The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-19 00:00:00

WEYMOUTH, SEPT. 17.
This morning the adjourned inquest on the
bodies of John Boyd, Michael Mahon, Michael
M'llroy, Robert Adams, and Richard Edwards, the
unfortunate stokers and firemen who lost their lives
by the explosion on board this ship, was resumed
at the Town-hall, Weymouth, before Mr. Locke,
the coroner for Dorsetshire.
As on the previous occasions, not the slightest
amount of interest appeared to be evinced by the
inhabitants of the torn, scarcely a person being in
the hall, save those immediately connected with the
inquiry.
Mr. Leverson, as before, appeared on behalf of
the company ; Mr. Lawson was instructed to repre-
sent the interests of several large shareholders ; Mr.
Newman attended for Mr. Scott Rir sell ; Captain
Robertson and Mr. Galloway were present to assist
the coroner on behalf of the Board of Trade.
Mr. Campbell, one of the managing directors and
chairman of the Great Ship Company, with Mr
Jackson, M.P., also a managing director, Captain
Harrison, Mr. Yates, the secretary of the old com-
pany, Mr. L. S. Magnus, and several of the chief
officers of the ship were in attendance.
The jury, as usual, answered to their names. The
nonchalance of these gentlemen seemed to excite
considerable surprise among those present, accus-
tomed to observe the rigid attention bestowed by
London juries on such occasions. Two, if not three,
of them were apparently connected with the local
press, and the close note which they took of the
proceedings was a certain guarantee for their atten-
tion. Not so, however, with several others, who
occupied themselves throughout the greater part of
the day in reading country newspapers, and, not to
mention other instances, the inattention displayed
on various occasions was neither in keeping with
the serious nature of the case nor the most impor-
tant functions they were called upon to perform,
The opening of the inquest was fixed for nine
o'clock, but from various causes it was quite half-
past nine before business could be proceeded with.
Mr. Robert Galloway, C.E., one of the surveyors
to the Board of Trade, was the first witness ex-
'mined. He said that, under the directions of the
survej or-general, he went on board the Great
Eastern on her passage from the river to Portland.
The ship started from the Nore on the morning of
the 9th, and all went well till, on arriving off
Hastings, an explosion took place in the water
casing of the forward paddle funnel, which dread-
fully scalded several of the firemen and slightly in-
jured two of the passengers. Every exertion was
used by Capt. Harrison and the crew, and particu-
larly by the passengers, to get up the poor men
who were most hurt at once. After the explosion
he examined the water casing, and found the cock
at the top side of the stand-pipe was closed, and
that shut off the escape by the syphon tube. This
being closed prevented the escape of any steam
that might bs generated in the casing, while the
casing itself being shut off below from the boilers,
all exit for it, except by bursting, was prevented.
When this was done it was a mere question of time
how long the casing could hold, as the steam in-
creased in its pressure. He believed that the water
must have become quite decomposed in the casing,
until it assumed the form of an inflammable gas.
The inner funnel then collapsed, allowing oxygen
to mix with the decomposed water gases, and the
explosion then instantly took place. Mr. Dickson
and Capt. Robertson, the surveyor-general, were
with witness when he examined the cock and found
it closed.
By Capt. Robertson—The whole accident was
attributable to the cock being closed, and no es-
cape allowed into the boilers. Had the cock been '
open even when the feed was shut off from the
casing, the accident could not possibly have occur-
red. Could not conceive the use the cock was there
at all. It had been fixed for the purpose of
testing the casing by hydraulic pressure. It
could have been used for no other purpose,
and had no connexion whatever with the syphon, '
except to shut it off. Its only use in the tube
was to produce danger. It could, in fact, do nothing
but be a continual source of danger. When the feed
was shut off from the casing steam would have
issued from the top of the syphon if it had been I
open, or from the bottom into the stoke-hole. It '
must have done so if the cock had not been shut.
The cock was cased in with teak stanchions and
perforated zinc panels. -Witness had not the least
doubt whatever in his own mind as to the cause of
the accident. Could not speak positively as to who
was in charge of the paddle engines from the time
of leaving the Nore. Mr. Dickson appeared to have
the oontrol of them, but he could not say for cer-
tain. 'Witness was on board the ship to report upon
the working of the engines, but not to interfere
with them in any way, directly or indirectly. He '
was to report on the engines before a Board of
Trade certificate could be granted, and without
which the vessel cosild not have carried passen- '
gers. Witness had only made a partial examina-
tion of the engines when the explosion occurred.
Had all gone on well throughout the trip and the
trial trip to Holyhead, he would have passed the
engines as satisfactory. Up to the time of the ex-
plosion the machinery worked well, and he saw
nothing wrong. He saw the stand-pipe from the
deck before the explosion, but he was not then
aware of the cock being in existence. Any person
aware of the construction or management of the
engines should have pointed this out to him. He
could not of himself have supposed for a moment
that a cock would have been so placed. He was not
aware the donkey-engines would not work, though
he knew they gave some trouble. There was only
one, he believed, which was so very troublesome.
