The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-24 00:00:00

CA P
OF

THE GREAT BRITAIN.
BRISTOL, FRIDAY.
OSKEN'S REPORT TO THE DIRECTORS
THE GREAT WESTERN STEA:II-S1111)

COMPANY.

Great Britain steam- ship, Oct. 13, 1846.
G..ntlernen,—Captain Claxton's letter will have put
you in possession of the leading facts relating to the
stranding of this ship, but 1 feel called on to give you 6.11
account of the sad disaster more in detail, both f,r
your satisfaction and that of the proprietors, as well as
in my own justification. It is po,sihe you may have
expected this before, but from the 22,1 ult. to the middle
of last week, my whole time and energies were
devoted, in the first instance to the attempt to get the
ship off, and thn in trying to stop a heavy leak near
the stern, both, I grievs to say, ineffectual. During that
time my oecupati.,n was as much in the water as out of
it; the few spare hours I had I found ab ()lately neces-
sary for rest, and Captain Claxton can tell on how
much I required it when he was here; I was, therefore,
totally unfitted to give you this staterneot until now.
Our pilot lett a little inside the Beil Buoy, about one
o'clock, and it was about ten minutes past one when we
were fairly under weigh abreast it; all plain sail was set,
with a fine bree::e from the S.E., at times S.S.F, ; 1
determined to go by the North Channel in con-
seirence, as the. wind was certain to be south-
westerly in the S:;uth Channel, after passing Holy-
head; and I have frequently taken the North Channel
bef ,re, and think it the best under those circumstances,
indeed I would take it in preference were all things
equal. My reasons are, in thick weather (and I have
gone out of the North Channel in a fog), you meet one
vessel in that channel to twenty in the south ; indeed,
with the first of a south-wester, one to fifty. You
cheat the tides, and have less against and more for you.
You get clear of the land in much less time. You
shorten the distance to New York a little, and you get a
great advantage by being north, as the set of the Atlan-
tic generally is to the southward, indeed almost invari-
ably, and a slant of wind sometimes, as the wind hangs
more to the northward than it does farther south; on the
whole, it is my opinion that a day is saved in the passage
by going through the North Channel, when the season
for the meeting field ice is over, and the ice-bergs drift
to the southward. _ _ _ _

