The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-30 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.
After a delay of several days, caused by the tempes-
tuous state of the weather, Mr. Davis, one -of the coro-
ners for the county of Dublin, at length, succeeded in the
course of Thursday in getting two of the bodies of the
unfortunate persons lost in the late calamitous shipwreck
at Lambay, conveyed in a steam-tug to Ringsend, near
Dublin; and yesterday morning the remains were carried
from that place, in a hearse, to Malahide, the nearest
locality to the scene of the disaster suited for holding an
inquest. The bodies selected for the purpose were those of
Edward Kewly, the second mate of the Tayleur, and of Dr.
Conyngham's child, as there would be no difficulty about
their identification ; and a third body was also taken to
Malahide on Friday in a boat from Lambay. Capt.-Walker,
R.N., as Government inspector, was present on Friday
morning to watch the proceedings at the inquest ; and
Lieut. Prior, R.N., the government emigration agent at
Liverpool, was likewise in attendance, a telegraphic mes-
sage having been despatched fur him to London on the
preceding day ; a number of highly respectable and in-
telligent gentlemen were summoned to compose the jury;
and the room in the Malahide Arms, in which the inves-
tigation was held, was crowded with the friends and re-
latives of emigrants who had perished in the wreck of .
the Tayleur. Mr. F. Codd, T.C., whose brother was
one of the sufferers, attended with Mr. Coffey, as coun-
sel, and Mr. Oldham, as solicitor ; and Mr. Ganly, an-
other respectable citizen, whose son was among the vic-
tims ; and Mr. Bagnall, T.C., who had lost a niece in
the disaster, were among those in attendance. A jury
of fourteen gentlemen having been sworn, and having
viewed the bodies,
Mr. Jones said he had been sent by the underwriters
from Liverpool, but he was then prts6nt merely from
curiosity, having received no official notice from the
coroner to attend. He, complained also that the captain
of the Tayleur had received no summons or other notice ;
that he expected the inquiry would take place at Rings-
end, and not here ; and that tie (ttrlY captain) was unpre-
pared with any legal assistance, having employed a soli-
citor in Dublin, to whom he said that the inquest wpuld
be held 'at-
Several persons in the room here said that they had seen
the captain and first mate there a few minutes since ; that
Mr. Jones had been speaking to the captain, and had
called the mate out of a room in which lie had been
taking some porter; and that both the captain and mato
thin got upon a car and drove off to Dublin.
The Coroner said it was not improbable that they had
gone for legal advice, and then proceeded to hear evi-
dence.

On Saturday morning at eleven the inquest was re-
sumed. Captain Walker, of the naval department of the
Board of Trade, was present to watch the proceedings
on the part of the Government ; and after the coroner's
investigation shall have concluded, the gallant captain
will hold an inquiry, perhaps, at the Custom-house, into
all the circumstances connected with the late terrific
disaster. Lord Talbot De Malahide was present during
the inquiry.
Captain Noble, of the wrecked ship, was the first
witness called. He was examined at great length, and
the drift of his testimony was in accordance with the
general description of the wreck hitherto given in this
journal. He had three life-boats and four long boats on
board, which were ready to be launched ; but when the
vessel struck no boat could live in the sea that was then
rolling, and he made no attempt to lower any of those
boats ; at any time from Liverpool to the time of the
accident, he did not experience any obstruction from
the want or efficiency of hands, but he found on
some occasions that the rudder did not answer to
the man at the wheel ; his opinion was that the rudder
was too small ; on the day he left Liverpool, he went
ashore and told the owners of the Tayleur that she
was ready for sea, and that he was anxious to put to
sea, as the weather seemed favourable ; he was appointed
to the Tayleur by the owners in June last. She was
then in the builder's yard where she was built.
At about two o'clock the Coroner received a despatch
from the Sub-Inspector of Constabulary, to the effect that
he required the Coroner's order to have the bodies in-
terred. Forty-two of those bodies were coffined and
ready for interment ; nine more, and three which had
been picked up onFriday, were then lying on the ground,
and these were so far advanced in a state of decomposi-
tion that their identification was quite impossible. The
Coroner having consulted the parties concerned, he
issued an order that the bodies should be all interred in
the grave-yard which is on the island of Lambay.
Mr. Fitzgibbon, Q.C., here stated that he was in-
structed to state that the owners and charterers of the
Tayleur would subscribe to the fund now being raised
for the relief of the sufferers ; and that he was further
instructed to state that the owners would give a free
passage to any of the survivors who might be disposed
to emigrate to Australia.
Captain Noble, on cross-examination by Mr. Coffey,
said he engaged the crew himself about a week
before she sailed. The entire crew, with the ex-
ception of one mate, had been all strangers to him
previous to the time at which he had engaged them,
and they were all on board on Wednesday, the day
before he sailed. The wages at which he
nd
engagedthe pas-
sengers' the
crew ranged from 3/. 10s. to 2/, a month, a
steward, the cooks, and the carpenter's mate
were engaged at ls. a month. He made no experiment
as to whether the vessel would answer her helm, nor in
any other respect did he, or to his knowledge the
owners, make any experiment or investigation into the
sailing powers of the vessel. An examination of the
compasses was made about a week or a fortnight before
she sailed, and a trial of the helm was made by the pilot
in the tide way, and she answered to the helm on that
occasion, although the trial was not made for the special
purpose of testing whether or not she would answer the
helm ; the vessel was swung for the purpose of testing
the compasses some time in November, and not after-
wards ; they were then found to be correct ; when he
found himself at Lambay, he supposed that the com-
passes were in error, for helfound them in the course of
the day to be about two points astray • he had three
compasses, each of which varied from the other, where-
by he could not decide which was right, or which was
wrong.
Captain Noble having been examined at considerable
length, the next witness was Murphy, the chief mate,
at the conclusion of whoso evidence the inquiry was ad-
journed to Monday.
The verdict of the jury will probably attribute the loss
of the ship to the variation of the compasses, the testi-
mony of the captain and mate having removed appa-
rently any impression as to the inefficiency of the crew.

THE ROYAL WEST INDIA MAIL PACKET COMPANY'S
new screw steamer, \Vye, 700 tons burden, and 18Q
horse-power, went out on Saturday from Southampton
on a trial trip. The Government surveyor and the
Admiralty officers at the port were on board of her
to witness and report her performance. After making
four turns at the measured mile in Stokes Bay, she
rounded her Majesty's ships Leopard, Juno, and Frolic,
looked into Cowes harbour, and. then returned to
the Southampton docks. Her speed reached 11.650,
and averaged in four turns 11.383. The revolutions
of her engine 39. The average pressure of steam
from 12 to 13 lbs. She answered her helm beautifully,
and averaged in turning three minutes in about three ;
times her own length. Her depth of water was 12.11
aft and 10.10 forward. The Wye is the finest screw
steamer the Royal Mail Company has built ; she is in.
tended for intercolonial work, and it is expected she will
leave England the latter end of next month,