He was not aware of the cause of its failure. Had
he been in the engine-room and found the donkey-
engine not working well, and feeding the boiler
with difficulty, it would have occurred to
him 'that the donkey-engine only was in
fault. When the feed to the casing was
shut off he should certainly have looked to the
syphon-pipe to see if there was any escape of steam.
If there had been none, he should at once have
examined the cock, had he been aware one was
there, to see if that was turned. ("Witness was here
handed a plan of the funnel-casing, donkey-engine,
feed-pipes, and syphon-tube, which he had made,
and which showed them as they were previous to
the accident, and from this witness explained to the
jury the working of the whole apparatus, and the
position of the cock in the syphon-tube, the shut-
ting off of which had caused the calamity.)
Examination resumed—There could have been
very little water in the jacket when it blew up.
The pressure of steam on the casing at the time it
exploded must at least have been between 4001 b. or
5001 b. on the square inch. Had the upper cock in
the tube been open, there could have been no dati-
ger. The cock was put there when the casing was
tested, and it certainly should have been removed
before the vessel left the river. He could not say
whether or not the cock was visible through the
perforated zinc casing, but, to the best of his belief,
the cock was not accessible from below. There was
nothing new in the arrangement of the funnel
casing. It was comparatively new in the port of
London, but had often been used elsewhere. The
stand-pipe was not liable to accidental interruption
from things which might be pumped in from the
sea, and if the communication hail not been shut off
from the casing to the boilers, even if the cock on the
top of the tube was shut, no explosion could have
occurred if the apparatus had been worked for 20
months.
Mr. Alexander M'Lennan, chief engineer of the
Great Eastern, then gave evidence as follows :—He
had been attached to the Great Easter for 23
months. During that time he had been furnish-
ing himself with all the information he could get
relative to the boilers and engines of the vessel. It
was his duty to report to the directors about any-
thing which he thought wrong, or of which ho
disapproved. He had never been in charge of the
engine at all, and at the time of the accident the
paddle engines were in charge of Mr. Dickson, Mr.
Scott Russell's superintendent foreman. He had no
charge of the engines at any time. The orders he
received from the late Mr. Brunel were not to take
charge of them till complete. On the last day Mr
Brunel was on board the ship—the Monday before
it left the river—Mr. Brunel repeated those orders.
He was told not then to consider himself in charge
of, or responsible for, either screw or paddle engines
until fully tried. The chairman of the company,
Mr. Campbell. also gave him similar orders. Mr.
Campbell used to say, "Let them alone," meaning
by that that witness was not to interfere with the
representatives of Mr. Scott Russell or Watt and
Co. in any way. In compliance with those instruc-
tions, before leaving Deptford he called 'his assist-
ant engineers together, and informed them thoywere
to consider themselves under the senior engineers
of the contractors for the two engines. From that
time he considered the paddle engines were entirely
in the hands of Mr. Scott Russell, and the screw in
those of Mr. Blake, of the arm of Watt and Co.
Never had any direct communication with Mr.
Scott Russell on the subject, nor did he assist Mr.
Dickson in the engine-room at all. If a wheel was
wanted to be turned, or a
message given about the

engines, he gave that assistance, of course, but no-
thing more. The funnel casing was filled by Mr.
Scott Russell's people, though witness did not see
them filled or tested. While lying in the river he
was aware that a cock was fittedin one of the tubes,
but on one occasion he saw it, and Mr. Dickson
said while walking along with witness on the deck,
" What is that cock doing there ?" to which he re-
plied, "I am sure I don't know," The cock was
then fixed to the casing, but no pipe was attached
to it. Previous to the explosion he was not aware
of the existence of any stop-cocks in the syphon-
tube. As an engineer, but not as engineer in charge,
he could say how the accident was caused. On
leaving the Nore the donkey-engines, two in num-
ber, soon began to be very troublesome. That he
knew from the frequent correspondence that took
place between Mr. Dickson's or Mr. Russell's en-
gineers as to the difficulty with which those engines
were then working. They continued so throughout
the day. There had been four at work on the pre-
vious day, but two were stopped to make some
alterations or repairs. Could not say whether they
were pumping water at the latter part of the day
into the jacket or direct into the boilers, nor how
soon the feed was turned off from the jacket, or by
whose orders it was done. No accident could pos-
sibly have happened if the feed had been continued
through the 'casing, or if, when the feed was discon-
tinued, the cock at the top of the tube had not been
turned off. The .cock was no. use' where it was at
all. He was in no way whatever responsible for
what took place. His orders were not to interfere
with the managemefit of the engines in any way.
He was simply a looker on with a view to the future
efficiency of the engines. No report was ever made
to him, and Mr. Dickson alone was in charge of the
paddle engines. He knew positively the donkey
engines were not working wells as he went and
looked at them for himself. On the part of the com-
pany he should not accept the donkey engines either
as finished or as'iritiSfactory engine.
Examined by Mr.. Newman---Witness signed the
ship's article on the sth of September. Mr. Arnott
was first engineer of the paddles, Mr. Marshall the
next, Mr. Patrick the third, and Mr. Gerard fourth.
