He had charge of the forecastle, putting the ship
about. The captainiva giving orders. The after-yards

were hauled, and the-ship, after heading about, missed
star. Her head pointed right round, and a light breeze
sprang up when she struck. The order was given to heave
the lead and there were 17 fathoms of water reported, which
he entered in the log. The leads and lines were on deck. It
took thirty seconds to let go the anchor after the order
was given. The night had been hazy, but it cleared up.
He saw the land, but did not feel uneasy. His words to
the boatswain were " We must have made a good lee on
this tack as we are well in to. the land." He heard the
captain give orders to call all hands to put the ship about.
There was nothing in the captain's voice to make him
suspect any dancer. The vessel was going at the rate of
three or four knots. He never knew her miss stays before,
and had no doubt of her coming round at the time. There
was a little swell on when the anchor was let go. The
anchor was let go to prevent her getting on the rocks. No
seaman would have let the anchor go when she was in
the act of wearing. The cables were bent when
the order was given to let go the anchor. The
anchor was pinched off in a proper manner. He got the
chains on deck on a previous day to that on which the
ship struck. Had he been master he would not have let
go the ane',Dr at all. He had been captain of a ship for
ten years, and held a first-class certificate. The captain
kept sail on the vessel an hour after she struck, with a
view of gettinz her over the sandspit. Her head was out
to sea at the time, and kept so a long time after. After
she struck a cast of the lead was made to see if she could
be got off. There were eighteen or twenty feet of water
all around her, but the ship drew more.
Cross-examined: Mr. Melville told him he had been an
assistant purser's steward. After the captain gave the
first order to let go the anchor, it was let go in thirty
seconds. He put the stock of the anchor over the side
himself. There was plenty of slack chain before the
windlass. One chain was on deck, ready for bending.
five days previous to the loss of the ship. The other was
got up either the same day or the day before. The star-
board bower anchor was bent an hour before she struck.
The port anchor was bent after the starboard anchor had
been let go.

The Bench asked Mr. Shillinglaw if he was in a position
to show that the anchor ought to have been let go, as the
question had been narrowed down to that.
Mr. Shillinglaw could do no more than examine the
witness.

The Bench suggested that the information should have
been laid for Captain Forbes to answer the charge of
neglecting to have the anchors bent.

Mr. Shillinglaw had evidence, written depositions,
which, if substantiated, would: have clearly shown that
the anchors ought to: have: been let go, but the cross-
examination of Mr. Read had falsified them all.
The witness was then asked if he ever asked "the
captain's permission to bend the chains to the anchors,
but this question was objected, and abandoned.
Mr. Shillinglaw relied on the words " any other "in
the information for asking questions other than these
pertaining simply to anchors.

Mr. Read replied, that a special offence had been pointed
out by the words "to wit," and contended that the only
question they had to answer was, "did the not letting go
the anchor before endanger the safety of the ship ? "
Mr. Shillinglaw would call witnesses to show this.
Mr. Keen's examination continued.

By the Bench : He never saw any circumstances re-
quiring the chains to be bent. He had been on a voyage
to Australia before, as an officer of the Great Britain,
but never in a sailing ship.
James Hodge, boatswain of Schomberg examined : He
remembered the night of the 26th December. He kept no
watch. but he was on deck. He had a communication
with Saxby between nine and eleven o'clock that night,
when he was called to turn out the hands. He heard that
the ship was close in, and came out of his own accord.
He ordered out all hands by the direction of the third
mate. He saw the captain on the poop, but the ship was
not put about for three quarters of an hour. There was
talk of the shore among the passengers. The lead line
was on deck ; it had been brought up the day before. The
ship was going about five and a half knots. He saw the
land when he came up. The ship appeared close, he
should say about three miles off, when the wind died away.
They were on the starboard tack, heading on to the
land. He did not expect the ship would come about,
as he had seen her miss stays before. He saw broken
water ahead, and reported to the captain and mate that
breakers were a lee. The captain said he saw the
breakers, and was looking out for them. He saw the ship
miss-stays on the passage from Aberdeen to Liverpool.
The 'ship was not quite around before she struck ; the
after-yards were nearly square, braced a little into port.
She came up head to wind, but fell off again. Land was
on the beam when she struck, her head being out to sea.
It was two hours and a-half after the ship struck, that
the anchor was let go. He let the starboard anchor go
himself. The anchor was in the forecastle, lashed for
sea, when the shin struck, with no chains bent. The chains
were on deck. They were got up four or five days before,
and passed round the windlass, ready for bending. It
would take an hour and a half to bend them. It would
take three quarters of an hoar to get the hawse plugs
out. They were not of iron. The chief mate was on
the forecastle. All he did was to give the order of
" let go." The sails were clewed up at the time. The
anchor had been ready a quarter of an hour, but not much
more, before is was let go. A cast of the lead was taken
over the bow. He could not tell how much water
there was, but he could see the anchor at daylight in
the water. The third mate was the officer of the
watch.