The log was hove regularly, and gave a speed Of 101
to 11 knots per hour, and I ascertained from the first
officer, Mr. Hedger, by direct inquiry, that the line and
glass were correct : 11 knots, with the ship deep, is as
much as could be fairly expected. At about half-past
five I caught a glimpse of the Isle of Man, but what
part of the Island exactly, or how far off, I could not de-
cidedly say, as it was then getting dark, and the weather
becoming thick. Immediately after, or about six o'clock,
it came on to rain and blow harder, and the
weather very thick, and it threatened, to be, as it proved,
as vile a night as could be experienced. I have no
doubt this would be corroborated by any one at sea on
that night. (The " Sea Nymph " would not start from
Warren Point, a most unusual thing.) About seven
o'clock I remarked to the first and second officers
(both of whom were with me on the forecastle, looking
out, where I had been, and continued there and at the
compass, with the exception of from five to ten minutes,
from hall'-paet five to the time the ship struck.) that we
must be well up with the Calf, and that I might safely
allow her 10i- knots per hour since leaving the Bell
Buoy; soon after this, I told the first officer to shorten
sail at eight o'clack, take in top gallant sails, two reet's
in foretop sail, one in the main, and haul the foresail
up, as I should alter the course to N. by E. (which is
higher than the North Channel course), and go easy
all night, feeling sure the ship was past the island.
The course was altered at eight, and sail shortened
accordingly ; at about a quarter past eight I was
standing by the wheel, watching the steerage while reef-
ing, when the officer looking out on the forecastle re-
ported a light on the port, or larboard bow; I said,
immediately, it must be a vessel's light; the light was
lost sight of in the thick weather for a short time, and
again showed itself as a revolving light. I immediately
kept the ship off her former course, N.W. by N.,
exclaiming, "How is it possible she has not run
her distance ; what can have held her back ?"
taking the light for one of the Calf of Man lights, and
supposing the other hidden by the thick weather, which
is often the case, as many seamen well know. I have
been cruising in that station in a man-of war, some
years since, and frequently have seen but one light. I
then continued by the eompas watching the bearing of
the light, and trying with a glass to make out the
second light, but a glass on that night was useless, from
the continued rain ; I could not help thinking we must
be past the Island, at the same time there was a re-
volving light occasionally before my eyes to tell me we
were not past it, and I did as I believe most sailori in
my situation would have done (not knowing there was
any other rt volving light In the direction we had been
running from the Bell Buoy, as my chart, new, and
dated 1846. does not show any light on St. John's
Point). stood on until I got the right bearing for round-
ing the Hen and Chicken rocks, lying off the Calf of
Man. I then hauled the ship up to north gradually, and
to N. B. ultimately, when I was surprised to find, on
inquiring the tim,, that it was a quarter past nine; I
ran down for a moment to look at my chart, and back
again to the helm, when I heard a loud hail from the
forecastle, and at the -same moment I saw what ap-
peared and proved shoal water alongside. I instantly
sung out hard a port—stop her ; this was done. I
ordered a back turn, braced the yards by, and shifted
the helm, all without effect. The Sla began to break
over us, and the engineer told me he could not move the
engines ; this made our case for the time hopeless, as it
was near high water on a spring tide. I then ordered
an anchor to be got clear ; the sky-lights, hatch-
ways, companions, &c., to be secured ; the boats to
be looked to, to be ready in case of need. I went below
to assure the passengere that I believed there was no
danger of loss of life, provided they did as I wished
them, namely, remain quiet until daylight should show
cuosnwsehletreed wmeyweehr,,,er,t,anbdetwchoautldwansotbemstaktoe boe,ltd.;noem;yloawlsno
se.aot,i.stfiertii%cleAarrl,i•giwah.erenewaer were,e _ but believed we were
Buntsland, and that the
h Rid)ek ; and at light in sight was that'of the
othersß came off,
day-
break, when the Coast Guard peoeuea,
Bay, and that
I would not believe we were in Dunanr
there was a light on St. John's Puintainsfeoar some time.
go sea, and Ih was
besidesllr
The ship was forging ahelatedetwititmh
i4thhigood
afraid to let an anchor go,
bottom, and do m. ore harm than
the further the ship went the greater chance tfi r
was of saving everybody. Towards day break e ite
moderated, and I immediately lowered one of our
life-
boats, and commenced landing the passengers, the ladies