Mr. Crone was the chief engineer of the screw en-
gines. Witness visited the engine room from time to
time to test 'the saturation of the boiler, but he
set no cocks. He was in. the boiler room a few
minutes before the accident and ascertained for him-
self the density of the water. He made two
" watches" for the men in the engine room instead of
three, in order that the things might be more
carefully looked after. Until the vessel arrived at
Long Reach there were no " watches" set at all. He
did not arrange the watches on his own autho-
rity. He arranged them in conjunction with those
in charge of the engines, who chose such assistants
as they wanted. He was only present at three
trials of the engines. before leaving the river. As
he was not in charge of the engines it was quite
immaterial' whether he was at them or not. He
was present at the last trial with the late Mr.
Brunel. He was not aware that the cock on the
pipe was accessible from the deck before the explo-
sion. There was a brass knob, like the handle of a
door, in the easing of the second funnel, but it was
quite impossible to say whether a similar one ex-
isted in the casing which had exploded. On the
occasion already referred to, when witness, with
Mr. Dickson, saw the cock on the pipe, he never
asked Mr. Dickson to let it remain in. On one
occasion he told Mr. Russell, when, early in August,
he offered witness to take charge of the auxiliary
engines, that he could not do so, and he was, in
fact, prohibited from doing it till they had all been
passed as satisfactory to the company and directors.
By Captain Robertson—He had never for any
time or on any occasion taken charge of the engines
or interfered with them in any way whatever.
By Mr. Lawson—None of the trials of the engines
were ever conducted by witness, or, as far as he
was aware, by Mr. Brunel. The four enginers
in charge of the paddles, Arnott, Marshall, Patrick,
and Gerard, were all appointed by Mr. Russell, or
Mr. Russell's foreman. They were usually the
engineers who conducted Mr. Scott Russell's trial
trips, and they made their report to Mr. Dickson.
Mr. Arnett was then in the room. That gentle-
man had had no leave from witness or from Captain
Harrison to come on shore. He supposed he must
have received his leave from Mr. Dickson, for none
other was given.
By Mr. Leverson—His orders were to report
engineering defects to Mr. Brunel, but he cer-
tainly had not sufficient power to enable him to
protect the interests of the company. He made
an official application in writing for such increased
powers on March the 28th, but did not obtain it.
Mr. Russell gave his apparent superintendence, as
far as being now and then in- the engine room and
on the bridge. Mr. Dickson did not sign the ship's
articles, as he was not to form part the ship's
company. Even if he went to America he need
not have signed the articles. The four engineers he
had mentioned who had signed the articles were, of
course, servants of the company now. 'Witness's
responsibility only commenced when the engines
were accepted by the company as quite satisfac-
tory. He heard Mr. Patrick say to Mr. Dickson
that the donkey engines were so troublesome that
he had shut the water off from the funnel casing
and turned it into the boilers direct, in the old way.
Mr. Patrick said after the accident had taken place
he did not think that was in itself a dangerous
thing to do. The cock in the syphon tube ought
never to have been put there at all. donkey
engines, Ise considered, were decidedly most satis-
factory. The engine " watches" were only made
for the first time at Long Reach. The instructions
not to interfere with Mr. Dickson in:the manage-
ment of the paddle-engines were again at that time
inforced on thejuniors. They were ordered to make
their reports to the engineers in charge, Mr. Dick-
son for the paddles, and Mr. Blake for the screw.
By Capt. Robertson—The after pair of boilers
which were fitted with. a
.jacket casing were filled
also direct from the donkey engines, instead of
from the casing. That continued throughout the
rest of the night after the blow up he thought.
Could not say if there was a cock on the tube of
that casing also, nor whether it was turned or open.
All the reports went to Mr. Dickson or Mr. Blake,
and not to witness directly or indirectly. The don-
key engines to the screw were troublesome, as well
as those to the paddle. Before the , vessel started
witness made a verbal report to Mr. Brunel that
the ship was not fit to go to sea as far as detail was
concerned. A large number of things were un-
finished, and had witness been asked to express an
opinon he would certainly have advised the direc-
tors not to send, her to sea. That remark did not
refer to the safety. of the ship or the general com-
pletion of her engines, but to matters of detail left
quite unfinished.
Mr. John Dickson, Mr. Scott Russell's foreman,
or managing engineer, said the paddle engines en-
tirely, including the water casing, were constructed
under his superintendence. The water casing was
all constructed by witness under the directions of
the old company. Mr. Russell then had nothing
to do with the yard at all. At first the funnels
were designed on the CommOiilitii,-but those were
afterwards cut up and others with water jackets
substituted, for which Mr. Scott Russell was in no
way responsible. It was by witness's directions
that the cock in the tube was fixed. • He supposed
it was by his directions that the cock was left on
the tube. He considered the cock was necessary,
as if the pipe had been broken and there had been
no means of shutting off the water it would have
spoilt the saloon beneath. The pipe was liable to
be injured by ropes from above. Witness did not
see this cock turned open, but he knew it was so,
as steam used to come out as well as water come
down to the stoke-hole floor. That was the case
during all the trials of the engines at Deptford. He
lengthened the syphon after the last trial a few
more feet in compliance with Mr. Brunel's request,
in order to get more pressure down. Did not ob-
serve from that time till the time of the explosion
that any steam was ever escaping from the pipe.
