The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-09-18 00:00:00

THE STEAM-SHIP HIBERNIA.

As the public mind on this side has been greatly excited
by the non-arrival, at her proper time, of the Hibernia,
we shall here state the cause, and the proceedings of the
vessel, as given in a Halifax paper :
The Hibernia. on entering the harbour, struck on the rocks
of Chibucto Head, and knocked a hole in her bottom. She
was grounded in the dock immediately after her arrival, and
the pumps were set to work to keep her free of water. The
leak was attempted to be stopped, by building over it ; and
they succeeded so far as to enable•her to sail again on Saturday
afternoon.

From one of the Admiralty agents, Lieut. Raymond,
we have received the following report :
"The Hibernia was proceeding at slow speed, the weather
being foggy ; she had a sea pilot on board, in whose charge the
ship was then placed, and she continued to proceed at the
same reduced speed. At 6 30 a.m., she struck on Chibucto
Head Rocks, and sprung a leak forward. The engines were
immediately reversed, and trimmed by the stern. At 6 55, the
port anchor and fifteen fathoms of chain cable were dropped
under her foot, and she was backed off, and proceeded up the
harbour to her station.

" After undergoing repairs, she resumed her voyage with her
passengers and the mails."

Thus far the account in the Halifax paper and that of
the Admiralty agent agrees. The aecount is carried on to
a later date by the agent, who came home by the Canada:

"On the 4th instant she experienced unfavourable weather,
which caused her to labour heavily, and the leak to increase to
3 feet an hour by 9 a.m., up to which time her four bilge
pumps, with the aid of one injection every hour for eight
minutes, kept her free. The leak had now increased 9 inches
in 15 minutes upon the four bilge pumps, being at the rate of
3 feet per hour as above stated. These circumstances rendered
it necessary to use the injection for ten minutes every quarter
of an hour. An attempt was made to place a thrummed fore-
sail over the leak; but it was unsuccessful. A consultation
was then held between the admiralty agent, her commander,
and chief engineer, who after maturely considering the im-
minent risk of continuing her on her course, agreed upon the
urgent necessity of bearing up for Halifax, where she arrived
at 5 20, a.m., on the 7th. On the Sth, at 3 30, a.m., the Canada
arrived from New York, and after having taken on board her
own mails and passengers, and those of the Hibernia, pro-
ceeded on her voyage to England at six o'clock the same
morning.

Capt. Stone, of the Hibernia, thus writes to the agents :

"So far as I am able to form an opinion, I think the injury
the ship sustained is entirely confined to the forefront, or, in
other words, she only touched the rock forward."

The Hibernia proceeds to New York for repairs.
At a meeting of the passengers on board the Hibernia,
the Hon. Josh. Ballestier in the &air, it was unanimously
resolved that Captain Stone was in no way blameable for
the grounding of the Hibernia, he having two experienced
pilots on board, and being himself on duty ; that he
acted properly in returning to Halifax in the then disabled
condition of his ship ; and that the lives, mails, and pas-
sengers, on board would have been put in imminent dan-
ger had he pursued any other course. A further resolution
testified to the great skill, enterprise, and activity, of
Captain Stone and his officers throughout. Amongst the
passengers who signed these gratifying resolutions were
Mr. Geo. H. Horsfall and Mr. Abraham Turner, of this
town.