The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-06 00:00:00

Hosken, in which after specifying several things required
for the purpose of getting the vessel off the bank, he says
" the weather is now moderate, but rainy. The ship
makes very little water. 1 hone to commence discharging
coals to-day. Captain Claxton came yesterday. Many
thanks for all your expressions of sympathy and. good
feeling. I want them all, I assure you ; but my own
conscience acquits me of• blame, and so does Captain
Claxton, who told me so yesterday."

Captain Claxton, a director of the Company, has pub-
lished a letter to the Times and another to his colleagues.
In the former he corrects a report which had been circu-
lated injurious to the character of the countrypeople near
Dundrum bay. He says that nothing could exceed their
desire to alleviate the misfortunes of all concerned. In
the second letter he details at considerable length the par-
ticulars of this unfortunate occurrence. He gives the fol-
lowing extract from the log, and other particulars :
"At 12h. 50w. pm. discharged pilot. At Ih. abreast
of the Bell Buoy, speed 11 knots, wind southerly ; set
maintopsail and topgallantsail and foresail (foretopsail had
been previously set ;) course N.W. by N. At 4h., fresh
breezes and thick hazy weather. sh. 30m. saw the land
on starboard bow distinctly through the rain. 7h. 30m.
in mizen spencer. Bh. 15w. observed Calf of Man Light
bearing N.N.W. half W., altered course to N. by W.
Bh. 30w. in first and second reef of foretopsail and single-
reefed the maintopsail. At 9h., squared the yards.
9h. 30m., in foresail, while taking it in saw land on star-
board bow ; stopped engines, put helm hard-a-port, re-
versed enginet full speed ; ship came up to. N.N.E., af.

. . .
terwards to N.E. and stopped ; dewed sails up." [Fhen
follow details of proceedings as to after occurrences, when
she was thumping and in the breakers.] The following
note appears to have been added to the log, probably when
the excitement was over :—" At 7h. the captain remarked
to me that the ship ought to be well up to the Calf of
Man lights, as the log showed she bad run her distance.
He asked if the log glass was correct, which was a new
one and found correct. At Bb. the sails were trimmed
for hauling the ship up N. by E., after doing which ob-
served the light, and kept ship off again to N.W. half N. ;
squared yards. The captain said the ship had run her
distance, but supposed the light was the Calf light, and
that one of them was obscured by the thick weather."

his cross bearings of the supposed

points of the

Man, of which so short and indistinct a glimpse was
I find it is addressed to the Mayor and Town-

caught

•
Council of Liverpool, published by John and Alexander
Walker, agents to the Admiralty, 72, Castle-street, Liver-
pool. and 9, Castle-street, London, 1846. It was bought
by Captain Hosken when going cut on his previous voy-
age, in June, as the latest and most correct chart; but in
it is no mention whatever of a revolving, or intermitting
light, or any other light whatever, on St. John's Point.
There, however, the light is ; and it is now my business to
show that had the light been, as it ought to have been—
having been in use for three years (if I am correctly in-
formed)—in the chart, or had there been no light at all
on that point, the accident would not have happened. On
taking his departure from the Bell Buoy, Capt. Hosken
steered precisely the same course as the Windsor, constant
steamer to Belfast, was steered by her captain on Saturday
last, N.W. by N., and that is the correct course for the
Calf of Man;
.St. John's point also bears N.W. by N.
from the Bell Buoy. Captain Hosken calculated his
speed to be eleven kripts ; it really was more, anl his ship
no doubt was ahead of his calculation four or five miles.
A glimpse was caught of the Isle of Man, but the lights

on the Calf were not seen, which I account for by the fact
that it was very thick, and between sunset and dark, when
she passed probably four or five miles to the south. Had
it been quite dark, she would probably have seen them,
and had she seen them the accident could not have hap-
pened, as he would have steered away his North Channel
course after rounding them. At seven, it appears, by the
first officer's note to his log, the captain remarked she
must be well up with the Calf lights. There is no doubt
he had even then passed them, but he had a fine open
channel of more than 30 miles between them and the Irish
coast. He informed me that he then said as he could not
see them, he should alter his course at eight, shorten sail,
and go easy for the North Channel, which intention
he had begun to put in practice; and this was the right
practice, and if pursued he would have been well, as he
would soon have made the next proper light in his course
of north by east—the South Rock, to the north of Strang_
ford Lough entrance, (albeit, as he candidly admits, half
It dozen miles nearer than he expected) when this St.
John's light, of which he had never heard, and which is
not named in his chart, is all at once seen ; and that, too,
within the exact bearing of the Calf of Man lights, sup-
posing he had not seen them. The course was again
altered ; the St. John's light was treated as the Calf of
Man lights would have been, bad they been seen—i. e ,
given such a birth as insured clearing the lien and
Chickens, and then rounded; and then, instead of being
in a deep-water channel, the ship takes the ground about
a league to the west of this, at best, deceiving light, and,
in his case, decided decoy duck.
"In hastening to get this letter off, knowing the anxiety
of my colleagues, I write under some excitement, and
under most unpleasant circumstances ; due allowances
should, therefore, be made. lam quite aware of all that
may be said by nautical men. I know, from my own
before I. saw the chart in Captain Milken's
how many strong questions may be put as to'
dtPhi7sostußanegshcsteisin . speed—as to one set of lights revolving
every two minutes, St. John's light every minute only.
To of themi Answer, it is easy to say the door should