Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

CU3.IS3XWAS PRESENTS.
0 TER'S FOR PRESENTS.
• Best LONDON YATIVES, packed in
Darreis
Double Barrel, 4.4
bid score, in Basket
. GIVE Torn oingoiro- EARLY.

MORRISH'S MERCHANTS' DINING ROOMS,
TITHEBARN-STREET.

JOSEPH MAYER, GOLDSMITH, JEWELLER,
AND SILVERSMITH,
Has pleasure to inform his Friends that his
FIREPROOF ROOM
Is READY for the reception of PLATE CHESTS, &c., and
he will 'be bapp.y to • take charge; free of expense, of those
of his Patrons, who may wish to deposit them, for,sae•-•-
.
duringtemporarc absence from home. "

CIIA!..GE FOR CASH BOXES DEPOSITED:
OViNEAs PEA ANNI9e.

7P, Li,rC-Etreft, Dec. 24, 164.

LOSS OF THE INDIAN.-BOARD OF
TRADE INQUIRY.

The inquiry into the loss of this vessel commenced
yesterday, in the Crown Court, before Captain Harris,
nautical assessor, and Mr. Mansfield, stipendiary magis-
trate.

-1,12- O'Dowd appeared for the Board of Trade, and
Mr. J. B. Aspinall for the owners of the Indian. •
In opening the - inquiry Mr. O'Dowd said:—The,
circumstances of the recent loss of the steamer Indian
having been intimated to the Board of Trade, they have:
in _pursuance of the powers invested in them by the Mer-.
chants' Shipping Act, ordered the usual official inquiry.
It appears by the official register, a copy of which
I hold in my hand, that the Indian was a British screw
steamship. 'She was registered at the port of Glasgow
on the 7th of Pebruary, 1855, and was three-decked,
had three masts, and was barque-rigged, her frame,
plating, and bolting, being of iron. Her gross tonnage
was 1,764, and deducting 719 tons for propelling power,
left her actual tonnage as 1,045 tons. It appears, how-
ever, irons a memorandum on the register, that a new
poop had been subsequently added, which increased her
tonnage to over 1,100 tons. She was 270 feet long, 23
'feet in breadth 'of beam, and 23 feet in depth of hold,
and was the, property of Messrs. Allan .Sr, Gillespie,
'rho traded under the title of the Montreal Steam-
*Shipping Company. lam informed that the.builder of
the Indian is 'in town, who will be happy to give every
information if it ds required. I throw out no imputa-
tion againstthe -vessel, and there is no allegation of her
being built.of .weak material or being otherwise faulty.
She left Liverpool on the 9th of November last, bound
for Portland, U.S., with a general cargo of 800 tons,
and 800 tons of coals. She had eight cabin and thirty
steerage passengers, seventy-nine of a crew, and was
„eommanded by Captain W. Smith. ,The weather
at first 'was moderate, but changeable. Nothing
remarkable occurred till she was off Cape Race,
Newfoundland, when soundings were taken to ascertain
the ship's position, but it was not till the 19th of
November, when on that and the day following obser-
vations were taken, which gave the position of the ship
as about fifteen miles to the south, of Cape Race. The
fog 'having cleared_ away, the Cape was seen at the
distenee,ofabout eight miles. This was the only view
they had of land till the vessel struck. T, may state that
there does not seem to be anything to inculpate Captain
Smith. Soundings appear to have been taken almost
every hour alternately, and the fact appears
to be that Captain Smith, by the result of the
soundings was left under the impression that he was
steering for. Halifax, between Sable Island and Nova
Scotia. It appears she had several boats, and at the
"first brush the loss of life may appear extraordinary,
econsidering the facilities she had, and that she struck
. only about two' miles distant from the shore. There
-.were in all seven boats, and it would appear from the
proximity to land, they would have been sufficient to '
land the p4sengers, but only three of them were dice- •
tively laiinched. After the ship was stranded, I am sorry
to say, that though on the coast of one of our own coloniee,