He did not himself look to observe if there was an
escape, as he was very busy. There was a door in
the casing above the upper deck, which gave access
to the cock, which could be turned by any one with
a" spanner." Witness was never put in charge of
the peddle engines at all, he only assisted in work-
ing them, and never gave an order to any one direct
orindirect. He considered the engines the property
of the company, and that Mr. M'Lennan was in
charge. Mr. M'Lennan certainly acted as chiefen-
gincer, and conducted himself in the engine-room as
such. Witness merely backed and stopped the en-
gines in compliance with the signals from deck.
The cause of the accident was the priming of the
boilers from dirty water, which affected the donkey
engines, and made them very troublesome. Could not
say at what time the feed from the funnel was shut off.
He was absent for about two hours at 11 o'clock,
and that might have been the time when the feed
from the casing was shut off. Had the cock not
been left on the tube there would:have been no ac-
cident—there could have been none. If the feed to
the boiler had not been cut off, there could have
been no danger. Witness certainly considered that
the engines had been given over to the company
after the last trial had been made in the presence of
Mr. Brunel at Deptford. He was positive that he

was not in charge of the paddle engines.. Could not
'say who was, or if any one was in charge at all.
After the explosion witness, with Mr. Galloway,
examined the cock on the tube of tho second funnel
and found it open. From that casing he thought
the boiler was afterwards fed all though the night.
The water was then taken through that casing. It
was past 12 at night, however, before the boilers
ceased to prime.
By Mr. Leverson—Was not aware that any no-
tice was given to the company as to the trial of the
engines. For the last trial Mr. Brunel gave wit-
ness notice. The other trials were made by witness
in Mr. Russell's behalf. There had in fact been
three trials for Mr. Russell and one for the com-
pany. The work that was going on about the en-
gines during the trial trip witness considered as
extra—at least, most of it. Two of the donkey
engines were certainly out of order. The priming
of the boilers caused the defects among the others.
Never heard that one of the engineers was keeping
'together the parts of one of the donkey engines to
enable it to work. The bolts of one of the axle
bearings might have been loose, but witness was
not personally aware of it. In general it was not
the chief engineer 'who looked after the injection
and throttle valve. Any engineer might do
who was in charge, but was not the especial
duty of the chief engineer. Witness did not give
any directions as to the engines. He heard Mr.
M'Lennan give orders to get up steam, he set the
watches, regulated the water, and tried the brine.
Witness had no instructions to go on board from
Mr. Scott Russell. He was unwell and reluctant to
go but all the ships, in the way of finishing de-
tails, was under him. It was not uncommon to
make engines and send them away without ever
putting steam in them. He had been in hundreds
of trial trips, and generally went in charge of the
engines as acting for the engine maker. Had known
the next engineer, Arnott, for many years. Arnott
had been in many trial trips, but did not sign ship's
articles as Scott Russell's servant. He might
have signed such articles, but not as engineer of the
trial trip. The same remarks, to a certain extent,
applied to the other engineers, Patrick, Gerard, and
Marshall, all of whom had been some time in Mr.
Scott Russell's service. Did not agree with Mr.
Galloway as to the pressure in the funnel case when
it blew up being as much as 5001 b.; it was not
more than half that. Even that amount, however,
was an immense pressure. The casing was very
strong. It had been tested to 551 b. He did not
think that the use of water casings ought'at all to
be affected by the accident which had occurred. He
still considered the water jacket an admirable plan
when properly carried out.
By Mr. Lawson—Witness had no particular rea-
son for leaving the cock in the tube at all. Could
not say whether or not it was usual to have such a
cock upon a tube. Had made many small tubes,
but could not recollect whether or not they were
fitted with cocks. . Would not, in any case, put a
valve on. It was essential to put- cocks or valves
in all pipes taken from hot water or steam. Wit-
, ness attached the pipe without any thought about
the matter at all.
Mr. Arnott worked one engine, and witness, to a
certain extent, the other. Reports ought always to
be made to the chief engineer, but witness made ro
report whatever to Mr. M'Lennan on any subject.
Could not say why he was put to work the engines.
No one asked him to go to them. The cock was so
placed that any_one could have gone and turned it,
though not without using a " spanner" or key.
Witness always considered that he built the en-
gines for Mr. Scott Russell. He thought all the
drawings of the . engines were in the possession
of ‘Mr. Brunel's assistants. In those draw-
ings the cock on the tube did not appear. At the
last trial, when Mr. Brunel was present, he said
nothing which would tend to show that the company
either approved or disapproved the engines. Stop-
ping the feed into the casing and the cock at the
top was like confining the safety-valve. Witness
generally acted as chief engineer in trial trips; this
time, considered the boat was in the hands of the
company, but he did not nevertheless consider that,
though working at the engines, he was under the
orders of anyone.
By Mr. Newton—There were a great many mat•
ters of detail not put down in the drawings, as well
as the omission of the cock in the tube. The derange-
ment of the donkey engines was entirely caused by
the boilers priming. One donkey engine was all
that was required to feed the boilers. Was ready
to swear that Mr. M'Lennan asked him to leave
the cock in the tube. He never asked Mr. Mlennan
on the Thursday before sailing if he had got all his
paddle-engine room stores complete, as he (witness)
was going in charge. Such a conversation never
took place, either in the presence of DZr. Briscoe or
any one else. He could swear on his oath that Mr.
