The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-20 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE EMPEROR.

Mr. Tyndall appeared for the Board of Trade, and Mr.
Bremner for the captain of the vessel.
Mr., Tyndall said, the next case that we have to
enquire into is, the total loss of the barque Emperor, on
the cf,,e-A of Wexford, on the 28th of MarCh last. The
11..ive was HS tons register, and belonged to Liverpool.
hr 28th of March last she sailed from that port for
(3 I,ia. About 330 p.m., on the 29th, the weather
lityran to change, and about 4.30 she struck
The following is the detail of tit;, occurrence as given by
Peter. George Mitchell : I was the master Of the barque
Emperor ; she was a ,wooden ship ; we sailed from
Liverpool on the 28th of March, with a general cargo ;
we bad sixteen hands, all told, and two pissengers,; the
barque was in good trim ; we were towed off by a steamer,
%%Well left us about 3.30. on the Saturday afternoon ; the
-other was tLen hazy,: I remained on deck until
we got off Point Lynas ; we had four corn-
pastes on board, two of which were in use. When
off Point Lynas, I observed that there was a variation of
the compasses of about a point arid a point and a half;
that deviation continued until off Holyhead ; we rounded
Holyhead at about four , mites distance ; the wind
continued S.E, ; this was about mi !night ; I was not on
'deck, but I gave the chief officer ord-is to steer
S.W., with strict orders not to go to westward ; this course
was continued until the following day at noon ; we had
light winds, • and we went about six knois
an hour; the weather was very hazy; at eleven a.m land
was reported ; I tried to make an ob,,ervation, but could
not; the mate said we were about 12 miler from land; I
left orders with the second mate to call me if there was
the sl'ghtest alteration ; I bad not had my clothes off ;
about 3.30 the second mate came to me and said tne wind
was freshing and inclined more-. to -the north ; 1 imme-
diately 'weut on deck, and ordered all hands to b- called
to shorten sail ; In less than an hour the wind sheered
off; at the time I came on deck the weather was very
hazy, and I could not see more darn two leneths of-The
.ship; wh n I went on deck I felt confi tent of the position
of the ship; I thought she was little more than mid
channel ; I ordered the mainsail to be reefed, and while
the hands were doing that the ship struck, without any
previous warning; I ordered all hands from aloft,
and went to the wheel myself, and put 'tide
helm down ; she first touched, and afterwards
struck aft off Blackwater Bank, and everything was carried
away. I then ordered the sails to be clewed up as soon as
possible, to ease the ship, and called upon the carpenter to
Batted the pumps; I afterwards saw some pieces
of timla r rise up ; I ordered the cutter out ; it
was about low water, the flood j ist beginning
to make; there was no light, buoy, or beacon
to be seer. ; the ship began to labour very heavy.; I ordered
the lady passengers up and into the cutter, b. cause I was
sure that the barque would not stand long; I then called
the officers and men together, and asked them what they
would do ; they replied, " Try to save our lives—that is
what we in end to do ;" they all then took to their boats,
and everything was lost; this was about half pa. t six;
they sighted land in about ha fan hour, four r.'cloi k p.m,
th. y landed at Murris Castle coast guard station,
about fourteen miles from Wexford; I then tuck a steamer
and locked for the wrack, which we found some time
afterwards; I can .only account for the I ,ss by supposing
that the mate melt have mistaken the distance from the
Bardsey Island. I did not u.e the lead br c Luse I did not
think it was rettaired, but had I have known the Fosiiian
the ba que I should'have done•so. -
By Mr. a.errincr : I t.aie been a master since 1847 ; the
testimonials produced are correct ; I have sal- el from this
port for thirty four years, and am well acquainted with
St. George's Channel; I was aware of the position of the
position Utile ship directly she struck, and thought that
the mate must have been mistaken as to the distance he
sighted Bardsey Island

By Capta'fa Walker I List all my chars; Vie chart I
bad I purchased, abut four years sinc,, at Walker'i, where
I always bou:;ht them ; it w.,S Leit, one of the reeent-oub-
.lished charts; it must have beets a very strong current that
u.• t-• ?itch a place as where the ship: synch ; I had
t.e sligatest idea of using the lead, because.-I was s:,
t of the position I was in ; if I had used the lead,
it have denoted the position in which I was in, and
I s ,ould harp altered the course of the vessel, but I never,
for rae moment, thought that sic -vas ot;cr on the Irish
shore; I 'should attribdth loss of the vessel to the
is the dlstince made from Bardaey island, and a
cros.-, current across the Chant-Pl.