first. The tide soon ebbed out to the ship, and Vie pas-
sengers get on shore in a variety of ways—by ropes, by
carts, on men's shoulders, &c. ; and then their luggage,
only one or two packages of which have, I believe, been
lost. There was a great rush among the poorer people
for jobs, for which they took good care to be
well paid, but no ill-treatment to any of the passen-
gers has come to my knowledge. The Coast
Guard, with Captain Fisher at their head, gave every
possible assistance. Lieut. Morris, the officer in charge
of the station, was early on board, and did all he could
do to help us. Also Hugh Purdy, chief boatman, who
was among the first persons on board, and answered the
signals we made in the course of the night very
promptly. I cannot say sufficient for the great kind-
ness we all experienced from Lady Matilda Mont-
gomery, who gave shelter under her own roof
to several of the passengers, and obtained shelter for
many more in the cottages of the peasantry around.
Captain Despard, a magistrate, was also here early,
and of great assistance in securing the passengers'
luggage in the Coast Guard Watchhouse, and settling
disputes as to amount for carriage, sec. &c. The
constabulary force, under Mr. Janns, were here as
soon as possible, and afforded valuable assistance, which
they have continued until very recently. There
are many others in the neighbourhood who have
offered assistance, and I may say generally that all has
been done for us that could be done anywhere, under
our trying circumstances. Our thanks are particularly
due to Sir James Dombraine, the inspector-general of
Coast Guard, who, on hearing of the disaster, sent two
boats' crews (eight men), with the mate of the
Royal George, revenue cruiser, to our assistance. Mr.
Brown, the chief mate, proved a valuable and efficient
officer, and we are indebted to him for good service, as
well as to his party of men, whose assistance we found
most valuable in the boats. I also feel much gratified
in being able to say that Mr. Hedger, the chief, and the
whole of the officers and crew, behaved themselves in the
most exemplary manner during all their very hard work,.
and conducted themselves with the same spirit and obel.
thence to orders that could be shown by any men in the
most ordinary routine of duty.
oat,
westerly
heuissstteyr
remarkol
yuksento, wtf
whichhr
aotm Ctp Captain
et
eacdi
In Cl,apx t o n
I need not go into the failure of all our attem ts to
get
amn uds ttml
hey
aslvheeti pt
beetserasiear
the there
more than a mile and a half an hi ur ahead of what the
log gave ; this is clear from the dist Ince run from Liver-
pool (Coburg Dock Gate), to where we are • about
120 miles in el hours gives 12i knots' per
hour; the log gave rather less than 11 knot!, and this set
also prevented our seeing the Calf of Man Lights as
we passed more to the S.W. than we ought to have done
by the course steered, which I find to be the same
(N.W. by N.) as steered by the regular trading steamers
between Liverpool and the ports near this. I must
also observe that I cannot attach any blame to the com-
passes or steerage. I tried the compasses a day or
two after we got here, and found them correct to a
of a point ; in fact, I take the whole blame, if there be
any, to myself, for it is I alone who had anything.to do
with the navigation of this ship, or any other I have
ever commanded.
Overwhelmed by the occurrence, mortified at the issue
of our great effort, it is still not without confidence that
I leave my case in your hands, first claiming
.permtssion
to look back on the occurrences of the past fifteen years,
and more particularly to the time I have been connected
with your company.
In the year IS3I, I first commanded a ship, one of the
Falmouth Post.-office packets, and in 1832 I commanded
another Falmouth packet; in both those I kept my own
reckoning, although I had officers there for that express
purpose. From 1832 to 1837 I commanded merchant
sailing vessels in a foreigntrade,
trade, and a steamer in the
coasting trade; those vessels I navigati d ms self of
course. In 1837 I took command of your ship the Great
Western, and that good ship I navigated, entirely mmyself, sixty-four times to and from New York, for which
I obtained your high opinion and the offer of the com-
mand of the Great Britain, as well as a complimentary
letter, avid a valuable present from the Underwriters
at Lloyd's, " for nautical skill and seamanship." During
that time the numerous presents and testimonials
from passengers, I am sure, were given for
the cave with which I navigated your ship
principally, end the whole credit formerly, or discredit
now, is all my own; hut I feel a firm conviction that
you, gentlemen, will acquit me of blame in this impor-
tant
matter, and, if so, I trust will publicly declare
your, I hope, unanimous opinion to that effect, That