the inhabitants behaved with the utmost-iiihumaiiiiy.
Schooners passed the vessel when signals of distress
were hung out, and guns were 'firing, which it was
afterwards ascertained, were heard fur five miles into the
-backwoods; yet these boats passed on, and, heedlessly
'left their suffering fellow-creatures. The 'wreck was
pillaged by the wreckers; and he. weuld submit a re-
•cOmmendation to the court, to embody in the report to
the Board of Trade, that a similar system be introduced
into our colonies, as that in use on the coasts of the
mother country, for the protection of life and property.
"- Captain Smith was then called, who said: I was -cap-
tain, of the British screw- steamthip Indian. I hold a
-certificate of competency, dated 21st May, 1859. I bad
a crew of 79, including officers.. The Indian carried a.
general cargo of about 1.300 tons, and from 700 to 860
tons of coals. • • There were:.,eight cabin and thirty
steerage passengers. I sailed on the 9th of November
1. from _Liverpool, bound. to Portland, State of Maine.,
j • Nothing particular :occurred till the ship arrived off
the coast of Newtbundland,.eiceptheavy N.W. breezes.
At noon on the. 19th November, at one p.m., Cape Race
bore north- distinct, about eighteen miles. After
leaving Cape Race, I made an observation in the after-
noon, which 'by working back till noon, I. found the
longitude to be 53.3, and the variation 33 degrees west,
which agreed With the heaving at one p.m. Having
made this observation„,:md knowing my position, L
shaped my course to pass between Sable Island and the•
land of Nova Scotia.- At midnight of the;l9th the
breeze increased, with hazy weather and drizzling rain,
-Which continued till noon next day. The ship was
„Averaging ten and a half to. eleven knots an hour at this
time. After Working up the distance run, I found my
!position ought to be --just on the northern edge
the. bank Ranqueroe, stopped the ship' and
cast the read, and found forty fathoms, sand and stone.
At noon the sun was obscured, and there was a- strong_
breeze, , Throughout thenight the wind bad been S.S.W.
It -shifted at noon to due W., with weather foggy.
Finding the.ship was not in deep water, I supposed she
Was on the beach, and at one p.m. I ordered her to be
stopped, and again sounded in 43 fathoms, still steering
the same course W. by N. At 2.30 p.m., sounded
again in •40 'fathoms. At four p.m., sounded in 37
fathoms. At five, sounded in 30 fathoms. After
-taking all those soundings, and finding them agree
with those denoted on the chart, I concluded
thatl.was somewhat to the southward of my reckoning,
and sapposing I had been carried by. the current from
the. Gof SC-Lawrence, and fearing to get too near the
coast of Sable Island, I hauled the vessel up W.N.W.
The com.se till 5 p.m. bad been N.W., speed averaging
seven knots an hour. At 6.40 p.m. I again sounded in
thirty-soven fathoms. . I still fancied I was setting to
the southward. From 7 to 8 p.m. I hauled up W.N.W.,
when I sounded - and found thirty-eight fathoms.
kept her away again to W.S.W. till 9 p.m.,
when I sounded in forty-three fathoms. -•, This --last
sounding. led rue to believe that I was on the
west end of the Banqueroe Bank. To ascertain if
the . last sounding was correct, I stopped at 10.30 and,
found no bottom at 71 fathoms, which led me to conclude
I was over the bank. At 11.30, thinking I was approach-
ing the middle ground, I sounded again in 68 fathoms:
I then altered the comae to W. by N. and half N.
From seven till midnight found an average speed of
seven knots. At Midnight the wind was strong. from
N.N.W., with frequent showers of sleet and snow.. ' At
12..30 a.m. on the 21st sounded in 40 fathoms, to ascertain
if I was on the middle bank, which T supposed I was
from this sounding. To make sure this was correct, 1 made
au additional sounding with the deep sea lead, as I had
previously done at eight o'.clock. At 2.40., a.m., I
sounded again, and being satisfied by that sounding that
I was .on the middle bank, I altered my course to W.
by N, Average speed from midnight till 2.40., 63
knots, Believing myself in that position, I took no more
soundings. There is a current constantly running to
the south-east by Cape Breton from the St. Lawrence,
besides various currents as stated in the boOk of-direc-
tions. At four a.m. the weather was still dark and
cloudy. I went to look at the chart, as the chief officer*
was coining -- on deck to take his watch. • I
showedh itn the chart and soundings which I
had been taking; and pointed out the position in which
I supposedthe ship to be on the middle ground, and I •
also informed hint I had shifted my course for Sable
d
:Island.. also mentioned that, daylight he,zaight see
the land, but that I did not
I gexpeetle telling
him at slittdoo. u
pl du,At four
the same
orderstini to
e tot
hcall
chiefm e if
he
engineeri
t on full
'Speed, and the fore and aft canvass to beset. I left the
.d.eck about 4.20 a.m. At 5 a.m. the chief officer came
to my cabin, saying he thought he saw something like
land on the starboard quarter—there was a dark, ap-
pearance •ini. the horizon. lie also told me that in con-
sequence of.this appearance he had altered the coarse
one point to the southward. .
By Mr. O'Dowd—ln steering the middle course from
Sable Island to Portland, we sight no lights.
By Captain Harris—l told the chief officer then to
keep her off another point, in case it should be land.:
The vessel struck just as he gave the order to starboard
the helm and to keep her off.
To questions suggested by Mr. Aspinall, Capt. Smith
said, that at 10.30% saw a light on the port bow, while
sounding. I burnt a blue light, to ascertain wlfether it
was • a ship, Or a light on Sable Island ; but shortly
afterwards the bearings were shifted about two points,:
which convinced me that it was a ship.. .