Cross-examined : The ship was heading i❑ to the laud.
He did not know to what point of the compass. He knew
Mackintosh's British Hotel. He had seen the passengers
several times there, with the carpenter and others, but
they never offered him a bribe. He was at the British the
day before yesterday. He told the carpenter he would
tell the truth but he had had no further conversation
with the passengers concerning his evidence. He saw
Melville at the British, and half-a-dozen others. There
was not a word passed between them, other than about
the luggage. He did not know why he said he would
speak the truth. He had never sent any message at any
time toj Lloyd's agent, offering to give evidence, or to
any person else. He never desired any passengers
to inform Captain Matthews that he would give
evidence if he were paid for it. (The witness per-
sisted in saying that he had no recollection of having
had any conversation wits any of the passengers
concerning the evidence he was to give, which led to a
remark from the bench that his memory could certainly
not be so defective as not to remember anything which
had occurred s o recently.) The ship might have been
going five or six knots per hour. tie would not swear
she was going at that rate. The ship was not put in
stays when going at that rate, as the wind died away.
If they were only three miles off, and going at the rate of
five knots, they would have been high and dry before they
struck, only that the wind died away. So soon as he
saw that the ship was in danger he would have let the
anchors go. If he had been master of the ship, when he
saw the ship would net go about when she missed stays,
he would *have let go the anchor. In his opinion, as a
seaman, the ship would not have been lost thereby.
Tho Bench: And yet you would have hove the anchor
ten minutes before.

Witness : But the breeze freshend. The spanker was
set. Everybody appeared hurried. The captain hesi-
tated a bit. All hands had been on deck some time.

-----
By the Bench : He had been at sea twenty-two years,
and had made four voyages to the colonies with Captain
Forbes. As a seaman, if he had had charge of the ship when
he came on deck, he would have put the ship about. In
the event of her missing, he would have bent the anchors
directly. Captain Forbes had been in the habit of bend-
ing his anchors three or four days before making land.
He never knew him leave them so long before.
It was not Captain Forbes's practice to bend
his anchors after making Cape Otway, but
two or three days before. It was the duty of the captain
to see that the chains were ready for bending. The
shackles were by the ring of the ancnor, but the chain was
not quite close to it. The hawse plugs were wooden ones,
and only required to be knocked out. They were not ring
rove. In the common run of ships it would take from five
to twenty minutes to knock out the plugs. There had
been a good commanding breeze all day. The topgallant
sails were either reefed or furled during the day. He
thought they were in. The ship was not close to the
wind when she struck, but heading out to the sea.
By the Bench : He would have let go the anchor with-
out any reference to the depth of the water, seeing the
breakers were so elose.
By Mr. Read : He had seen the ship miss stays in
light breezes since she left Liverpool. He could not say
how many times or when. He did not know whether he
was on deck or not at the time. He had heard that she
had. He never had anything to do with it since leaving
Liverpool; and the vessel being loaded, he would not
swear that she had ever missed stays.

Mr. Shillinglaw wished to ask the witness if it had not
been openly said by Mr. Saxhy, (among the passengers)
that he had called the captain three times before he came
out, and that he told him to go to the devil.

The Bench pointed out that Mr. Saxby had already
denied having done so, by saying that he asked the
doctor to call the captain, and that he came out imme-
diately.

Captain Forbes wished to have Saxbv recalled to be
further examined on this question, but the bench thought
it unnecessary.

Osbaldiston, purser's mate, examined: Was in bed
when Lhe vessel struck, and did not know anything about
it. lie had made no statement to the law officers of the
crown in the matter.

Mr. Shillinglaw said he could put other passengers In
the box, but he did not see how their testimony would