The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-03 00:00:00

THE ACCIDENT TO THE CALAIS

STEAMER.

Commander Pittock, of the Prince Frederick
William,in reply to a letter in the Times, says:—
On arriving off Calais at about 1.15 a.m., blowing
hard W.N.W. and a heavy sea running, the usual
night signals were shown from the harbour piers
for my vessel to enter, and while entering at easy
speed between the piers, in consequence of the low
state of the water and heavy sea, the vessel touched
on the bar, and lost all command of the helm ; the
following sea lifted her, and she struck the east pier
With great violence, completely disabling the port
paddle-wheel, and, on giving the order for the
engine to go ahead, the engineer reported that the
engines would not work in consequence of the
damaged state of the wheel. The vessel, thus com-
pletely disabled, drifted past the • east pier and
stranded on the sand, broadside on, .and • a heavy
sea.striking her carried away the davits and port-
quarter boat, and the carpenter reported the mail
mid baggage and fore cabins were filling in conse-
quence of two plates having been partly stove in.
The after-cabins. and engine-room were quite
watertight, and from the construction of the vessel
`(being in watertight_ compartments), and built ex-
pressly to take the ground in the tidal harbours of
Dover, Calais, and Ostend, I did not apprehend any
further damage to the vessel from her being ashore.
I most distinctly deny, as stated by " One of the
Saved," that I requested the mail•guard to come on
deck, as he was. not safe in the cabin, and instead
of my impression. being that the vessel would have
parted across the centre, she was too firmly embedded
in the sand to apprehend any such danger.. and too
firmly constructed for such a casualty to occur.
Neither did I nor any. of my crew state that the
Calais people ought to have sent off
_boats an hour
previously, but I afterwards stated that no boat
could live in such a sea. The fact that I sent the
ship's boat ashore with six passengers is the best
contradiction I can give to this misstatement..
I never asked 'for or obtained the 'assistance of
the lifeboat, neither did I exhibit any signals of
distress. At about 4 a.m. the lifeboat came along-
side, and I asked if any passenger or passengers
wished to go ashore, as it was perfectly practicable
to reach it, I having, as before stated, previously
sent the ship's boat ashore with six passengers. I
did not urge any person to embark in the lifeboat ;
on the contrary, I assured them of their safety if
they remained on
,board, as in a few hours . every-
body would be able to walk ashore. Many of the
passengers now entered the 'lifeboat, when, from
some unexplained cause, although not overcrowded,
she capsized, and all those who had entered her
were immersed in the water, and, most unfortu-
nately, three' were drowned, although not more
than a few minutes in the water. Instead of the
lifeboat righting herself, as' stated by " One of the
Saved," by the passengers holding on to the lash-
ing, this very circumstance, prevented her doing so
as soon as she otherwise would have done.

With respect to the very serious charge made
against me as a seaman by " One of the Saved,"
for allowing the lifeboat to receive passengers on
the windward, instead of the leeward side of the
vessel. I most distinctly and emphatically
deny that the lifeboat every received a passen-
ger on the windward or weather side of the
vessel. During the whole time she wits alongside
the Prince she was on the leeward side, and in
confirmation of this ".One of the Saved" will per-
haps recollect that the staysail was hoisted and the
sheet hauled to windward the port side, making
the starboard side—that is, the side the passengers
were embarked in the *lifeboat—the leeward side
of the vessel, the same side and placo where the'
ship's boat had previously embarked her passengers.
I make this denial, not only in justice to myself,
but to the crew of the lifeboat, who were indefa-
tgable in their efforts to relieve the passengers
from their natural anxiety.
I am happy
to state that the Prince was safely
towed into
withouCtahlaaivin s
sharbsot .urnoean Manoynddaaym
atgehtte ahte9r
hull beyond two u
e fore compartments with water.
small holes in two of her 'plates,
which filled th

Lord Henri- Gordon Lennox has resigned his
Lordship of the Treasury. He will be succeeded by Mr.
Peter Blackburn, M.P. for Stirlingshire.