The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-09 00:00:00

THE INQUEST ON MACKAY.

On Tuesday, at two o'clock, a jury, composed of twenty-
one inhabitants of the city, assembled in the New Court
of the Old Bailey for the purpose of inquiring whether
Alexander Arthur Mackay had been legally hanged.—
The jury, accompanied by the coroner and Mr. Jonas,
the governor of the gaol, passed through several narrow
whitewashed paved corridors until they reached a large
cell, where there was a black coffin on a stand. It was
near the " block " used for the flogging of prisoners. In
the coffin was the body of Mackay. He had a calm expres-
sion of countenance. The jury then returned to the court.—
The first witness called was Mr. Jonas, the governor of
Newgate, and he deposed that the deceased was a
prisoner in the prison. His name was Alexander Arthur
Mackay. He was 18 years of age, and he was a
waiter. He was tried at the Central Criminal Court for
the murder of Emma Grossmith, and he was convicted.
The prisoner banged was the person sentenced to death.—
Dr. Gibson, surgeon of the gaol, deposed that the cause
of the deceased's death was hanging.—The Coroner said
that the jury. could now, after hearing that evidence,
answer the questions put to them by the Act of Parlia-
ment.—The jury then signed a verdict that the deceased
was legally and nroneriv executed.

THE FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT AT
PORTLAND.
4

The following is a fuller account of the accident at
Portland already announced by us. It appears that
several sailors of the St. George had been on leave for a
day or two, and according to custom some boats are sent
from the ship every morning to the pier to take
off the liberty men. These leave punctually at eight
o'clock, but as there was a considerable number of men
on shore they thought that if they all were
late the boats would not go without them. In this,
however, they were mistaken, for at the time appointed
on the signal being given the boats got under weigh,
leaving a considerable number of absentees on shore. These
had to be on board by nine, and in order to do so some
watermen's boats were engaged to take them to their ship.
Throughout the morning the wind had been blowing
rather freshly from the north-east, causing the sea
in the roadstead to be exceedingly sloppy. Several
small boats had taken their freights on board in
safety, but the grossest ignorance was the cause of
the accident whereby six poor fellows have met with death.
Into one small boat capable of only accommodating with
safety six or seven persons, sixteen were crammed, four-
teen blue jackets and marines, and two watermen, named
Simpson and Read, who had charge of the boat. In con-
sequence of being so heavily laden her gunwale was
only two or three inches above water, and fears
were entertained by other watermen who were on
the beach that some disaster would occur. They
even remonstrated with Simpson and Read upon
taking such a load, but without effect, and
as the sailors were not dissatisfied, the boat was pulled
out. As before stated, the sea was very sloppy, and,
owing to the great weight in the boat, she could not rise
to the waves ; she appeared to be completely waterlogged.
With the exception, however, of shipping a little water at
times, no mishap occurred until about three-quarters of
the journey to the St. George had been accomplished,
when, without the slightest warning, a heavy sea came,

and the boat, not being buoyant enough to clear
it, was immediately swamped, leaving sixteen people
struggling in the water. The accident was noticed from
the St. George, and the boats were immediately manned
to render assistance. The first person on the wreck
was a waterman named Frank Anthony, who was
returning from the St. George, where he had landed
some liberty men. With the utmost difficulty he suc-
ceeded in rescuing three persons, but in doing so placed
his own life in considerable jeopardy. These he took on
board the ship, but one of the unfortunate men 'died
shortly after he had been received on board, while it is
expected that another one will not survive. Those who
could swim and free themselves from the dying embraces
of their comrades were picked up by the St. George boats,
but before these could render assistance four blue jackets
and a marine were drowned. The calamity was also seen
from the shore, and several boats were instantly launched
and manned, and proceeded to render what assistance
they could. Almost immediately after the accident
several boats engaged in the search for recovering
the bodies, and up to one o'clock on Tuesday
four had been picked up, the last one being the waterman
Simpson. It was, however, confidently expected that the
other body would be recovered within an hour. This
melancholy affair has cast quite a gloom over the crew of
the ship, and on the accident being made known in Wey-
mouth, the parents of those who had sons on board
hastened to the ship in order to know if it was any of
their friends who had come to such an untimely end