New-York daily tribune., 1865-11-10
THE ST. JOHN DISASTER.
Conclusion Of the Investigation
VERDICT OF THE JURY.
The Boiler Injured by Testing

disaster was resumed yesterday morning at 9oeiock III
the Court of Special Sessions. The first witness called
was William Milius, clerk in the Albany Post.Omce'
He deposcd that he was passenger on the st Johh a,
the time OF the explosion. He occupied per'n' ap
out Of bed in the morning before inc
place. made visit to tho engineroom at quarter oe
ore g. there were couple of men IN there al Tie time'
both Of whom were sitting down. ,, 49,
q. Did you notice whether they wore s9ep'ns % ~
mott A. No one OF them was not sleeping; lsaw one
of them visiting the machinery fifteen minutes oeioT
the explosion; had no conversation with nn' ou'
had with gentleman from Ithaca. .,0
Younger did you in the enginchouse examining Ihe
schineryf A. The younger one; the gentleman Ironi
Ithaca said 10 me that he thought u was quite unneses
sary fire up before reaching the dock; isaw 'nc h'e'
men firing up. .,.,,..v
o. Was your attention attracted to the extraordinary
fresf A. No, sir; saw one OF the men frequently
pu the string Of the safety valves the boat at the time
was running at her usual rate OF speedi dd not see
anything this occasion to attract my attehtoni .e
engineer was wlpng the grease of the machinery III
teen minutes before the explosion. =.
o. Do YOU recolect how long before the explosion II
was that they put coal into the frnocef A. IL may De
half hour; saw them put 1t In once more u niny
the GOAL in with shovel the last time, but not IN large
quantities; he in the habit Of travelling iom Al
bany to Ncw-York the Peoples Line. and did no.
think there was any fire In the furnaces at te
time OF the explosion than any other occasion
Mr.. VIM. A. Fox Of Buffalo. one OF the jurors, here
desired TO make remarks on the subject ana nav
received ufrmlsslOn IRON t"'
statement of Mr. X w. King OF ithaca, one Of the pas
| sengers on the 81 John on the morning OF the er
posiop which was published in Tia Herald that one OF
the parties in the engineer room was asleep mneai'e 2
before the catastrophe. He said he did not believe the
statement. IT. however, toe statement OF MI. hihg
true II 10 the interest OF the manufacturers .,
the boiler 10 bring him here IL was aiso tne agy -
the owners ofthe steamer 10 have brought uis witness
before the Jury. He was surprised thai MI. Mug va
not produced. The public exnceted that the July
should investigate fully ever, .Aing connected WIN
the disaster and It would be necessary TO have this
witness give testimony Jon the subject ne ior one.
was ready TO pay the expenses oil having MI Aihs
Coroner widey said the captain Of the st. John had
told him tlat the company was ready 10 piy inc eH
penses VI any witness whose presence might he deemed
necessery n order 70 have laIl invessaLSn oI ~
SELF ard adjourn the case for week In order 10 nave
him there. a., "
Mr. william Miliu. chc witness, said Mr; King
lived in Tompkins County. at the bead OF Cayuga
Lake
Another Juror. Mr. II. T. Goodwin. remarked that
he did not place much confidence in newspaper sss'
ments which might have been written under the ex.
me nj caused by the disaster. He thought II WIS
unnecessary send atcr Mr. King. as witness on the
stand could relate his conversation with him.
Mr.. W. A. Fox said he did not believe the statement
Of Mr. King but he had repeated u openly IN the
Stevens House. and other places In this city be believed
would he propcT 10 call on him TO gave evidence on
The subject
Mr. Alexander C. Durbn Of this city. amangiicturcr
Of boiler plates testified that he furnished ifon every
dsy to the gentlemen who manufactured W, oosr, o'
the 81 John but cogd not tell u his own kncvledgc
whether he furnished the plates for the boilers OF The
81. John
sAy supply them with Iron OF different quail
tes. FOR different purposes.