. '1 11..stmas Sterq, the ft it mate of the Emneror, had
beeu eleven years at sea, a' d Ind held a certiflc ,te from
the B.tard of Tattle- for about three -years. He, futly
corroborated the statement made by the master of the ship.
By Captain Wallitt : He had never seen the lead used
in the chann,l since he had been at sea, but now that
this accident bad occurred it certainly showed 'the
necessity for so doing _

Mr. liremner then bri'fly addressed the court, observing
that the vessel was not lost th ough, any wrongful act o'.
the captain, who had received the information of sighting
f3ar•?sey from the mate, a man in whom he had great
confidence, and therefore ha bad not been in default. to
bring it within the act of parliament. Mr. Br, mner
then asked the commissioners to return the certificate
to the captain until the report was made to the Board of
Trade.

Mr. Mansfield and Captain Walker then retired for a
short time to consider their jAginent
On their return into court, -Mr. Mansfield said they
regretted that in that case a'so they shuul:l detain the
certificate. It appeared by the testimonials and the
conduct of the captain that he was generally a very
cart ful navigator, and anxious to attend to.the interes's
committed to his eh arge, and his conduct hitherto
appeared to have been worthy of praise ra'her
than censure. On the present occassion, how-
ever, he had omitted to do what was necessary
for safe navigation. lie had relied upon the confide'',
nssertion of the mate, and the accident had taken place in
consequence. It was much to be regretted that a
of his a xperience, a,ter such a sine s fut career,.should have
encountered suelcran accident. The court had, however,
ro altet native but to call‘ for.his certificate. The eLquiry
toen closed.

The Corriere Mercantile of Genoa Oates that her
Britannic Majesty has sent to M. Vincent Robandi a gold
medal, se an ecknowledgmorit for the dedication of his
Canto dfl Bereagllere (Sorg of the Rifleman), widch vcas
for the first time played in the Crimea by the Sardinian
riflemen; and much applauded by the allied armies.

POLICE INTELLIG CE.—Saturday.

LIVERPOOL.
BEFORE MR. MANSFIELD.