Brunel never desired him to remove the cocks from

the tubes.
By Capt. Robertson—As he\ had stated, he went
with Mr. Galloway an hour after the explosion to
see if the cock of the next funnel casing was open.
He found it was open, but he had reason to believe
that it had • not been opened until after the first
funnel easing bad blown up. Some one had told
him that they had opened it, but he could not re-
collect who. It was not witness's son who told him,
though it might have been his son who opened the
cock. Until that was done both cocks were alike
turned off, and allowed no escape for the steam.
Capt. Robertson—Then it is a mercy from Hea-
ven that both the funnels did not blow up together.
Witness could not say, when the second funnel
was thus shut up, whether the water for the boilers
was being taken from the casing or whether the
donkey engine was pumping the water into the
boilers direct.
Mr. J. It. R. Campbell, chairman and one of the
managing direCtors of the Great Ship Company,
was called, and stated that as one of the managing
directors, it was his duty, in conjunction with the
board, to give directions as to the day of the vessel's
quitting the Thames. He thought she was ready
to leave Deptford when she started on the 7th inst.
Capt. Harrison had the command of the ship, though
she was in charge of the sea and river pilots till her
arrival at Portland. Mr. Saunders was the river
and Mr. Atkinson was the sea pilot, but Mr. Atkin-
son had the chief charge on behalf of the company.
As managing director he had been in communication
with Mr. Russell and Messrs. Bolton and Watt, and
it was arranged that those engineers would take
charge of their engines in the trip to Portland.
with a view of seeing their working before they
were given up to the company at Weymouth. For
this purpose it was arranged that they should have
the apimintment of the chief engineers to be re-
sponsible for the entire working and control of the
screw and paddle engines to the two contractors.
So desirous was 11r. Russell that a full trial should
be had that he said he was determined to make the
first voyage to America, and accordingly engineers
were engaged on his behalf to make the voyage
there and back. The trip round from Deptford to
Portland was merely to work theengines into trim.
The real trial trip was to take place as advertised,
round to Holyhead. Even if all the engines had
worked well coming round it would not have been
considered a fair trip for such a vessel. The whole
responsibility for the working of the engines rested
with the contractors, who had the whole and entire
charge of them. That was previously arranged
and understood, and at the request of the con-
tractors they were allowed to appoint their
own engineers. If the latter arrangement
had not been the case the directors would
have felt it to be their duty to have a
rigorous examination as to the competency of any
of the engineers to discharge such an important
duty. They would have subjected them to the
severest tests as to their fitness for the office. The
necessity for the trial trip was a verbal agreement
of the contractors, who, on the understanding that
it was a trial trip, insisted on appointing the engi-
neers in charge. A letter would be found addressed
by witness to Mr. Brunel, advising the appoint-
ment of engineers to the respective engines, and in
witness's presence Mr. Scott Russell was asked
to name his engineers to go in charge for the trial
trip, and in witness's presence Mr. Scott Russell did.
name them, and they were appointed accordingly.
Both the directors and Mr. Russell were equally
anxious that the vessel should leave the river as soon
as possible, for it was a common remark that while
there nothing would be done, and the ship would
never be ready at all. The whole responsibility of
the trial trip rested on the contractors, and not on
the company. On the voyage round to Holyhead
if the engines worked well they would have been
accepted by the company ; if not, they would not
have been taken at all. Mr. Russell and his fore-
man (Mr. Dickson) were in charge of the paddle en-
gines. Mr. Russell directed the movements of the
engines as the pilot wished, and by the indicator
conveyed his orders from the bridge to the engine-
room below. In the event of any accident occurring
to the paddle engines witness would have felt it his
duty to communicate at once with Mr. Russell and
not with the company's chief engineer, Mr.
MiLennan. Did not consider the chie engineer in
any way responsible till the contractors gave up
their work. Mr. M'Lennan, at that time, he viewed
more in the light of a fifth wheel of a coach.
(Laughter.) On one or two occasions during the

s oyage witness asked Mr. Russell to give the
paddle engines more steam. He never communi-
cated with Mr. M‘Lennan at all. Mr. Russell gave
all necessary directions for the management of the
paddle engines from the time of coming on board
till leaving the ship.
By Mr. Newman—There was a written contract
existing between Mr. Scott Russell and the company.
Cannot recollect whether in that document a trial
trip was provided for. It certainly was the under-
standing on which the vessel left the river. Mr.
Brunel said he did not consider any trial in the
river would be . satisfactory, as they could not get
up steam enough, for the vessel was moored stem
and stern. Mr. Scott Russell of his own knowledge
must have known that that was the opinion of Mr.