The Ccroner-i cannot get anything out Of this wit
nef-. Does any one Of the Jury wish - ask him any
qucstionsi
A Juror-No; nothing
Another Jufor-ft appears 10 me not - DO worm
while take up time with Witnesses of that dcscfpi
Mr.. ~. a. Sscor Of No. ITO Ea1t Iwelfth.Et one Of
the firm ~ the Aairc Iron Works testified that be
amneL the boiler. Of the 81. John. and thought that
there not a sufficient number OF braces AZ that part
OF the boiler where the explosion took place. IL Is usual
With bis firm TO have stays st that part of the boiler
be did not know what other people did. the ron MP
pearcd TO DO Of good quality be thought the fracture
was attributable 10 the lack of braces as well rs
20 the oyeTp cssure put on the engine when testing
H. tho iron that te saw st the Inspectors office said
plates we're bent uans,ofsely 10 the way they were
rolled they not NJ strong that way the otfer
boilers Of that construction in that par, traced at
distances of about fifteen inches In other ports eight
inches, we thought IL POUNDS Of steam vas too great
pressure 10 put on al the time Of inspection. after
such pressure IL could be told how uch pressure
the boiler would bear be thought the plate weak
ened by the chscl.cuiting, but he had known other
boilers TO burst az this had done exactly on straight
line.
by a Juror-Q. What, IN your opinion, from the ex.
animation you have made Is the cause Of the explo
sioni A. In the first place the want Of brace, next
the iron having been cut and tested beyond what
able % bear the boilers of the Eastern City mnde
by years ago exploded in just the same way.
there being cut exactly ike this.
Mr.. Joel w. Hopper. Government Inspector Of
Boilers testified that be received bis appointment from
the Secretary Of the Treasury the report Of COM
mission constituted for the purpose
O. State to the Jury what :Sl did ln tho case OF the
ST. John boilers. A. went up there ohe day and put
hydrotaic pressure Of a pounds to the square
inch the boiler, probably where the fracture took
place there was pressure OF 52 poundsi that was not
an un usual Ut, ssurei VIC always take the pres
eur d ntfelNurl
boilers with Mr.. CrowbaDks and others; examined
the braces and found them all perfect; considered IL
Wei braced boiler the braces were about eight inches
apart their fat surfaces the part where the fracture
occurred was braoed as well as any have seen; have
heard that any boilers built by this firm bursted
BY JurorQ ibid 1t ever occur to you that tie pres
ou put that boiler was more than you ought 10
have put on in A. No. sir II never occurred 10 me
that injured the boiler; the pressure was put
coidlng 10 act Of Congress.
O. Did you examine that part OF the boiler where
there In an iudentation aud lind a groove the
thirty. second part Of an inch in thicknesst A.
amined the boiler with magnifyins glass, and found
no mark.
The Jnror-Then you did not examine the boiler
very closely.
Witness was shown the piece OF iron with the cut in
It, and asked II he did rot see that mark with magn
fyng glbssf Mr.. Hopper made no reply
q, Did you hold an examination about this matter !
a. Wedidi believe there were some questions asked
IN reference 10 this chisecuttngi IL IL avery difficult
thing for boiler makers to agree about think the
boiler first gave way abont 10 or 10 inches rom the
finge discovered no leak or appearance OF one on
the part wbcreit gave way.
q Could that plate have been braced 10 hold II :
A. Of course 1t coud from the evidence takco By
us we arrived at the conclusion that there was bad
piece Of roD about foot square, In the boiler plate
and that the explosion was caused by II.
Mr.. John NJ Weeks, United States Inspector Of
Steamboat Hulls. testified TINT he, with Mr. Hopper
held investigation In reference to tho St Johns dis
aste aud that they endeayored 10 find out the OF
the explosion. Most Of the witnesses examined ascrbed
TO the pusaton OF the boiler ut that part where the
rent took place.
Mr.. VIM. IL. Fletcher. boiler and engine builder,
testified that tho iron In the boiler OF tho st. John np
pcared to be of good quality and OF the proper thick
ness
q What do you think was the cause Of this explo
sion A. think AZ Was weakened by the continual