Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1840-02-06

CoRoSxn's IsQuEsr-SEvESrn DAY.

tollow the water as a business. tiave done
so for about 90 years in the capacity o: n
pilot for the last S years. The first b"ai
plloted was the Boslon-,hen the Lexine-
ton for three yenrs, except ahou. two weeks
when the Lexington was under repalr, dur
ing which time piloted the Narragaaset.
piloled The Lexington after that up 10, aud
nt the time she was lost. | considered the
Lexington ms good hout US my on The
line, aud as good boat ms l know of.
She had rods fore and aft, with The excep-
Iion Of hide rope enough to 60 through the
blocks and round the wheel, aud t0 con
nect the rods with the rudder at the stern.
never saw n boat sieered entirely without
rope. never heard of the Lexington being
on fire until nfer this calamity. Twas told,
since tlIis accident, that she was once be-
fore on tire Gaming round the Battery.
have nothing To do with the slowing of the
cargo, or with any thing about the boat.
My duty is to GO into The wheel house when
the bnat is ready To leave the wharf, and re-
main there ill she arrives at her destination.
| know how n cargo should be slowed I"
trim sloop properly, bat have never made
any particular observation as tn the manner
of slowing the cargo on hoard steamers.
| The freight of The Lexington principally
consisted of cotton, on her last trip. The
mate told me there were $50 bales on
bonrd. do no, know how The cotton was
slowed particularly. There was some
however on The top Of the boiler hatch. II
was a general practice to stow il there.
What wood we had was in the fire room,
on each side Of the engine. There was
room there for five or six cords. ] believe
there were carpenters nj work on the boat
on the trip previous to her last one, making
a baggage room. There mere ssme men also
at mork just previous to tie last trip, on the
btowtr. am not an engineer, mud cannot
speak of the qualities of The engine.
| The fire engine was always kept clear, !
never knew it tn be otherwise.
was in the wheel house ut the wheel,
when first heard the alarm of fire. 1t was
somewhere about half past seven. Some
one came to the wheel house door aud o.
pened IT,, aud told me the boat was on fire.
don't know who it was. | think it was
some one belonging To the boat. | stepped
out of The wheel house aud looked aft, and
foW tuV uUp ufCh uuIuIuS tbs
smoke pipe, blazing up about two or three
feet, in thin sheets. | turned into the
wheel house aud caught hold Of the wheel
amd bore it hard port, to steer the boat
for the land. thought it was u doubtful
case that ibe fire could b- put out. We
were about fifty miles from New York, u
Ille to the east Of Eaton's Neck, and about
iour miles from the Lon. Island shore. II
would have taken Us about twenty minutes
to get there. 1t would take three or four
minutes to &C., the boat round. We hadn't
got her heoeIed for the land before the Hiler
r pes gore w0y. She Was ,hcn heading
AZ HE time the rope gave why -abou, south
east, aud The nrnresi paint ur land which
we were striving 20 reach. was south. The
engine was IN full operaliun at this time.
Before the engine stopped, the boats head
was m"rc L" HE eastward. ] don't know
where lhe engineer was.
| At the time hove ihe wheel hard n port
Captain Chilas came into the wheei h0use
aaa PIT his hand upon the Wheci, and as he
dm so the rape gaze gay. 1t was on the
I"rb"ard side that Tie rope gave way. ]
presume it WAS The rope That was attached
10 the wheel, and no, that connecting ,he
rods To The rnddrr. As the Captain pot
his hand upou The wheel told him ] had
hove her hard u port when the rope gave
way. AT this time the smoke came in,o
the wheel house aud Iefi. The Captain
went lhink aft. As stepped out | call,
ed To- the people Ia the forecasile and told
them To gel The fire rnei aud the hucke,,
l,ih 'Hhp fra nm ui Al I,,t
buckets they could not get at. | did no,
see any except two or three on the fore.
castle. could no, have stayed any longer
i, The wheel house if there had been chains
| there.
| think there wns opportunity to 20 aft
along The promenade deck--pcrhaps ~
Winule or So after we left. The steering
apparatus there was in good ordcr-,htrc
was tiiler with chains running through
blocks. This apparatus was pa, up to steer
the boat with in case of any accident to the
wheel.
by the Coroner WHY did you not go
lhrre1 You say you could have done SD
one minute after you left the wheel house.
WHness-I thought my services mere of
more use forDard. and | thought there were
enough aft to take care Of the boat.
Alter had spoken to the people on the
lurecasile, ! looked round and found some
getting the ,arpauln off the life boat. l
don't know who they were. don't recol-
lee, scesg Captain Iiillard there. ]
shouldn't know him if he was IN the room.
| caught hold of the lite boat, and request
ed Them no, tn let her go over tie siIrs ill
u line was fastened 10 her. ! called To
hem on the lorecaslle to make fast line
To the boas Of the life beat, and told them
10 mike It fast well forward of The steam
boat, so rs TO keep il from running under
the wheel when in the wafer. II was made
fast To the life boat. The fire was then
burning through The upper deck around
/ he life boat. ] Cut the lashings, aud told
ihcn to launch her. jumped on to the
forward deck, aud caught hold of the iIaw-
ser myself found The hawscr had nn,
been made fas, to the boat as ! h,d dl-
rectrd. There were runugh, however, io
\