The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-04 00:00:00

WRECK OF TILE ROYAL CHARTER.

Mr. Weldon sends his compliments to the editor
of The Sun, and hopes that he will find a space for
the accompanying letter, &c. :
" Sir,—Our attention has been directed to the
copy of draft of memorial in the Liverpool Mercury,
of March 8, suggested by you in reference to the anre-
covered property in the wreck of the Royal Charter.
While fully aware that your efforts are prompted
alone by a benevolent feeling for the unhappy suf-
ferers, there are some inaccuracies in your proposed
memorial, which you will, we are sure, allow us to
correct.

" The salvage operations, which were necessarily
discontinued during the winter, are now being re-
sumed by us. The ship's manifest, which has just
come to hand, shows that there still remains a defi-
ciency of gold of £24,000, for which bills of lading
are held, and which we must endeavour to recover
for the underwriters and others interested.
" As regards the amount of passengers' money
on board, we:only know what the Rev. Mr. Hodge
states in fiis diary, viz., that about £7,000 was
placed by 'passengers under the captain's care ; this,
of course, we are also hoping to recover.
" You may rely upon our best exertions in this
matter, as we have endeavoured throughout to leave
nothing undone to relieve the distress which this
terrible calamity has occasioned.—We are, &e.,

GIBBS, BRIGHT, & CO.
" Rev. R. G. Weldon, Rose Mount, Girvan."
Under these circumstances, which are very far
different from what the newspaper reports led me
to suppose, and which could not, I dare say, be
contradicted till the arrival of the Australian mail,
and as Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co. hold so de-
servedly high a place in the mercantile world, and
pledge themselves in the above letter to do their
utmost to recover the property, I do not see how
the Government rightly could interfere, were it
advisable for them to do so; for conflicting interests
would be created, and the efforts soon to be resumed
to recover the property might thereby be baffled, if
not set aside. I conceive, therefore, that I best serve
the interests of the sufferers by not presenting the
memorial to the Treasury, but by leaving the mat-
ter—where I have every confidence in leaving it—
in the hands of the agents who have thus come
forward with a promise to do their best, which does
them infinite credit, and which I must say they
have already, as far as they were able, fulfilled.
I cannot take leave of this sad matter, which I
trust, under God's good providence, may yet turn
out better than has been anticipated, without thank-
ing Sir James Ferguson, Bart., M.P. ; H. J. Rollo,
Esq., W.S., of Edinburgh ; and his friend, Mr.
Maconocbie, of the English bar, for their kind aid
and sympathy it my exertions to recover the pro-
per

(Signed), "R. G. WELDoN.
Rose Mount,-Girvan, March 17.

A TRAGEDY ON THE 111GH SEAS.

On morning, about 6 o'clock, three
men,in the
a bay off Staten Island, discovered
whileWedn
an oyster sloop with her sails torn to shreds and
hanging over her side, which, with the gene-
ral appearance of the craft, induced them to be-
lieve that she had been abandoned. Accord-
ingly, they boarded the sloop, which proved to
be the E. A. Johnsen, of Islip, Long Island.
Her bowsprit was gone, and she was aban-
doned. The deck was full of clotted blood and
hair. On entering the cabin large pools of blood
were found on both sides of the stove, and in the
companion way. The starboard quarter on the out-
side had mush blood on it, apparently finger prints.
Her boat was gone. In the cabin were found a
pair of India rubber boots, several shirts, bedding,
and a number of other articles, which could have
been easily taken away if the vessel had been
honestly abandoned. The sloop was fast drifting
ashore when the steam-tug Ceres, Captain Storens,
took her in tow and brought her to the city. As
soon as the sloop was brought into the Fulton-
market slip, information was immediately given to
the coroner and Captain Weed of the Second Pre-
cinct, who boarded her. , The deck of the vessel
presented the appearance of a slaughterhouse.
Everything was covered with blood from stem to
stern ; matted hair was found upon the deck, and
full and complete evidence of a terrible massacre
was plain. An examination was next made of the
cabin, and the sight here, if possible, was worse
than upon the deck. Floor, tables, chairs, and
washstand were besmeared with gore, and every-
thing was disarranged, giving evidence of a furious
struggle. A hammer, weighing about three pounds,
was found upon the floor, covered, like all else, with
blood. Considerable hair was also found upon it,
and it is probable that the assassin or assassins used
it for the purpose of consummating their villainous
deeds. Dr. Bouton, after making a further exami-
nation of the cabin, discovered a coffee pot, and
this, like the3hamsner, was besmeared with blood
and covered with hair. It looks as though the
crew, being attacked in the cabin, made a desperate
resistance, and that during the struggle all avail-
able means of attack and defence were used. After
the examination of the cabin had been concluded
the deck was again visited, and a close inspection
of it still more satisfied everybody that a barbarous
murder had been committed. From the cabin door
there was an unbroken line of blood to the guards ;
but there was the appearance of a struggle, as the
pool
blo odywhasandvy largeserwei.ese then,
en;
uponagain,
theguarmksof
guard, and
a
hatchet mark. Blood ran down the outer side also.
Forward, at the mast, there was more evidence
of a terrible struggle. A large pool of blood, yet
fresh, lay around, extending to the bow; and here,
again, human hair was found. The mast and sails
were slightly besmeared, and on the guards, near
by, were more imprints of bloody hands. Taken
altogether the scene was a sickening one. The
name of the captain of the ill-fated sloop was Geo.
Burr. He was a man about 34 years of age, and has
a family living at Islip, Long Island. He sailed
from the foot of Spring•street, on the 15th inst.,
having on board three deck hands, two of whom
were named Smith Watts and Oliver Watts ; the
name of the third party was not ascertained. The
sloop was bound for Virginia for a load of oysters,
and it is believed that the captain had upwards of
500 dohs. in money with him, with which to pur-
chase the cargo. He called at Keyport, leaving there
on Sunday afternoon, and this was the last seen of
the sloop until 3 o'clock on Wednesday morning,
when she was run into by the schooner John B.
Martha, Capt. Nickerson, off Staten Island. Capt.
Nickerson says there was one man aboard her then,
who ran towards the bow, as the vessel was about
to strike. The sloop struck the schooner about mid-
scohrfeiplsss,a,onnfedtayhrelhylseselieitikko,nitseshgr her. No words passed between
the vessels,
evht eialsoedsroedoll.3eir,
orders
and thethe sloop dropped astern, but when
found by the Telegraphs, as already stated, outside
ei‘ wasaler
arrest
ht abandoned
si\e;rei
cmCkaseprt tso.obnl
be
andbe dt
absota•ergdaargdosotdhirsotuenrdribsluemaffoafimr.oTnheye.JTohhnis-
fact was doubtless I; no ::•n to the river pirates, who,
frightened from the East and North Rivers by the
Harbour Police, have taken refuge on Long and
Staten Islands. These villains had probably gone
on board the sloop at night, surprised the crew in
the cabin, after first killing the man on deck, and
murdered them all, afterwards throwing their bodies