Captain Smith wao desired by the assessor to mark out

his course on the chart and produce it to-day.
Captain Smith's evidence proceeded with—When the
ship struck I rushed out of my cabin, finding the water
was coming in. Ordered the chief officer to get the boats
swung out on the davits. While they were getting out
I ordered the boatswain to sound round the stern
on each quarter. He reported three and a-half fathoms
on both quarters. I believe some attempt was made to
reverse the engines, but the ship would not move.
Daylight was breaking at' this time. When the
ship struck she was going about eight and 'a
-half
knots: I then ordered signals •of distress to be fired,
and the two. foremost life-boats .(Nos. 1 and 2) to be
cleared away and lowered level with the hand-rail, and
the boats No. 3 and five to be got out, in charge of Mr.
Smith (second officer) and Mr. Tibbet (fourth officer).
The boats 2 and 4 were also ordered to be got round tste:‘.
the leeward. While they were lowering the boats, a
breaker rolled front seaward anti filled No. 2 boat, svlsiala '
was hanging at the gunwale, carrying away theaft,r .
davit. The boat capsized, bottom up, drowning all on
board of her. My orders were that no passengees.were
to go into any of the boats till orders were given. I
do not know how many persons were lost on: this .
occasion, but subsequently heard that nineteen were
lost. In lowering boat No. 1, I understand a somewhat
similar accident occurred. As day was breaking, I did .
not intend to use the boats till it was full daylight. In .
lowering No. 3, also on the starboard side, they were
able to rescue some of the passengers wlio had been
thrown out of No. 1. While Nos. 3 and 5 were coming
round to leeward they mere carried away to sea. No.
3 attempted to pass round the bow, and No. 5 by the
stern. I hailed them myself, and they appeared to be
making: every endeavour to get round. There were
some passengers in No. 3, as well as , the crew, .
but No. 5, had only her crew on board. No 3
waA a life-boat, having tins- - filled with cork
all round. The next boat that was lowered was
No. 7, but she immediately filled. The two men
who were in her were hauled out of the water. This
was about half an hour after she struck. The ladies
were then put'into 'boat No. 6 on the portside, which
was immediately loWered in safety and sent off in charge
of the boatswain. No. 4 was then cleared away on the
port side also. In getting her into the water she got. -
half filled. The third officer and four men were sent to .
bail her out. While they were doing so the painter
parted, and she drifted away to sea. She was subsequently
picked up by a schooner and carried to Boston. No. 3
in charge of the second officer, got on shore about thirty
..
miles down the coast. Nos. 5 and 6, the two life-boats,
_.
managed to pull to shore, where they arrived at 3.30
p.m. About a quarter to six, a.m., the ship, with a
, great crash, parted amidships, the forepart falling over
to seaward. The carpenter, with about twenty of the
crew, were on the forepart of the ship. I ordered the
carpenter to cut away the foremast, fearing. that its
weight might cause the forepart of the ship to
roll off the . reef. We succeeded in saving all in
the, forepart, with the exception of one man, .by
passing them along a rope to the after part. The
nun who was lost was suffering froM th Ileum tremens,
`and could not be persuaded to pass along the rope—he
was subsequently washed overboard. Eight steerage
passengers were lost from the two boats, as before
.stated. There was a first-glass passenger on board,
named Besford, a member of the council of New
Brunswick. We were about one - mile from Barren
Island at this time. ' We saw two whale-boats pass us
at daylight, but they took no notice of us. They ,
could have come to us with perfect safety to them-
selves, as their build enables them to stand-to almost -
any sea.. There were also three or four schooners
passed within half a mile astern of us ; one of thorn
was not over 300 yards distant. All this time we were
'firing signals of distress. Between one and two o'clock
p.m., three whale boats came up to 'our assistance.
...Fining they could not-take the whole of the persons on
board, I took one of them, and proceeded to find assist-
ance.
I hailed one of the schooners that had recently .
-passed us,'but no notice was taken, and she immediately
stood out to sea I then proceeded to Maria Joseph.
In standing in shore, I saw No. 6 boat, containing
the' ladies, 'close to. Barren Island. I ran down
and took them on board of the whale boat, as the crew.
~seemed very much exhausted. On arriving. at Maria
1 Joseph, I found that the whale boat from the wreak had,
With No. Gin tow, arrived. After the passengers had
I been landed, I despatched the whaleboat and No. 6 to
bring off the remainder of the passengers. I went to
two schooners, at anchor in the bay, and wished them to _
accompany the whale boat in case of accident, but they
both refused, on , the ground that ' their sails were,
not in order. I took a magistrate With me, named
.Israel Nickinson, to force - them to go, but he said
he had no power to. compel them, if they refused
to :go. Having get ' all the available assistance
I could there,. I telegraphed to Halifax. I was on the
point of returning -to- the wreck as I had promised,'..
when I was informed, by the arrival of a whale-boat, ,
' that the chief officer with all the people were close at
hand in a schooner. Every effort was made to induce
the fishermen to go off and watch the wreck, but they
all maintained it was not safe.
Mr. O'Dowd said there was no doubt Captain Smith .
had done everything, and taken every precaution to .
save life and protect property.
Captain Smith-e-NeXt morning the chief officer went •
Off before daylight to the wreck for the. purpose of saving
property. He found two whale boats alongside. The
passengers had brought nothing ashore with them from
the wreck. The silver and other valuables had been pug
t removing into the l a
tdhieens; . cab
wi nhtfonr thhee Jeunrtpoons e
boof a crodntvheen ipenastni n...
l gers' luggage was strewn about ; the locks of the boxes
[
' had apparently been broken by a hammer, and the plate
lof the ship was away. When the men were asked what
they were doing there, they said they were ordered to
come and watch the wreck by the magistrate. My own
men were too exhausted to be sent to take care of the
property in the wreck,

