The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1860-09-28
The Lady Elgin Disaster-ver
dict of the Coroner's jury.

following verdict:
STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Cook County.
An inquisition was taken for thu people
of the State of Illinois, at the court house,
in the city of Chicago, in said county Of
Cook, on the ninth day of September
1860, before me, William James, Coroner,
in and for said county, upon the view Of
the body of Michael Rich, then and there
lying dead, upon the oaths of twelve good
and lawful men of said county, who being
duly sworn to inquire, on the part of the
people of the State of Illinois, into all the
circumstances attending the death of tbs
said Michael Rich, and by whom the same
was produced; and in what manner; and
when and where the said Michael Rich
came to his death, do say, upon their
oaths as aforesaid, that the said Michael
Rlch came to his death by drowning, on
the morning of the eighth day of Septem-
Der, A. d. 1860, OIL. Lake Michigan, near
Chicago, in consequence of a collision be-
tween the schooner Augusta and the
steamer Lady EIgin.
The jury find that the Lady Elgin was
thorougy inspected III June, previously to
the disaster, and from the evidence before
them OF her builders, the different officers
who commanded her, and persons who
have repaired and inspected her, they be.
lieye she was seaworthy steamer.
They find that the evidence of the Uni.
ted States inspectors which have been be-
fore them is to the effect that she was
properly equipped with boats, floats, oars,
axes, buckets and other means of presery-
ing life, in accordance with the laws Of
the United States.
They find that she had aboard the re-.
quisite number Of officers and crew, and
that her officers were competent and so.
Der men. That her certificate of inspsc-
ton permitted her to carry three hundred
passengers, two hundred in the cabin and
one hundred on deck. That on the night
Of the disaster, she had on board more
than three hundred passengers but they
have no evidence of the exact number.
They find further in this regard, that
the testimony of experts presented before
them was to the effect that the United
States Certificate of Inspection concerning
the numoer OF passengers is given to boats
upon calculation of a certain number Of
feet to each passenger and that five or six
hundred passengers would not be dan :
gerous load for the Lady Elgin; vet the
Jury censure the owners and officers OF the
boat for receiving aboard more passengers
than the law permitted, and say that it is
a dangerous and far too common practice
to overload steamboats, on the occasion Of
an excursion such as the present.
They are of opinion that the Inspectors
Certificate should De- in all cases strictly
followed and enforced, and although in
this case, the disaster seems not to have
been caused by this excess Of passengers,
yet they can see no excuse for exceeding
the number allowed the Lady EIgin by
a legal certificate.
The jury lind the schooner Augusta had
on board the proper lumber of officers
and men; that Capt, Malott of the Angus
ia, is competent and experienced sea-
man, and that they have no proof as to
the general competency end qualifications
Of The other officers or of the crew of the
Augusta.
They find that both the steamer and
the schooner had lights placed on the
night of the disaster in accordance with
the requirements of the law, and they con-
slider the first cause of the collision to be-
the defective arrangements of lights, as ap-
pointed by law to be carried on board
sailing vessels Under the present law,
a vessel when carrying bright light may
vary her course at least eight points with
out being obliged to alter the color or ar
rangement of her lights, and that the va
iation in the course of a vessel of any one,
Of those points, is liable at any time to
prove fatal TO lake craft.
The jury, as a further cause of the dis
aster, censure the second mate of the
schooner Augusta for not informing the
captain of the light when he came on pre-
yious to the collision, and for neglectng
to keep watch Of the steamers lights, since
he testifes that he saw them three quar-
tiers Of an hour previous to the collision,
and they further find that the second
mate was incompetent to manage the
schooner.
The jury further find from the evidence
before them, that the schooner Augusta
was seen by the steamer Lady Elgin some
four or five minutes before the collision,
and that the whee. was hard a-port, and
that the order to put the wheel in that po-
sition was such one as experts testify
should have been given under the crcum-
stances.
The jury find, further, that Capt Malott
is censurable for not laying to or coming
to an anchor, and hosting a light in the
rigging, after the collision, to ascertain
whether the steamer was in need of assis-
lance; inasmuch as he should have been
aware from the shock of the collision that
serious damage was done to the steamer.
They find that the captain and engineers
of the Lady ElgiD, stood at their posts
after the collision, and did their duty nobly
to the last.
The jury are Of opinion that all lake
passenger boats should invariably be bull.
with water-Gght compartments, and are
confident had this been the case with the
Lady Eigin, the community would have
been spared the shock of this amentable
disaster