The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-16 00:00:00

knock off pumping and to get out the boats, which
was done, and some portions of the men's traps were
put in the longboat and gig ; a few things that had
been put in the jolly boat before were lost, when she
capsized, among which, the captain states, was the
ship's logbook. At about 9t09 30 p.m. all hands
got into the boats, shoved off, and remained within
sight of the ship until 11 p.m., when she was seen to
go down suddenly by the head. When the boats left
there was a very light breeze fair fer the land,
with a considerable swell on. This swell had
caused the ship to roll heavily, and to strain consi-
derably since Thursday morning, the 22d, tending,
no doubt, to increase the leakage. After the ship
went down sail was made ou t'se boats; they shaped a
course about E. by N. for the land, which they
reached at four p.m. the next day, the 24th, and
landed safely in Ballinskelligs Bay. Two hours
after they made sail in the boats a fresh breeze
sprang up, which enabled them to sail a distance of
about 43 miles in 17 hours without using their oars.
The crew appear to have been an able-bodied set
of men, with no complaint on their part as to
treatment, or the quantity or quality of the pro-
visions on board. The Torfrida was a temper-
ance ship. In revising this case the Court think
there are several points upon which it is neces-
sary to give an opinion. In the first place, the Court
is satisfied that the Torfrida was a well-built ship,
and securely fastened; and by the evidence of
Lloyd's Surveyor, whose duty it was to satisfy him-
self that she was so, it was proved that she was in
many parts more strongly built than the require-
ments of the rule at Lloyd's demanded, and that
she obtained a certificate A 1 for eight years ; and
that, although she met with so sad a fate on her se-
cond voyage, the Court cannot attribute it to any
defect in her construction. The Court, however,
came to the conclusion that, under the special cir-
cumstances of this case, it was reprehensible to re-
load the ship with so much pig iron when it was
found out on her putting back in the first instance,
when in dry dock, that the ship had strained very
much, and actually had sunk amidships, proving, to
the satisfaction of all the experts who saw her, that
she was in a very weak condition ; and although
many necessary repairs were carried out, and, to all
appearance, the original shape of the vesselregained,
it would have been prudent, in the opinion of the
Court, to have reloaded the ship with a much less
quantity of pig iron. No second opinion can exist
as to the fact of her having been excessively laden
with dead weight at Glasgow in the first instance.
The Court is also of opinion that it would be more
prudent if all wooden ve=sels, as a rule, did not take
more than their registered tonnage of pig iron in
addition to their cargo. The Torfrida, going on a voy-
age to New York, without any means of making sig-
nals by night or day in the event of accident of any
kind, or distress, appeared to the court very repre-
hensible indeed, as many valuable lives and much
property were jeopardised by such a grave omission
in the ship's requirements. In considering the con-
duct of the master of the Torfrida, the Court felt
bound to find him in default for want of energy in
not making the attempt to work the four pumps
together, as suggested by the carpenter, and also for
not having hoisted his ensign union down at his
masthead when the steamer hove in sight. Had he
made both these efforts without success, in the opinion
of the Court he would have been justified in aban-
doning the ship. In giving judgment in this case
the court took into consideration the exhausted state
of the crew and the dangerous condition of the ship
when the master ordered the crew into the boats,
which order was judicious, as proved by the ship
foundering so soon after. We have, therefore, with
the concurrence of the two nautical assessors, sus-
pended the certificate of Mr. Gilbert Christopher
Scallow for three calendar months from this date.
—We have, &c.,

WILLIAM APLEAN, Jun., J.P.
RICHARD S. CUNLIFFE, J.P.
We concur in the above report.
R. B. BAKER,
} Nautical Assessors.
Tilos. A. SWINBURNE,
Glasgow, Jan. 4, 1867.