Brunel, whether it was communicated to him in
writing or not. The trial trip on the responsibility
of the engine makers was made at the express wish
of the two contractors themselves. It was always
the practice to have a trial trip with, ordinary ves-
sels ; but had the practice not existed, in a vessel
of such size and power as the Great Eastern the
directors would have felt it their duty to have
initiated the custom. Mr. Russell, to do him mere
justice, was as anxious as the directors themselves
that he should preserve the responsibility of the
engines by having the appointment of the engi-
neers. He (Mr. Russell) was quite confident as to
the success of the paddle engines, and therefore did
not shrink from the responsibility of trying them,
he said.
Mr. Leverson said that the opinion of Mr. Super-
intendent Shee and Mr. Lloyd had been taken on
the terms of the contract, and those gentlemen were
confident that a trial trip was clearly implied by it,
and that the company were not responsible for
taking the engines until after such trip had been
made.
Captain Robertson remarked that was a legal
question of contract. What they had met to in-
quire into was, who was in charge of the engines
when the accident occurred ? •
Mr. John 'Scott Russell was the next witness.
He said that, except in so far as the late Mr. BrUnel
was the originator .of the idea, he was the builder
an.l designer of the great ship, and the contractor
for the paddle engines. With the trial trip be-
tween Deptford and Portland he (Mr. Russell)
had had nothing to do whatever, directly or in-
directly as a matter of business. He took the
deepest personal interest in the trip, but beyond
that there was nothing whatever in the way of
business. During the trial trip the paddle
engines were never under his charge in any
way or kind whatever. From the day when the-
fourth trial of the engines was made in the river in
the presence of Mr. Brunel, and in conformity with
the terms of the contract, he considered that they
were entirely delivered up to the company. That
fourth trial' was made on the Wednesday before the
ship sailed. They were then handed over from'
witness's engineers to those of the company, and
the men about them ceased to be in witness's pay
•
and wents into the employment of the company.,
No written agreement or document passed when
they were given up. If any fault was to be found
it should have been at the fourth trial, for on that :
occasion, according to the contract, witness's re-
sponsibility was to end. He did not select the
engineers for the trial trip, but it was suggested to
the company that the engineers of both engines
should be applied to by the company to recommend
the entire staff of both engines. This the company
refused to do, and only allowed them to recommend
the four head engineers of both engines. He
thought that the first course was the wisest course
for both parties, and he thought the men he recom-
mended were the best both for the company's inte-
rests and for the duo care of his owa engines. •As
to Mr. Dickson being on board, it arose from the
fact of witness being invited to the trial trip
and allowed to bring a certain number of
friends. Mr. Dickson only came •as witness's
friend, and never took any charge of the engines
beyond volunteering every assistance in his
power. Mr. Araott and his engineers had '
most undoubted charge of all the machinery under
Mr. M'Lennan, the company's engineer in chief.
Witness was on board at the time of the explosion,
and generally concurred in what had been stated
by others as to its cause. He thought it must be
taken for granted that all believed when the feed to
the funnel was shut off the cock at the top of the
tube was open. It was quite proper to shut off the
feed from the casing to the boilers. Boilers always
primed when they left the river, and priming was
a source of great danger and inconvenience to the
boilers. That was checked at last by throwing in
cold water to the boilers, and it became desirable,
therefore, to shut off the hot water from the casing,
and let in the cold water from the donkey engines,
which was done. Witness never knew of any cock
being in the syphon-tube, though he agreed with
Mr. Dickson that it was always a wise precaution.
He would' certainly not have put anything that
could have interfered with the passage of steam
from the casing. The cock was not necessary
where it was, though he thought it a useful precau-
tion in case the stand-pipe, or syphon, broke. The
outer wooden funnel-casing acted as a ventilator to
the sleeping cabins below. If, then, the stand-
pipe broke all the steam would have rushed down-
into the sleeping cabins. Witness had constructed
two vessels on similar principles before. There was
no provision made for the escape of steam in those
vessels at all. Even, however, with both pipes
open, in the case of the Great Eastern, they might
have had an explosion from many other causes,
such as if the feed was allowed to go low in the
casing, and the water been suddenly let in. It was
one of the mysteries of the present accident that it
might have arisen from such a cause. In that case
the syphon stand-pipe would not have saved the
funnel. Steam would have been generated so
rapidly by the sudden reflux of the feed water that
the syphon-tube would never have carried it off
even though open. That might have occurred in
this accident, and he was not alone in this opiuion.
He most distinctly, denied any official or mercantile
responsibility at all in the charge of the engines in
the trip round. He should have thought it wrong
not to have given the company the benefit of Mr.
Dickson's long experience, in case of any accident
happening.
By Mr. Leverson.—There were four trials of the
engines made. Witness was aware that notice was
sent to the company of the trials being about to take
place,—at least of the second trial, when members
of both houses were present, who were invited
jointly by the directors and witness. He had the
expense of starting the engines four times. The
first trial took place very early in the morning,
when the company's officers were not present, as
far as witness was aware. He was himself only
present at the second and fourth. He was not
aware that Captain Harrison was angry at not
being present at the first trial to look after his
moorings. That trial he certainly considered to be
one of the four trials under his contract. He re-
membered having an interview with the Board at
which the date of the ship leaving the river was
fixed, and when witness wi shed it to take place a
fortnight earlier. It was not at his wish that it
was postponed. There was no choice of interme-
diate dates on account of the tides. The directors
were also most.anxious to sail as speedily as possi-
ble. Witness undertook to have the vessel ready,
and his 6ntract was in fact finished on the sth of
August. s On the last Wednesday in August the
final trial of the engines took place. If any of the
directors had then expressed dissatisfaction with the
engines he would at once have given them another
trial. considered the four startings he gave the
engines at their moorings in the river were a suffi-
cient trial. A common trial trip meant that the ship
and engines were retained by the builder until a
trial stipulated in the contract, generally at so many
miles an hour, had been fulfilled in the river.
