The Sun.
London, England, 1870-03-19 00:00:00

VERSIONS OF THE CREWS.

The account given by the survivors of the Normandy,
as to the cause of this disaster is that sighting the mast-
head and red side light of the Mary, and.seeing that a
collision was inevitable, the chief mate called to starboard
and hard a-starboard her helm, and had not this been
done the collision must have proved even more disastrous.
It is believed that had the lifeboat of the Mary pulled
direct to the Normandy—as those in the two boats meet-
ing her urged they should do, as the Normankly was fast
sinking—in all probability more lives would have be en
saved, but seeing these two boats they pulled back again
to the Mary with them, and before they could return
the ship was lost. They add, however, that all willingly
pulled about for upwards of two hours, and blue lights
were burnt on board the Mary with the view of rescuing
those .in distress. So pleased were the passengers
with the conduct of Captain Strannock, that
they presented him with an address of thanks.
The crew of the Mary say that their vessel
was coming up Channel under steam dead slow.
The head of the vessel was E. by S., half S., when
they saw, apparently about a quarter of a mile distant, on
the port bow, the green light of a steamer. The
engines were at once stopped, the whistle blown, and
orders given to turn astern. Finding that there was no
headway upon the Mary, the helm was put hard-a-Dort.
whereupon the Normandy came on at full speed, and
never stopped, but starboarded her helm, and crossed
under the bow of the Mary. At once the collision took
place, creating a large hole in the bow of the Mary, whose
lifeboat was immediately sent away to assist, bat could
not find the Normandy.

A SURVIVOR'S STORY.

An account by one of tlio survivors is given in the
Hampshire Inclependen, as follows :—" I was lying in my
cabin, with my coat and boots off, and heard a tremendmus
crash. Rushing on deck I found we were in collision. The
Normandy had been struck such a blow abaft the
paddle-box that the captain at once saw the ship
must inevitably founder. He immediately ordered
out the two boats remaining, the lifeboat,. it
transpired, having been carried away in the collision,
and a portion of the passengers and crew thus succeeded
in reaching the Mary, all the gentlemen • standing back,
and making no attempt to get into the boats until the
ladies were in them. The captain of the Normandy be-
haved with the greatest coolness and judgment under such
trying circumstances, and the last I saw of him he was on
the bridge, giving orders as to the management of the
boats and working of the engines, and during the
whole occurrence an extraordinary amount of order and
quietness prevailed, and the greatest fortitude was shewn.
The captain of the Mary gallantly stood by, and did all in
his power to render assistance, firing blue lights, sending
up rockets, and three boats were put out, and the Mary
stood by the scene of the disaster for about two hours, but
without result, the Normandy having gone down whilst
her two boats were reaching the Mary. The Mary her-
self was so badly injured that some of us doubted whether
he would reach port, there being an immense hole in her
bow, the iron torn away, and the fore compartment
flooded, and had not the bulkhead stood well the pressure
put upon it, the Mary must have gone down. As it was,
she was lightened at the fore by the corn being hove over-
board. She arrived safely in tne Southampton Water at
last, and her captain deserves great thanks for the kind-
ness and attention shewn to us, whom he had done his best
to rescue from the grave. Many of us passengers came
ashore as we were in our cabins of the time of the collision,
some of the ladies with only their night-dresses ; and I
believe there were only two articles saved, so sudden and
rapid was the break-up. I should think that not more
than ten minutes elapsed between the collision and our
hearing the cries when we suppose the Normandy went
down." .

VIPERS AND HEDGEHOGS.— A correspondent "of
the Journal des Connaissances Ilfedicales, writes to say
that vipers have multiplied enormously in France during
the last few years, and that this is owing to the merciless
destruction of the hedgehog, which is the natural enemy
of all snakes, the venom of which produces no effect upon
it.
A DATE FOR TESTORY.—The Supreme Court of
the United States on the 28th ult. decided a point which
has long been mooted, but never before legally deter-
mined. The point was brought up in several cotton
cases, and was, in brief, " When did the war close ?" The
Court fixed it as the 17th day of August, 1866, that
being the date of President Johnson's proclamation to that
effect.
- -

Nature is informed that it is probable that Dr.
Sharpey, Professor Huxley, and Sir John Lubbock will
be among the members of the Royal Commission to in-
quire into the present state of science in this country.
The Society of Arts has resolved to hold a morning con-
ference on the proposed parliamentary inquiiry into the
present state of science, and it will probably take place
next Friday,

Her Majesty the Queen is expected to leave
Windsor Castle about Tuesday next for Buckingham
Palace. The Queen will reside in London till about Fri-
day, the 25th inst., and then proceed to Claremont-house,
near :-Esher, the late residence of the ex-Queen of the
French. Her Majesty will probably reside at Claremont
till the following Wednesday, and then return to Windsor
Castle.
- -

LORD SMITH !—Le GaUkn'S says that " while the
notabilities of Paris were pressing into the Church of St.
Clotilde at the funeral of Count de Montalembert another
solemn procession was proceeding towards the Church of
St. Philippe du Roule. The deceased was an extremely
rich English lord, famous in the quarter in which he re-
sided for his bounties. Althoughof an ancient and illus-
trious family quartering thelilies of France upon a field
gules, Lord Schmitt ha given to our Democratic country
a laudable example of contempt for social prejudices by
his marriage with a young work woman of very modest
position."
EPISCOPAL PROTEST TO TUE COUNCIL.—The
Augsburg Gazette has received some communications from
Rome on the nature of the Episcopal protest against the
new rule. It affirms that the chief thing to consider in a
Council is not to settle a question promptly, but to pro•
coed with prudence and deliberation. The protest corn.
plains of that part of the regulations which enacts that
the votes in favour of a motion shall be taken before those
against it. The dogmas it declares should not he adopted
by the will of a majority, but should be settled with the
moral unanimity of those present, so that any doctrines
should be rejected if a number of voices declared
against them. The chief point in the protest is
the declaration which relates to the number of suffrages t.c
be taken for the solution of dogmatic questions, which 1.,
the pivot of the whole Council. The bishops fear that the
character of the (Ecumenical Council will be affected, and
that the enemi;.,,s of the Holy Sec will find a pretext for
attack, if the 13,..nnan Court persists in rcfusing to consider
their requests, and that the authority of the Council may
be diminished ja the sight of Christian nations through its
having failed to act on the principles of truth and