, 1857-12-04
The San FraBtiSeO Prrss-The Ship Carpenters
and SLIP CalkerS-tAe Port Warden, and the
Pm. 3. 3. Cos steamers.

T. ". NJ ~ W NtuWtths
Since the lamsutablc disaster that has re-
Gently attended the Inflated Certydl Ameriea,
the San Francisco, HeroLi, the Alta and
other leading papers of that city have been
very bitter in their denunciations of the
stockholders and managers Of the affairs Of
Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and ex-
hibit a just Indignation that hundreds of
brave and generous men should have been
permitted to go down to their ocean grave
with the treacherous hull of that worthless
vessel, whose rottenhess, perhaps, was but
type of the heartlessness and cupiiity of the
members of that pursc-proud, soulless incor-
poration and monopoly to whom she be-
longed
On the outside of to-days paper will be
found an article of deserved severity, which
we copy from the Herald, concerning the
catastrophe of the Central America and the
vessels of the company generally. Else
where, in to-days paper, it will be seen that
chief engineer Ashley is out in q card in
which he vindcates himself from the censure
that was so freely hcaped upon him after
the disaster, and as will further be observed,
his statement that the Central America 'cds
not sea-Torthy is corroborated by the testi-
mony of Others
The tone and spirit of the San Francisco
press is but q transcript of the excited state
Of the public mind, and the intense feeling
of Indignation which is felt in that city
against the company, the recklessncss with
which they persist in keeping their steamers
in the service, after they are worn out and
disabled, and the cold blooded indifference
with which they regard the fate of tens of
thousands Of citizens Of California and the
Atlantic States who are constantly taking
passage, or who, from necessity we might
say, are forced on board the miserable
cockle-shels" and rotten, leaky tubs "
and craps" las some have been shown to
be), in the service of the company, and for
whose lives tRe5 should be made answerable,
in future casualties, not only at the bar Of
public opinion, but before the judicial tribu-
nails of our country. This wanton sacrifice
of human life and loss of treasure has aroused
an almost universal feeling Of condemnation
against the managers and stockholders Of
the company; and strange to say, although
the John L. Stephens was represented, at a
meeting of the ship-builders and ship
caulkers" F." association, as being " rery slight
ly built and 1orm eaten," and although Mr.
G. A. SwAsEY, Port Warden, San Francis.
co, upon examination, pronounced her an.
seaicOrthH yet, rery strange to say, on the
goth ult., that vessel left the Company's
wharf at San Francisco for Panama with
near $S,O0O,OOO of treasure, and fire hun
dred and fifty passengers
The following is the report of Mr.. SwA
sEY, in part, upon his examination of the
condition of the John L. Stephens before
she left her wharf on the Goth ult :
"sAx FRANcrsco, Nov. 10, 1851.
BY request Of Messrs. Forbes Babcock, held q
special re-examnaton upon the hull Of the steam
ship John l.. Stephens, and found that great pOI>
tion Of her frame and adjoining floor heads was
in rery tpedk and unsOund condition, and, she il
now, feel compelled to declare her UNsEAwoRTHY
Bored into the frame in fore and afterhod-boring5
Oan lv n1 a1 mr. VI n
therefore, recommend that she be taken out for fur
ther examination, and thoroughly repaired before
again proceeding to sea.
"G..A. swAsEY, Port Warden"
At meeting of the "Ship Carpenters'
and "Ship Caulkers association held in
San Francisco Oh the 18th ult., to take
into consideration ard pass upon the con-
dition Of the Pacific Mail S. S. Cos. stea.
mers and their adaptation and safety in the
business in which they are employed, the
following conclusions we're arrived at con
cerninS the following vessels. The opiu-
ion Of the association concerning the stea.
mer Repnbic, will be found in another col
umn. We copy from the San Francisco
Herald Of the 18th ult.:
The Golden Gate is a good ship; the
Columbia is also good ship; under works
of both too light.
The Golden Age, Sonora, and John L.
Stephens, very slightly bnilt, and the two
latter worm eaten (with the same remarks
as to top hamper.)
The California, wormcaten three years
ago; partially repaired then, and not over
hauled SINCE
The Oregon rotten and unseaworthy.
The Panama having been in the Bay of
Panama two years, the parties could give
no report, but the Committee received in
formation from other sources Sc to her con-
dition on her recent voyage to this port.
The Northerner, worn out, and the Ere
mont little better.
The Pacific, staunch boat, if in order.
The Sierra Nevada, a very weak boat.
The Commodore (late Brother ,Jona-