will materiiilly lessen the severe blow I have received,
room severe, in every way, to mo than to any other
—I remain, gentlemen, sour obedient servant,
JAMES 110SKEN.

pr on

EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE BJAUD,
4,CT. 20 1846.

Mr. Patterson a'ta•nded the Board on his return from
the ship, and explaVeri his vie vvs as to getting her oll;
and reported that, finding it necessary to protect the
shin until scime means be adopted for her removal, he
had ordered a fender of wood-work to he made to secure
the ship's quarter, at an expense of 601. or 701. ; and
having recommended that a small floating breakwater
should be constructed for her protection generally, at a
cost of about 1001.,

It was resolved,
That the temporary protection ordered for the ship's
quarter be confirmed, and that the breakwater be im-
mediately proceeded with; alio that the Secretary will
communicate with Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., of
Livero, 1, in reference to Mr. Patterson's views as to
getting her off, for the consideration of the underwriters.
C-iptain Hosken's rip HI of the circumstances which
priced. ci the di,aster of the ' Great Britain " in Dun-
dram 13ay, and also the after occurrences, having been
read and considered,
It was resolved, -
lst.—That the report be circulated among the pro-
prietors.
2d.—That while the directors sympathise with Cap,.
Hosken upon as event so aSicting to him, and so in•
jurious to the company, they rejoice with him that the
catastrophe was, by the blessing of Providence, unat-
tended with loss of life or personal injury to any one.
3d.—They take this opportunity of recardEng their
most grateful thanks to Lady Matilda Montgomery, the
magistrates, and the officers and men of the Coast
Guard, constabulary, and revenue services, mentioned
in Captain Hosken's report ; and their perfect satis-
faction with the conduct of the officers and ship's com-
pany, who, under circumstances of great trial and fatigue,
conducted themselves so admirably.
4th.—With respect to the occurrences which preceded
the stranding of the unfortunate ship, as explained now
by Captain Hosken, and by the report of Captain Clax-
ton to the secretary, the directors are of opinion that the
ship was stranded in consequence of an error in judg-
ment into which it appears her captain was betrayed,
through the omission of a notice of St. John's Light in the
chart of this year, by which he was navigating, and of
the want of knowledge on his part of such a light being
established—it being to the directors obvious, that, had
that light been laid down, Captain Hosken would have
known that the judgment which led him at eight o'clock
to put his ship in th t proper course for the North Chan-
nel ought to have been persevered in.
The directors cannot dismiss the subject at its present
'stage without considering whether any and what amount
of benefit to navigation is to be derived from the melan-
choly circumstances which they have so deeply to de-
plore, and they inform the proprietors that they mean
to appeal to all insurance companies, all merchants,
shipowners, and masters of ships, to aid them in
urging upon the Legislature an enactment, with
heavy penalties, against all Admiralty agents who shall,
after the passing of the same, sell charts without
aa animal certificate, that they have been examined
by a person or persons in authority, tither from the
Hydrographer's Office or the Trinity House, or as may
be appointed, and that they contain all the known
lights, buoys, or beacons, up to the date of the said
certificate; also upon vendors of charts not Admiralty
agents, who shall not, in the first week of every January,
have obtained a similar certificate from the Custom-
house authorities of the several seaports of the United
Kingdom. The directors apprehend that this may. be
accomplished without any sacrifice of property, as no-
thing can be more easy than dotting down in red ink,
and in writing, whatever may be new upon the oldest
charts, and the result would be increased confidence in
navigation, a vast saving of property, greater security
to underwriters, and concomitant safety to the travelling
public.
The stranding of so noble a specimen of naval architec-
ture, and the consequent check to the progress of naval
science—the narrow escape from a watery grave of nearly
three hundred persons—the probable loss of so much
property, and the success or otherwise of experi-
ments to save her—are questions of interest, and
while they are fresh in men's minds, or under
discussion, is the time, the directors conceive, to
add considerations of modes of improvement in the safe-
guards of navigation, and they would consider themselves
remiss if they neglected the earliest opportunity of claim-
ing the support of the public in obtaining an Act of
Parliament, embracing in some shape the foregoing
object, as they cannot but consider that the primary
cause of the disaster was the omission of St. John's Light
in the chart used by Captain Hosken.

THE GREAT WESTERN.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—The Great Western stem-ship appears to have
had a very narrow escape ; she was in imminent ►ianger
of foundering as did, some years since, the President,
and under circumstances very similar ; for there is
reason to believe the President was in so helpless a con-
dition, from the violence of the storm she encountered,
that she fell off into the trough of the sea, which nuking
a complete sweep over her she became water-logged, and
finally sunk.
Such a catastrophe may, it is known, be prevented by
keeping the vessel's bow to the s, a : this can be accom-
plished by the simple contrivance of a float•anchor.
The float-anchor is admirably adapted to keep a vessel
of great length in the position desired. A steam-vessel,
for in-.lance, overtaken by a storm, where there is plenty
of sea room, might extinguish her fires, batten down,
and out with a float-anchor, by which she could ride in
comparative ease and with safe:y.
There is nothing novel in the use of a float-anchor, or
of expedients of a like nature, to enable a vessel, when
dismasted or unmanageable, to bow the sea ; and, as
there are many instances upon record of vessels being
so saved from foundering by a means of preservation so
easily availab!e, it may be well to recommend its con-
sideration to ship-owners and navigators.

A NAVAL OFFICER.

