New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-01-16
THE say rRAycIsco.

II feems to be generally conceded that the ilfated
steamer san Francisco overloaded, and that to ths
esu,e il 10 be imputed tie disaster that beel her The
builder e her engines states that when she went 20 sea
her Guards we've scarcely than two feet ont OF
water. Thus deeply laden with about eight hundred
TINS of coal and Government stores it is stated, and
beirg "A we learn from nautical man built very fall
AZ the stem il is 10 wonder she would not obey her
helm in Heavy weather TO tie fact that shs
wopld not steer in a gale, as we stated on Ssiur-
dsy. il this calamity to be attributed. The rea-
son why she would not, is found to be owing to
the trim Of the ship in her being badly over
loaded Doubtless her owners were confident
Of the ability Of tie slip TO bear the tremendous bur
dens put upon her. But they evidently calculated too
confidently upon her great strength and oyerexhausted
her powers. The temptation was great to give her
full load for coal is cheaper at five dollars tn IN
Nev-York than at thirty at Valparaiso. But where
was Capt Watknss vigilance that he did not observe,
and. need WERE check the Overlooking Of ship to
which we're to be entrusted 80 many livesl We fear
il is too true that in this case in many cases, the
Temptations of cupidy outweghed the considerations
of prudence We well know the risks that shpowners,
and ship masters and sailors alike willing to run,
where good vessel is in the case. And especially is
this true in regard to steamers whose daily cOnsump
ton Of coal so rapidly lghens the ships load that
they are often seat 10 sea not il fit trim at the time of
starting, but in the expectation that in few days
they will be so, and that lien they can go along
in safety. We have known steamers to be sent with
sueh culpabe gard of the dictates of prudence
that their safety depended solely upon the chances of
escaping severe weather during the first week out and
where if gale had prematurely overtaken them they
would inevitably have gone TO the bottom. We fear
it was something so with the San Francisco, and
that no tempests sufficient to test her qualities
were anticipated till she should have left the trade
winds on her way around the Horn, when her con-
sumption of fuel would have lightened her that she
would have been in good trim to encounter the seyerest
sorms Indeed, clear does this point seem that we
entertain the most confident opinion that if the ship
had had but Lali twOthirds of the coal on board
with which she was laden, no disaster whatever would
have occurred And if this be co. the owners, the
agents of the Government, whoever responsible
for her loading must be deemed eminently culpsbe.
The great fact that the ship disabled in the begin
ming othe gale and before her machinery gave QUITS con-
elusive on the point that the sesmer was not in sea-
worthy condition But If anything were wanting to
show that there was no cause in the severity Of the
gale, for uch disaster have it in the experience
of the Three Bellies herself On the night that saw
the wreck of the San Francisco this ship found no diff
fculty in keeping on her voyage, although the wind
was by no means fair And it was not until the morn
ing after when the blow had reached its hight, and at
the very time when the decks of the steamer were
cleared BY sudden swoop of the mountain wave, that
nearly caused ler to founder that the Three Bellies
found herself compelled to heave to, and await the
abatement OF the storm.
Painful it is, and willingly would avoid
the conclusion, constrained TO the belief that
the San Francisco has been thrown away and vast
number of valuable lives sacrificed not because of the
remarkable severity Of the gale she encountered, not
because Of her being steamship with guards sug-
gesed by enc Of our contemporaries not because Of
her engine giving out, according to others, but solely
and exclusively because the ship was overloaded and
sent 10 sea in such condition that she would not steer
in a gale OF wind.