All the parties then given on board were at the
expense and under the control of the engineer
and builder, and the whole contract turned on the
result of that trial. In the present case there was no
stipulated performance whatever, nor would he have
been in any way liable for the expenses of the trip,
though he certainly would had it taken place in the
river. Such would be the case with a vessel which
had never been out of the buider's hands. Witness
only contracted to do a portion of the work of the
company's vessel, and therefore it was their trial
trip, and not his. The terms of the contract were for
the best materials and best workmanship. The ques-
tion as to the completeness of the contract was left
to competent arbitrators to decide, and from time to
time three gentlemen (three engineers) had been so
called.upon to decide. If the directors had doubted
the excellence of the engines, they should have had
the arbitrators present when the last trial was made.
toM rre.veßrlsaekteh,e
Witness was on the bridge almost throughout the
whole trip, but though requested by the pilot to
drive the engines faster he declined. That request
agre
witnesswith
applied to both screw and paddles. Witness, how-
charge of the screw engines, that it would be un-
wise to drive the engines too fast. The pilot might
how-
ever,
requestedh aa
he might have declined, and suggested that the
screw should be reversed. In spite of this h denied
that he ever took charge of the paddle engine& He
knew better than the
pilot or captain what could
v paddles,w a
5 andi in

be done safely and quickly in the engine-room ,N pp pie
Nihen\ihe stated that the ship was within an ac • .
beiis/lost .two or three times in the- rivefht: 4. , . .1-T_
people would acquit him of doing tiriikee".. "
harm, when he merely stood by' to give :the ,i i
the benefit of the instant service of Ao - enotz --'--
--j, ....,--.•-•,_•.77,-._';:9l
when it was most needed.
There was some applause manifeste • '..-,, - ;, il
this reply, which the Coroner atlOnee.s-uppisse-. i--""
Witness continued—When he took thet&tr , 11l
one of the funnel casings was in its place ; the other
was lying on the deck.
Mr.' Mr. Lawson—There were two contracts, one
with the old company, and one. with the new.
Under the old company's contract most *of the en-
gines were completed. While he had the contract
he kept to the old plan of common funnels. All his
contract with the new company had been long ago
completed. - - - -- - -
A very long examination here followed, endeavour-
ing to show that the witness's last contract to finish
the vessel was not concluded when the ship left
Deptford, and that therefore Mr. Russell was still
liable to repair the damage caused by the explosion.
The course which the examination took was, how-
ever, entirely irrelevant to the inquiry into the
cause of the poor men's deaths, to ascertain which
alone, of course, the inquest was opened: It was
thus not a question of how the men were killed, but
who was to pay for the damage to the vessel. After
repeated remonstrances from the Coroner, several
of the jury interfered, and declared that the course
of the examination was quite fOreign to the issue
they were met to try. Mr. Lawson pointed out that
it wes necessary. to prove the case by showing that
Mr. Russell, being in charge, was in fault, but
eventually he consented to waive the questions he
was desirous of having answeted;.and the exi3mi-
nation was continued. WitnesS was
,:asked to name
four engineers for the paddle engines, and Mr. Dick-
son did so, and those engineers proceeded at once
into the employment of the company. Beyond this
there was no formal delivery between witness and
the company of the engines at all. Such a for-
mality was not usual, and he (Mr. Russell) knew
of none, and never heard of any.
By Mr. Newman—He recommended a pilot to
take the ship down the river, but the company only
employed him as an assistant to Mr. Atkinson.
None of the crew were employed or paid by witness.
If he had considered himself at all responsible for
the safety of the vessel or engines during her trip,
he would not have allowed any on board but-such
as ho recommended or employed.
By the Coroner—Not one of the persons in his
employ was in any way or manner -whatever em-
plos ed in connexion with the engines.
Mr. William Briscoe, one of the engineers who
was injured, was here recalled, and said that a week
previous to the starting of the vessel he remembered
being present at a conversation between Mr.
*Lennan and Mr. Dickson relativeito some -lamps
and other things connected with the engines. He
distinctly hea,rd Mr. Dickson say he would not take
charge of the engines unless those things were
supplied. . .
It being now past 6 o'clock a long discussion en-
sued as to the propriety of adjourning, but thejury
seemed most anxious-to finish the inquiry, and after
some delay the evidence was resumed.