The proceedings were adjourned till to-day at one
o'clock.

AL.

HEALTH COMMITTEE:

The usual weekly meeting of this committee was held
• yesterday, in the council-room of the Towd-hall. Mr.
Alderman Dover in the chair. There -were also present
—Messrs. Shells, erellin, Haydock, Beekworth, Holden,
Crosthwaite, Ridley, Nickson, Bowring, Avison, Job,
and Stitt.
The borough engineer, building surveyor, and in-
.spector of-nuisances, reported various particulars of-the
operations in their several departments during the week,
from whiCh it appeared that 226 nuisances complained
'of hy inhabitants had been inspected, and means taken
to remedy ; 879. houses in the unhealthiest districts, eon- •
taining 2,82.5 • apartments, and 71 cellars, had been
brought under examination with the view of improving
their sanitary condition; and 2,50 lodging-houses had
also been examined and reported upon.
The medical officer reported that the intense cold of
the first three days of last week, and of the last fOur-
eiroeur24l
less
beingthan
h 3
days of the week preceding, had produced their usual
effects on the returns of mortality fur the, week ending •
last Saturday, which show an increase of 26 per cent.
over the weekly average of the preceding month. The
dcweaetkh s;
previous,ri e r e d
andw
of the same week of the preceding ten years. In the
parish the deaths were 168 ; in the out township, 74 .
.The increased mortality is owing chiefly to the number
5
e
and severity of inflammatory affections of the chest,
which. caused correctednore tla
an vienr the
114 deaths, against 74 in the previous
week. The corrected average of the same week of pre-
vious years, 9'). From zymotic diseases the deaths were
34, seven ess than in the week previous, and 32 less
than the average. Of these typhus caused the death of
1, measles, 7' • croup, 5 ; hooping-cough, 4 ; scarlatina,.
3; diarrheea., 2 syphilis, 2 ; smallpox (unvaccinated); 1.
The nun
• riot's effects of the cold weather were chiefly
.• felt at the more advanced periods of life, 43 persons
having died between 60 .and 90 years of age, a greater
number than in any previous week since the spring of
1855.
With reference to what passed between Mr. Wybergh
and Mr. Higgins, at the Police Court on Wednesday,
the Chairman said—The committee were well satisfied
with the conduct of Mr. Higgins ; and if he continued
to discharge his ditties as he had done heretofore, that
confidence which had been placed in him should still
be continued.
A letter was read from the Burial Board asking per-
mission to avail themselves of the services of Mr.
Newlands, the borough engineer, in considering the
plans for laying out the new cemetery. The request
wets acceded to.
Six applications Were lodged for the situation ofassistant
to Mr. Higgins, inspector of nuisances. The appoint-
ment was deferred until next week.
• A special meeting of the committee will, be held on
Friday next to consider the, new bye-laws.'
This was all the public b'ainess.