VIOLENT ASSAULT.—CURIOUS CARE.7A very wild. looking
fellow, named Michael Healy, describedaian emigrant going
to Austialia, was charged with haVing-violently assaulted police
officer ,Hudson, No. 66. The case was a curious one, as will
he found by the details. Mr. Bluck defended the prisoner.
The officer stated that about ten o'clock the previous night,
he saw the prisoner at the corner of Chisenhale street. He'
had a large knife in one hand and'a life preserver in the other.
He was lashing at a than •to strike him, when lie (the officer)
ran up:anti caught the prisoner by the throat, who immediately
struck him a violent blow, with the life preserver, on
the he which - knocked him • down, and then
he kicked him desperately, which caused him to be in-
sensible' for some time; and then the .prisoner got away,
and took 'refuge in the house of Patrick Fennelly, who keeps
a lodging house in Clement street. Mer some time he
recovered, and, having procured the assistance of another
officer, 105, they proceeded to the place, and,•after a strugele,
they succeeded in capturing him. Coss examined by-Mr.
Block : I did not know the prisoner before, nor did I ever see
him before. Did you ever spend an evening in his society?
Never. Did you ever drink with him? Never. I never
saw him before in my life. I did not give him •any reason
whater r for his having struck me with the life preserver. The
prisoner had just come out of a public house ; only for the
assistance of a man named Gallagher' he woud have taken
my life. Officer 105 said he went to the assistance of the.
last witness, and after a great struggle they got the
erisener to the station. He acted most outrageously,
and called to the crowd that collected to , rescue
him from the police, and called out several Vines to
khow if there was not some Irishmen in the crowd to rescue
him. He admitted havii g struck the officer with the life
preserver, which he said he had left with Mrs. Fennelly. He
(witness) went to her house and 'demanded the weapon, hut
.she at. first denied any knowledge of it. He insisted on having
it, and she.' said to a girl go up stalls and bring down that
skull cracker," and the girl did so, and when he took it to the
station the other officer at once recognised it as that with
which the prisoner struck him. Mr. Black ; Did Mrs. Fen-
nelly use the words "skull cracker ?" She did, the very
words she used. A man named Gallagher was called, and
stated that he endeavoured to rescue the policeman from the
prisoner, who had the knife in his hand. In reply to Mr. Block
this witness said he was a pugilist, but that was no reason why
he should see a policeman killed. Mr. Bruck said he was
instructed to call witnesses in the case, although he did not see
exactly the benefit of it. He called Patrick Fenuelly, who
said he kept a lodging house in Clement street, and be said the
prisoner bad been drinking for several days past, and
was in the "horrors" of drink. He had been in
Australia, where he carried a knife sad life preserver, and he
thought he could do the same here, as lie imagined that several
persons were watching to kill him. That morning, when he"
was going out from his lodgings, there was a cock in the lobby,
and it crowed, when the prisoner said, " Crow again, my boy,"
and the cock did crow, when he said Go it again, for the
third time," but the bird refused, and the prisoner returned
to the house and went to bed, saying he would not have any
luck that day, as the cock did not crow three times, and that
he would be killed if ho went out. The complainant asked
his worship to be allowed to ask the witness a question, and
having been permitted, he asked the witness, " How many
times have you been up here for assaulting the police ?" Mr.
' Mansfield : You need not ask thaa as I know him well. A
young woman was also called, who swore that she saw the
prisoner and the policeman drinking for two or three nights
before. in the lodging house of Johanna Sheppard, in Clement
street, where he loeged. The officer totally denied this, but
in order to corroborate it the' woman Johanna Sheppard
was called, and she said the policeman was drinking in
her house on two nights with the prisoner. Mr. Clough
cress•examined bola these witnesses, and there was very
great discrepancy in their evidence, one of them appeal
ing to the other to tell her what nights the drinking
happened, and vice versa. It seem d, from the statement
of some officers, that the complainant was not on duty ire
the locality on the nights that it was alleged he had been
drinking with the prisoner, and the
.man himself utterly
denied the story told by the women. In reply to Mr.
Clough, the women slid, they did n;t taae the officer's
number;, they only knew it was a policeman who was
drinking with the prisoner. Mr Clough said, . the case
now turned out to be one of great imp o. armee. if the story
of the women was a true one, and he wished the whole
case to be sifted to the bottom. Mr. Biuck said, as an
advocate, he was obliged to do his duty to his client. He
did riot see at first any good that would result to his
cli,nt by the examination of the witnes...es, and he told
his friends so. Mr. Fennelly had insisted on his
examining the witnesses for the defence, and when he
(Ur. Bluck) told him he di I not see any use in it, Mr.
Fennelly said to him that he was too lenient towards the
poi ce. Now, he (Mr. muck) did not care one farthing
about thejpolice, nor about any one e sr, in the honest and
zeal ,us discharge of his duty, which he had always per-
formed to tne best of his eabiliry, without favour or
affeclon to any one. He called the witnesses, as desired.
arid of course the c ,urt weuld give them what credence
they were entitled to. Mr. Mamofie'd said, Mr.•
Bluck had always discharged' his d'uty with discretion
and -ability. It- was quite clear that the officer
had been treated most brutally by time desperado who now
stood an the bar. He thought Gail Tiler, the pugilist, had
done hi rna ,if great credit in saving the.offieer's life. Under
all the ciictun.tances of the case he would fine the prisoner-.
£5, or in d. t ;tilt of payment three months imprisonment,
with hard laboue. (It was seated that the fine would be
paid )
EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF 'llouaEßrtz.vxmci.—A rather
good looking young fellow, but of will anearance, named
John Jennings, a joiner, was charged under the following
strange circuw tatices. A lady like person named Mrs.
Mongomery, who resides in 9, Mason place, St. Vincent
street, said on Saturday morning, the 11th inst, about one
Oelock, she was in bed with her sister (a oretty young girl
of seventeen, who was present) when she was awoke by
some one gettieg into bed. She was much alarmed at the
time, and putting out her hand, she caught a man by the
hair of the head, and called out Who is this ?" The
prisoner said, "It is L.don't make a n She jumped
out of bed, and so did the prisoner, wile gathered up his
clothes and made his escape. Mr. Clough : how did he
get into the house? He earns over the back wail, and then
broke a window in the rear of the houSe and got in. Mr.
Clough : Did you know him before ? Yes, I know him
for two years: What is your husband? He is a seafaring
man, and had gone to sea that 'Morning. The sister of the
c mplaivant tul'y bore out her stat'ment, but she could
not identity the prisoner. The prisoner alleged that be
was in bed in his own houstarorn, blore twelve o'clock
on the night in question, and that he was not out until
m-xt morning, and he asked to be remanded in order
to produce witnesses to. prove his assertion. He was
remanded for that purpose.
ASSAULT ON A FEMALE.—A few days ago we gave the
detail's of- a case of an assault committed on a young
=tried female, named Paebce Richmond, by a young m in,
named Austin Hamlin. On Saturday the prisoner was
brought up, when the young woman proved the case ; bur
from the nature of same medicat evidence given by Sar-
gon,' Brown, as to th- injuries. likely to b sustained by
Mrs. Richmond, the prisoner was agile *emended. Mr.
Black ably. defended the pm isoner.
A BEERHOUSE KEEPER .SENT FOR TRTAL --Catherine
Walsh, 'described by Mr. Clough as the keep -r of a
beerhouse, which he s ;id is also a house of ill repute,
at No.' 111, Marybane, was charged with hiving
stolen a purse, and £1 in silver from a Mrs. R mnur.,
iu Great Croashall street. The case was this.
The peisoner met the' complainant in Great CreS3
hall street, ar:d asked her to reed a Pewn tieket, an
whilst she was so engaged time prisoner picked her pocket,
and Made off with her parse; but she' was captured by
two boys, not bJore she had given the purse and i s
contents to a woman, who was waiting at the c .rner,ol
a street,.and who got off with the money. The Fiume(
was sent far trial.