1 211 r. James Patrick, one of the engineers of the
Great Eastern, said that, after the explosion, he
'vent to Mr. Arnott, and asked him if there was
Snything to stop the communication between the
Water casing and the syphon, and Mr. Arnott re-
plied that there were some cocks. When the ex-
plosion took place, it occurred to witness at once
what was the cause of it, and that was the reason
for his asking - the question. Mr. Arnott replied
that the tubes were fitted with cocks, but; they were
pen, but he said at once; !‘ Go and see." Witness
took a spanner and went to the second funnel casing,
' I'heirhe found the cock shut, and instantly opened
t. There was a great rush of steam, for it seemed
hat the pressure was very high. The feed to that
funnel casing had been shut off from the' casing
i;ince one o'clock on the dly of the explosion. Both
funnel casings were alike in this respect.. It was
itness who shut the food off flint the funnel,
asing to the boilers in both
_sets . of boilers.
e shut them both off at the , same time. His
eason for shutting off the feed was to. keep down
he priming of the boilers. After - the explo-
ion they fed the boilers from the funnel casing
hat remained. The .cock was of no use in the
yphon. It was the neglect of its being closed that
aused such an accident as the present. It never
ccurred to witness to look at the syphon before he
hut off the feed. He never dreamt of finding a
ock in the escape pipe like the syphon. 'Witness
onsiderecl Mr. Arnott Was in charge of the en-
ines that day, tho:,gh Mr. Dickson was often
here—among the engines, and in the boiler-rooms.
rom the time witness left Deptford ho never saw
Mr. Dickson give any directions at all. Mr.*Len-
nen gave none either to the best of his knowledge.
Witness reported what he had done in shutting off
the feed to the boilers to Mr. Dickson. He toid him
so in reply to Mr. Dickson's question as to what he
(witness) was about, and how things were getting
on. It was two hours .after he- shut off the feed
before he told Mr. Dickson. Did not inform Mr.
M‘Lennan of the circumstance at all.
i By Mr. Lawson—He. might have reported the
circumstance to Mr. Arnott, but not before a couple
Of hours or so after he had done it. . Neither Mr.
Arnott nor Mr. Dickson gave him any instructions
when he told them of what he had *done. Both of
them were present when he mentioned the circum-
stance of shutting off the feed.. Witness was in-
Stracted by Mr. M'Lcnnan to obey Mr. Arnott.
Nothing was said about obeying Mr. Dickson.
Duringthe five months witness was on board he
Was in the employment of Mr. Russell. It was
Mr. Russell who had given him his appointment
as engineer. '
: At this stage of the proceedings the inquiry was
adjourned till 10 o'clock this day (Monday), on the
understanding that it will then be brought to a close.

THE CASE OF DR. SIIETHUBST.

No further proceedings have taken place with
regard to the disposal of the prisoner, who still re-
mains in Horsemonger-lane Gaol as a' condemned
convict under respite from the Crown, and, from
all that can be ascertained upon the subject, there
appears to be a great difficulty in the minds of the
authorities as to what course should be taken in
the matter. The prisoner now occupies a cell by
himself, and under the special order of the visiting
magistrates he is permitted to have the free use of
writing materials, and he is relieved from the per-
formance of the usual labour, such as picking
oakum, which is generally required from a con-
vict under similar circumstances ; in fact, it ap-
pears that many special indulgences are granted to
him. He is, of course, as energetic as ever in the
protestation of his innocence, and is engaged the
greater part of the day in writing a history of the
case, and remarks upon the evidence that was ob-
tained at the trial, and when this is finished it will
be submittted to the Secretary of State, the pri-
soner hoping that it will have the effect of induc-
ing the Government to grant him a free pardon,
which is the object he evidently wishes to attain.
There is no doubt that the prisoner himself en-
tertains a very strong impression that he shall
altogether escape, and the manner in which'he has
been treated since he has been in Horsemonger-lane
Gaol would go very far to create that feeling in his
mind. It would seen', however, that since the culprit
has been reprieved, there has been a considerable
reaction in the mind of the public with regard to
the prisoner, and a good many of those who for-
merly professed themselves satisfied that he was
innocent, or that at all events the crime of murder
was not established by the evidence that was ad-
duced for the prosecution, now appear to have con-
siderably modified that opinion; and this feeling
has been increased since the publication of tho
letter of Dr. Todd, one of the most eminent physi-
cians of the day, which appeared during the last
few days, and in which that gentleman, who must
be altogether without bias or interest in the matter,
solemnly reiterates the opinion he expressed at the
trial, that the death of Miss Bankes was attributable
to the administration of irritant poison, and to that
cause alone. The prisoner, it should be remem-
bered, is only reprieved during her Majesty's plea-'
sure, and although it has not been customary in
such a case to carry
.out the capital sentence, yet
there have been cases in which this has been done,
and if the Government should be satisfied, as the
result of the inquiries that are still, being made,
that a murder was committed, there is very little
doubt that the sentence of death would still be
carried out.
It appears that before Dr. Smethurst was re-
moved from Newgate he expressed an anxious
desire that, if the sentence should be carried out,
Mr. Davis, the ordinary of that gaol, should visit
him before his execution • and he made the request
in a manner to induce a belief that he bad some im-
portant communication to make to him. Should
this really be the case, the nature of that comin a
mu-
nication will. now probably for ever
secret ; but the fact of his expressing' the wish re-
ferred to may be positiN_____pon.

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