The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-05 00:00:00

cumstances to g,i; Withciut rtiVe either on an
experimental trip, or ally otiier
,journeythink it not
prudent to dispense with steam gtiagt4t. A great many vessels
Kee) without guages—they do so in Scotland, but then they don t
put on extra weights. You have had a further exatnination,with
Mr. Field, of the Vojer I believe ; and do you concur in opinion
with him as to the cause of the boiler bursting?—Yes ; it is
passible, the vessel having been In et gale of wind, that the
ctiilliney may have given the boiler a list. Did you see the
valves opefiel the other day for the purpose of weigh-
ing?—Yes, I did. Were there any extra weights on
them ? —None. Then if there had been any extra
weights put on them they had been taken off
prior to that time ?—Yes. When were they weighed?—The
day befo: e yesterday ; I weighed them myself. There was a
pressure of five, and one-third on one of the valves, and six and
one-third on the inner valve, which could not be touched.
Then you think that in all probability that was the first place
that went ?—I think it very possible, that being the weakest
part, that gave way first. fliere also only a rent where there
was no stay. There was no stay there?—No, because it is the
end of the boiler, which is the strong part. Then the boiler
gave way in two of the strongest places you could ffnd ?—I
think so—one over the fire, and the other near the stay.
The CORONER—Is that so, Mr. Field? Mr. Field—Yes,
Sir, it is:

iCir. Rennie in answer to further questions from the Coroner
stated, that he believed the weights were laid on by some of his
men, but that it was not by his orders, or with his consent.
Co Rol,rEß---Did you object to it? I objected to it twice to
several of our people ; and twice I took the weights off myself.
A Juror—Was the 281bs. weight on the whole of the time
you went to Ramsgate?—l don't know whether it woe on the
whole time; I took it off twice myself; but I had not the com-
mand of the vessel. _

Co KoNF:a-- It is impossible, I suppose, to tell when the
bulge in the boiler took place—whether it was on the journey
to Ramsgate or back, on the journey to Postsmouth or back, or
in the morning of the explosion ?—I think it most have been
in the journey to Portsmouth.
A Juror—Nearly a fortnight elapsed between the journey to
Portsmouth and the explosion. It is possible the steam had not
been up between that time.
Captain Minton was then examined—Was Master of the Ar-
chimedes. Was on board the morning of the explosion. The
engineers and crew were perfectly sober—knew nothing of
the explosion.
Mr. Smith proved that the registered owners of the vessel
were an Admiral Charles Wollaston of the Albany, Piccadilly ;
Mr. Henry Robinson, of the firm of Wright, Robin-
son, and Co., Banlors ; and Mr. Charles Andrew
Caldwell, of Alderney-square. The witness observed that he
had heard the evidence of one of the poor men given that
morning in the Dreadnought, who stated that he was of opinion
that 281bs. was on the valve at the time of the accident, and he
wished to state it was not on, and never had been on, excepting
when the vessel was under weigh. The weight was put on for
the first time on the 2d of May, and had always been used ever
since when the vessel was under weigh.
CORONER—By whose orders ? Witness—The first time I
saw it put on was by Mr. Cameron, en the 2d of May. We
were then in Rugby's Hole, going down to Barton Creek. That
gave me a sort of authority. I considered that it having once
been put on it might be put on again, and that it was safe. The
extra weighting took place on our return from Portsmouth, be-
tween Margate and the Nore lights. We had no steam at all.
The steam had not been going for an hour and a half. They
could not get up the steam, and the engine fell off from 25 to
23 strokes a minute.
CORONER—Then what was the-use of putting on the extra
pressure ? Witness—We thought the steam might get up.
CORONER—Was that by your order? Witness—lt was, Sir,
and I have always been informed the external valve was
weighted from 41b. to blb. the inch ; and I always understood
the internal vatic was weighted a little heavier. So that with
he exttra weight then put on it was not equal to the weight of
the internal valve.
COROXEn.-But you are not an engineer? Witness—No, Sir.
John Cameron, the foreman of the engineers, on being exa-
mined, said that he never in his life put on the 281 b. weight.
It was put on by a number of people, but who they were he
could not say. It was not with his sanction or by his order.
It ought not to have been put on.
This being the conclusion of the evidence
The CORONER summed up. From the evidence given on a
former occasion, and also from that given by Mr. Field to-day,
he thought there was little doubt as to the true cause of the
accident. Whether any body could be blamed for it was quite
another question, and one of very great importance. He was
afraid, however, from the particular circumstances of the explo-
sion, and the time at which it took place, that they would
never be able to arrive at the truth of the cause of it.
Whether it tooZ place from the over-weighting on the occasion
of going down or coming ter from Margate, or whether it was
from the getting up of the steam that morning, and the safety
valve then becoming out of order and ofiossioning the explosion,
must be left in doubt. It was quite clear the safety valve was
out of order—the explosion took place, and the life Of the poor
man was lost. It was to be hoped from the state in which the
other unfortunate men appeared, that no further bad results
would follow. The Jury, however, must come to such a ver-
dict as would ensure the ends of justice, and tend to prevent oc-
currences of this sort in future. But he would observe,
it was quite clear that the valveshad been improperly weighted.
It was most improper for any party who was not an engineer to
tamper or meddle with these valves. The engines had been
made by Mr. Rennie, a person of high standing and re-
putation in the profession, and, in his opinion, they had been
overweighted in coming rom Margate to London. What the
immediate cause of the explosion was—whether it arose from
overstraining, or from any other cause, it was impossible
now to say. Then the question arose, was the accident owing
to the valves being overweighted on the voyage up from
Margate. There was No evidence to show that such was the
case; but if there was, it might have some influence on the
verdict they were to give. He apprehended, under all the cir-
cumstances, that there could be no verdict of manslaughter
against any party; but there was a mode of returning a ver-
dict with a deodand upon the boiler, by which the death
of the unfortunate man had been occasioned. Whether the
present case should be marked by any heavy deodand rested
with the Jury to determine. But if they thought
there was any improper tampering with the boiler then it would
be their duty to mark their sense of that by a heavy deodand,
which would act as a lesson to the owners of these vessels, and
other parties concerned, not to overload the safety valve impro-
perly so as to endangre the lives of parties employed about the
eng nes.
The Jury haVing' consulted together for about three quarters
of an hour, strangers were re.-admitted into the room.
Mr, Espin, as there was a contradiction in the evidence of
Mr. Smith and Mr. Cameron, wished to observe that there
were parties in the room who could prove that Cameron did put
put on the 281 b. weight in the first instance. Tarbot also did
the same.

The CORONER said it was too late now to produce any
further evidence.

The Jury then returned a verdict of Accidental Death, with
a deodand of 2501. on the boilers.

The Foreman said the Jury did not attribute the accident to
any wrong construction of the boiler, and that, if it had not
been improperly interfered with, the accident would not have
occurred.