The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-29 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE ELIZA BENCKE.

The following is the official report of the Lords of
the Committee of Privy Council for Trade relative
to the loss of this vessel :

My Lords,—l have the honour to report the result
of the inquiry which, in conjunction with Capts.
Harris and Baker, as nautical assessors, I have held
into the circumstances attending the damage caused
by the stranding of the ship Eliza Bencke, of Liver-
pool, on her recent voyage from this port. The Eliza
Bencke was a full-rigged ship, built at St. John,
New Brunswick, in the present year, of 983 tons,
classed A 1 for seven years, and owned by Mr. J.
A. Bencke and others, of Liverpool. She was com-
manded by Mr. Alexander Glendinning, who has
held a certificate of competency as master for ten
years, and had a crew of 20 men. The Eliza Bencke
left Liverpool on 27th Nov. last, bound for Bombay
with a cargo consisting mainly of railway plant.
She was towed out by a tug, which was cast off on
the following morning in Caernarvon Bay. During
that and the following days the ship was beating
about the Irish Channel. About 10 p.m. on Satur-
day the Arklow Light was seen, and on Sunday
morning, Nov. 30, it was again in sight, bearing
N.W., at a distance of seven miles. During that day
the ship was still beating down the Channel, and at
midnight Blackwater Light was sighted, and this
and the Arklow Light continued in sight, according
to the most reliable evidence given in the case, till
4 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 1. At that hour the ship
was hove to in 22 fathoms, with her head to the
westward. At 7 30 a.m. all hands were called to
make sail and to wear to the eastward, land being
then plainly visible, but in the act of wearing the
ship struck on the Glassgorman Bank. Every effort
was made, but without success, to get the vessel off.
Ultimately the masts were cut away to lighten her,
and shortly afterwards she came off into deep water.
The starboard anchor had been previously let go on
the bank, and the port anchor was dropped to pre-
vent her being again set upon it. Up to this time
she had not made much water. Assistance having
been sent for, on the following morning, December
2, the Lioness steamtug arrived and took her in tow.
Upon being taken in tow, in the attempt to weigh
the starboard anchor the ship grounded the second
time, and eventually she slipped the chain and got
off the bank. Thence she was towed towards Dublin,
but at 5 a.m. on the 3d the tug towed them on shore
on the south tail of the Kish Bank. Here she un-
doubtedly received very material damage, having
remained aground thumping heavily for about an
hour and a half, for on getting off it was found.she
was making water fast, and on reaching Kingstown
there was not less than sft. of water in the hold. It
appears, from the evidence of the carpenter, that the
pumps had been disabled by the fall of the masts,
so that they could not be used till after they were
repaired at Kingstown. She was subsequently
towed round to Liverpool, when it was ascertained
that she had received material damage, but fortu-
nately the cargo does not seem to have been much
injured. It appears that at 4 a.m. on Dec. 1, the
morning of the casualty, the Blackwater Light waa
in sight, and they sounded in 22 fathoms. These
soundings, if obtained, must have indicated a dan-
gerous proximity to the coast, and should have
warned the master that they were inside the line of
sounding between the Arklow and the Blackwater
Lights. It then became his bounden duty to have
wore the ship to the eastward, instead of which it
would appear that he hove the ship to on the port
tack, and drifted with her head to the westward 7:
a flood tide till 7.30 a.m., when the hands were
out to wear the ship to the eastward, t
20
sound-
ings having just previously been taken showing
fathoms, according to the evidence of the first mate
however, com-
pelled to conclude, from the
and the master's statement. I a 123
casualty which almost
immediately befel the
ship, that such soundings
were incorrect, and that she
must have shoaled her
water to a much greater extent. Be this as it may,
the
to his chart, er the least attention
slightest reference
I must pronounce the master in default, as
to the bearing of the lights after 4 a.m. would have
convinced him that he should have stood out to the
eastward, which he might easily have done, the
wind beicg favourable. The subsequent conduct of
the captain appears to have been judicious, and I
am disposed to give him credit for the same. For

the casualties which befel tb ,e ship when in tow of
the Lioness steamtug, and. the damage resulting
therefrom, I cannot hol.d tie master responsible. I
cannot close my report v,vithout animadverting on
the conduct and evidenr ;e of the mates, who all hold
certificates of compete •ncy. The log, as written by
the first mate, was ma st negligently kept, and almost
'holly useless for the purpose of this investigation ;
and the evidence of ail the officerd of the ship evince
either g•reat rence to or ignorance of their
duties.
1w pression produced on the
of the court waa
121 eir stati3ments were most conflicting,
and in truth,
that little or no reliance could
accounts of the transaction
into In pronouncing the
judgment of the court
be placed on thdlx
I have taken into considera-
tion the previous chars,
which we Wert'
-ter of the master, who ap-
.,
) -ears in the service of one
rt,.
pears to have been for 10
house, without meeting with any casualty; and I
have also borne in mind that he did his best to ex-
tricate his ship from the danger in which he had
placed her. But, taking all these circumstances
into consideration, I feel bound to .suspend his cer-
tificate for three calendar mouths from the date of
this report.—l have, &c.,
" T. S. RAFFLES, Stipendiary Magistrate.
l' Liverpool, Dec. 23, 1862.
6' HY. HARRIS,
Nautical Assessors."
" R. B. BAKER,

TOTAL WRECK OF A LIVERPOOL SHIP.

LYTHAM (NEAR PRESTON), FRIDAY NIGHT.

Daring a gale of wind and heavy surf the barque
Brazil, of Liverpool, bound from Bangor to Maine,
U.S., with deals, being disabled oft' the Lancashire
coast by loss of sails, was observed to he driving to
leeward of her course, and to strike heavily on the
Salthouse Sandbank at six o'clock this morning.
At daylight information of the wreck was brought
to Lytham, and the lifeboat of the National Life-
boat Institution stationed, there was thereupon
launched, without delay, to her assistance. On
nearing the vessel they perceived the crew attempt-
ing to leave in their own boat, as they did not
observe the approach of the lifeboat. Owing to the
heavy surf that was running, their boat was in a
sinking eondition when the crew, numbering 13
men, were taken from her by the lifeboat. The
ship's boat went down immediately afterwards, and
tie poor fellows had the narrowest escape of their
lives. The vessel has since become a total wreck.
This valuable lifeboat has during the past tw• or
three months saved 14 men from the American
ship Annie E. Hooper, of Baltimore, saved the
schooner Ceres, of Arbroath, and her crew of five
men, and brought the derelict sloop Mart, of Stran-
raer, into port, and saved 13 men from the barque
Brazil, of Liverpool. Total, 32 shipwrecked per-
sons saved from a watery grave by the Lytham
lifeboat.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

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LEICESTER--.SATURDAY.

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Our market was by no means plentifully supplied with
wheat, there being only a moderate sprinkling of red and
white sorts. A firm trade, at fully is per qr. advance.
—Old white wheat, 58s to 60g; new, 46s to 50s per 36
stone. Old red, 50s to 53s'per 36 stone. Barley, malting,
new, 34s to 38s per qr.; grinding, 28s to 31s ; old oats,
28s to 325; new oats, 21s to 25s per 24 stone. Beano,
new, —s to —s; old, 42s to 44s per 38 stone.