The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-07 00:00:00

WiiECIC OF' THE STEAMER. AMIILIA.

A Court of Inquiry ordered by the Board of
Trade sat yesterday at the Bristol Council-house to
investigate the circumstances under which the
steamer Amelia, plying between Liverpool and
Bristol, was lost off St. Gowati's-head, near Mil-
ford, on the morning of the 29th of March. Cap-
tain Hardy, R.N., attended as the naval assessor
of the magistrates, Messrs. R. P. King and Joseph
Coates ; Mr. Ambrose Foote, col:ector of Customs,
conducted the case ou behalf of the Board of Trade.
The proceedings were taken under the 433 d and
and 438th sections of the Merchant Shipping Act
of 1854. Mr. Foote having given an outline of the
facts, John Howe, the master of the Amelia, was
examined. He stated that she was of 167 tons, and
traded between Liverpool and Bristol. He left
Bristol with a cargo of goods for Liverpool about
9 p. 113. on the 28th of March. The night was dark,
and there was no moon. The next morning the
weather was very hazy about 7 o'clock. The wit-
ness was steering himself. He then saw Caldy
Island, which was bearing from the vessel north-
east and by east. Caldy was about 61 miles dis-
tant when he saw it. There was no lead going at
this time, and the lead had not been used during
the voyage. They had no pilot, but the witness
had passed as a pilot for the British Channel as far
as Caldy. He steered N. W. and by W. when they
sighted Caldy; and the course was then altered to
N.W., and they were then going at nearly full
speed. The witness proceeded to state that they
continued to steer this course for about three-quar-
ters of an hour. A dense fog came on, and the
vessel struck about 8 o'clock off St. Gowan's head.
They continued to steer W. by N. until they saw
the laud about 100 yards ahead. They put the helm
hard a-starboard directly they saw the land. The
vessel paid off, but not in time to clear the point, and
she struck to the eastward of it. The mate and a man
named J. Nicholas kept a general look-out. In the
witness's opinion, if the lead had been going they
could not have gone nearer to St. Gowan's-head,
with safety, than 12 fathoms. Some questions
were put by Mr. Coates, in answ‘r to which the
witness said the wind was from the southward
when the vessel struck, at which time it was nearly
calm. He did not consider it necessary to take a
cast of the lead during the fog. The last cast he
took was two or three months before the vessel was
lost, on a voyage to Liverpool. He thought thou
that the vessel was a little out of her course. To

other questions from Mr. Foote, the witness said
they had a chart on board, and he examined it
about half an hour before the vessel struck- It
was not. an Admiralty chart. Ho considered
that by the course he steered he should have
qieared St. Gowan's-head. He was satisfied
that his course would have cleared the land, or
he should have ordered the lead to be used.

If they hid been six feet further out, the land
would have been cleared. It was a mystery to hint
how the vessel was lost. Thomas Lodge, mate of
the Amelia, confirmed the evidence given by the
master. No other witnesses were examined. The
magistrates retired for about halt an hour, and on
their return Mr. Brice the magistrates' clerk,
stated that he was directed to read so much of the
report of the magistrates to the Board of Trade as
they thought material for the information of the
public. That portion of the report was as follows :
—"ln the opinion of the Justices, the accident
arose in consequence of the master either mistak-
ing the land he made or misjudging his distance from
it, and disregarding the use of the lead, which,
with reference to the fog which then prevailed,
ought to have been especially attended to." The
magistrates had given their reasons for coming to
this conclusion in their report to the Board of
Trade, and Captain Hardy, the naval assessor, fully
concurred iu the judgment which had been arrived
at.

A TTEMPTED MURDER AT LIVERPOOL—At an early hour
on Sunday morning a man named Kelly was knocked
down in Waterloo-road, and fired at with a pistol. He
received a wound on the left cheek, but fortunately it is
not of a dangerous character. The poor fellow is now in
the hospital, whither be was removed after the occur-
rence. The perpetrators of the outrage are at present
unknown.
MONTHLY PACKET COMMUNICATION* WITH THE Moe.
QUITOS —Arrangements have been made for the convey-
ance of a mail once a month to the port of Blewfields, in
the Mosquitos, by the West India contract mad packet
leaving Southampton on the 17th of each month. The
first mail will be made up for despatch by the packet of
the 17th jest. The rates of British postage chargeable
on letters for Blewfields will be as follows :--Not exceed-
in A oz., 2s. 3d. ; above A oz. and not exceeding loz ,
62. ; above 1 oz. and not exceeding '2 oz., 95., and
so on according to the scale in operation for charging
inland letters. Newspapers will be liable to a postage
of ld. each., The postage upon both lettere and news-
papers must be paid in advance, or they cannot be for-
warded.
BOILER EXPLOSION AT THE MILLFIELDS FURNACES,
NEAR WOLVERHAMPTON.—On Tuesday afternoon an tx-
pl ,sion, attended with fatal results, occurred at these
works. The result was that three men were killed on the
boot, and several others were serkusly injured.
The
Birnzingltam Journal of yesterday gives the following
account of the aceitent :—" A. blast furnace on iron
works of Messrs. Riley, at Milifields, near Bilston, sud-
denly, and from causes as yet unascertained, exploded
this (Tuesday) afternoon at half-past three o'clock, forc-
ing out the surrounding brick work, and scatterine, the
burning scoria throughout the ca-ting house, in which at
the time were employed two men and a boy, who were
literally burnt to cinders, and whose bodies are now
lying at an adjacent public-house, awaiting a coroner's
inquest. Their names were Thomas Davis, 25, moulder;
Samuel Thomas, 26,Anoulder ; and Thomas Fletcher,
a lad of 9 years of age, employed in the same capa-
city. The following were immediately removed to the
South Staffordshire Hospital. Wolverhampton :—John
Marr, aged' 35, (Griffiths-buildings, Bilston ; Henry
Taft, 38, Gibbet-lane, near Bilston ; PatrickPurtell, 26,
Bilston William Rigby, 34, Gibbet-lane, near Bilston ;
and James Corbett, 46, Bilston. The house-surgeon
S. B. Farr, Esq., states that the first four named are
extensively burned all over the body ; that John Marr
and Henry Taft are burned to that extent as to leave
their recovery hopeless. James Corbett, who escaped
with the fewest injuries, has since been removed to his
family. John Mortboy, 40, Ettingsball, was also re-
moved to the hospital last evening, badly burned."
THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY of CANADA.—Mw4reat
letters, received by the Niagara yesterday, state that the
Grand Trunk Aid Bill had been read a first time, and
there was no doubt of its passing. The Government gives
up 3,111,5001. without claiming any interest until bond-
holoers and shareboldets receive 6 per cent., which is
tantamount to a gift ; it relieves the company from a'l
Government influence as directors at the bor.'s'; the com-
pany may raise what capital they think proper on being
sanctioned by two-thirds of the shareholders ; the com-
pany may expend the moneys raised b urge new preferen-
tial bonds upon works deemed most gnt within the
limits of the act of last session, without waiting for the
whole to be subscribed ; and any excess of traffic after
6 per per cent. is paid out of traffic to the railway bonds
and shares, and to the Government bonds, such excess to
go to payadditional dividend to the original ebareholdets,
—Liverpool :Daily Poe of Tuesday,