GRATITUDE.—John 'J. nes was charged with having
robb,4 John Roberts of £7. The prosecutor is the mister
of o Mali Welsh vessel, and out of charity he gave the
prisoner a passage from some p acs in the ptincip I!ry,
and t ci hitn on the way, and, as a grlt,,ful return for his
he.robbedhini of -£7, part of whichwas folltld
on him. He wassent'for trial,

CLERK OF THE CROWS r'it LOUTH.—The Lord Lieu-
tenant has appointed Mr. P. J. Byrne, of Lisnarilly Fltrisei
Do ri,-falk, s I citor, to the office of Clerk of the Crown for
the county of Louth:
BRITISH -BANK —On Saturday, at the Court of Bank-.
ruptcy; a forti,er dividend -of, 23 6 1 in the pound was
declared. More than half of the 'creditors having con-
sented to accept the proposed payment by the share-
holders or 6s 6.1 in the pound—total of 16s 63. •
PFLIA^IF,R A BENEDICT —Bravo, h4-arty mil Duke of
Malde hod ! •0.(1 did we say ? .Faue'e t'nquis. No sooner
has the matter of the " thempi :g legacy.' blown over,
than we bear the report that I)is grace; or whatever they
ctll dukes here is going to be married. The veteran is of
the tough age of shay three. -"A.h, ati, then I fancy I
hear some of my readers r:c.elaint, " no, doubt the gallant
soldier has taken to hitniiit sorne'discreet d wager, some
widow perchance, ' fair, fat, arid forty three,' to eomfoh:
his declining years; and, it may be, 'prop up his gouty
feet.' "'• Very far from it, rcesdames.• The happy bride
elect is of the mature age of eighteen, and we are informed
on goodiautherily, that the Mareschal Pelissier (we Berm
to know him best this) does not intrtrd to let his pension
die with him. May his good intentions meet success, say
we, and the honours of a grateful country descend, in legal
phrase, "to his heirs for • ever." The lady's name is
Mademoiselle Cally Saint Paul; and my informant adds, she
isfortjolic -'....1/ccrie•CorropOndentcf the Court: Circular.