October 22, 1846

THE MEXICAN BONDHOLDERS.
Whatever opinion may be entertained of Mr. Mur-
phy's answer to the Mexican Minister of Finance, and
its sufficiency in justification of the late conversion, there
is one fact which makes a strong impri ssion on even the
most sanguine holders of stock, and that is, that there is
no doubt that the dispatch, be its reasonings good, bad,
or indifferent, expresses the feelings of the Mexican Go-
vernment,such as it was, at the date of the latest advices.
It is perfectly evident that the people who have to pay
make a formal objectiom to the document on which pay-
ment is claimed. Whether they are justifi 4ble or not,
there is the fact, and the bondholders cannot be perfectly
easy, however logical or equitable their position.
Indeed, Mr. Murphy's letter has confirmed this fact.
When first we gave the substance of the Gomez Farias
dispatch there was nothing more common than to hear
that we had been hoaxed, and that no such document ex-
isted as the one described. The assertions thus recklessly
uttered were put to silence by the publication of the
operative part of the dispatch, which had been forwarded
for that purpose by Senor Gomez Farias the younger.
Then came a series of doubts whether that gentleman
was properly authorised, and whether Mr. Murphy was
bound to take any notice of his document. All these
doubts are dispelled in ther turn by Mr. Murphy's letter,
in which he examines and criticises the charge made
against him in the dispatch, and officially publishes it.
The discussion now becomes merely one on the late con-
version, and the authority to make it, the great fact that
the present Mexican Government protest against it being
incontrovertibly proved. Some persons, we have heard,
are so sensitive, that they attribute the pains we took to
set forth this fact in a strong light, at a time when
doubts were so freely uttered, to a feeling inimical to the
bondholders. Such a charge as this is too absurd to
merit a reply. If it was an injury to the bondholders
to put them in possession of a fact most important
for them to know long before there was any other
source for the information but that of mere rumour,
such an injury we committed. We gave the material
part of the dispatch, and from Mr. Murphy's first letter
to the Spanish American committee, it is not too much
to infer that to the publication of that part the bond-
holders are in some measure indebted for the official
publication of the whole.
While it is clear that the feeling of the existing Go-
ov ef ran
re
- cnot
ni
vs
crio againstno ft ltihe
econverted e
ibroonrdi
gs
naorshianp
et,asvoomuer
of the dealers are beginning to inquire what would be
the result of such a re-conversion. The 'tee; bonds do
not all represent the same original stock, but some re-
present the old Active, some the old Deferred or Deben-
tures, and some a mixture of both. If the old bonds had
remained unconverted, it is very clear that, the time for
the Deferred becoming Active drawing nearer every day,
the difference between the two descriptions wouhi be
getting less than at the beginning of the year. The
relative values of -Active and Deferred stock would
have changed; and thus, if a re-conversion takes place,
the holder of a new bond for 100/. may find himself in a
different position from another holder to the same
amount, according to the nature of the old bonds given
in exchange, one being entitled to take so much Active,
another so much Deferred, in various proportions.
Hence a correspondent suggests that on every new bond
should be marked the description of old stock for which
Murphy
a,
it was changed, that people may know what they are
b
fora process
We hope that the
present storm will blow over, and that there will be no
occasion r
Ls:
itd a iffic,u,lpthaynsidcatl iromubploesssoimbielittyha;!
Mr.
u x, i
i
but, in the meanwhile, the point started by our cor-
respondent is too curious not to merit a moment's at-
tention.

The net Mexican bonds issued under the late con-
version amount, we are told, to 7,300,0001., being about
two-thirds of the amount stipulated.-7 imes.

DUDLEY OLD BANK.—A dividend of 2s. GI was
paid by Edward Dixon, Esq., on Tuesday week, waking
a total of 20s. in the pound on all claims on account of
this bank.

HORSERADISIT.—Among the numerous articles of
importation, the production of foreign soils, now taking
place from all parts, either for the first time, or in such
quantities as until this season was unknown, may be par
ticutirly mentioned the description of vegetable or root
now under notice, which never formerly constituted an
article of foreign supply, but which, during the past few
months, have been imported to an almost incredible ex-
tent, .As an instance, may be especially remarked an
ar. :val a day or two since, by a small sailing vessel from
Hamburgh (the principal place from which it is im
ported), of no less than 333 bundles of the article. This
cOming under the general term of veretable, is now
fi cc of duty, and the steamers fr,:oin the Continent have
invariably a quantity of the article as a portion of their
general cargo, for consumption in this country.