, 1870-03-27
gwen to port, and that hs he waz in tbs act Of
obeying the order the tHo shps came into. cal-


siro,. to nor+ .,a that N. .ct :,
ohs~,,g tha nria- tf. ~, .-oa ;rto ~
80 '@0 01e'4 VIZ INV ~e4AA'
It-, 4t-. a.. ~. .+.....,,.. ~
VI T.tea tIsa - tosFa1,+ Tasn and FL Sa1rnsnsn
- r,o.e - 80 h,t - 1.~ r.
r.tIasaJ f.ots, = -, M e., -, n,f;,,s
49, 1;a,,ta ae,d aas~ ~. - IL 1oc.
ss,t a1ce na.e n en1uta na1e pgsa sseh y o .Sont
~. ~ nAn - "su as " IL aIo ~ T,1
ebea loln1o " 9;a Inc oneiss @ 1 s! - hain' '
H. ut ot -. - atIu - T. e,a-.
H. o-;ar tast're.rs s = ~ ~, tt,a,,
bas1 2uei 70 rasa anu ha sueI 49,, 1.r<,rz14ir
/ ol evz.+ the rm,r4 "a ~ H.. on;n;on fhst: IL
sly ~ ~. - - -: o,i:.:. -
- ups eouu nov nave cone luto coAlsio1. DIV
-. Ha - ~ !.9e4.: .ns Lo.I.
sn ~ 60 .as e ;t o,d
81 ass Ia III. 49,.
npsnt. i, +H-an o .;,,,toss " ~ ~ T.t' ~,
dcr cnn1d Nh b.Ts Iaen' nr,1nnftz ~ ohayei
W eoauu noe Aase pnen Plotnp.ts Wy 1 - r. o3
Ia - lposapao - ntcoo!- - s41S - ~ =,
Y tIe .h seseenensa o. tne y s1''
0VG.os W. ~ Neee ato oatesetssu!s n
e,;a - NJ es.as "isn -. -. -. a,..1 49,
fLa- ~ - ~. asSt>a tn.t 10 Nv - ~
h;., ~ ~ enu pust ~ ~ easo sno, an1 ~ uG;no
~, ~ ~ te oe so4aae to1 iea1 y. - =
" %no oat sPlt, nc snouaa-Ano"tn6 lnat
~ ma5 ~ uusy 70 ses ous OF INC wy u ~ az
tesae' ~ nis stalpV4u ".,S
-. lAu oIou8nt ne nonnay On nis Pois DeT, alH
p openeo ont has REQ agnt insIeaa " elup,y
1eHumang nus course Ihat Il, wren colas!pn
n "A5 seen 70 DC imminent me same p1ouapln
paa oeen SHOWN ny the Onela4 N posuns nel
ne1m rs shown ~ tho bombay IN pn1t1ng he1
nella haru sta1Doard, 1t might poaa6ly nsye
oeen arrested; while, had It occurred, ts e.
tec1s woold certainly nave 5een 1a1 less as SUI;
9us' II Is aho"n oy the evidence q tt1o H9el-
speeo siackened after me boMpay cstoe ~
HiGne, ana that although me BOMBAY was con.
ndeFed to BE- persistantly breaking . raio o.
tne load oy PordnG, the oneloaB u9ln1 "as
noFetthetes8 kept stafboard; anu sa1s t1e
Judgment required to be e4etcisea N otoe1 to
countefact the presumed H1sfnAnaBenons u
an approaching steamer vns not shown.
These observations arc not made 1 rs 1uag-
ment- on the management OF the oneida,
which Is beyond the province OF tho Coutl 70
consider but simply IN order to institute spch
comparison - is necessary to show tho
grounds upon which the GouEt ARRIVES AZ lta
conclusions.
Il the statements Of Ny. Eyre, his pi!ot anu
officers, are to be believed, We Judge that Nc
vas hight IN keerng On tic starboala haoe oi
the channel, and that he acted perfectly ar7Eht
u porting Ms helm "a soon Us ne ga" 1he
"9ncidas lights on the port DOW. we Judge
that he ahould have giackened speed as soo9
rs be saw the Oneida's ights-that be acted
nightly N stopping ma eng1nes-tnas he hs4
no time after stopping t9 reverse them=ana
that he exercised sound Judgment IN star
poata1ng dis nelm Nnen nc sa" t1at cgutalou
vas imminent, aad tnas tne onelaas neln "aa
ReRt 10 stafooafo: -, ut.4,
Upon comparison o. the foregoing esate-
ments, We hnd that the damage whlch las
been q sustained oy tho homoay Is IN no way
atn16utaple TO the default OF her commander,
~. Eyre.
As regards the second question which tue
Court Il called upon to decide: tho conduct ot
after
may be observed that it bad not been without
long and Benous delioeration among on1solVes'
and most careful consideration OF all the eri-
aence add1ced, that-Ee have arrived st = 4naa.
lmous decls,on. ;, = II
we hnd, 1fofn tae evlaenes be1oTe & rs, that
on dark Tut BtarI6ht night, the 2lth OF Jan
uaE Last, the steamship Bombay, through no
ta1!t 81 her e commando, ". Eyre, came into
col!laon with the United States corvette Onel-
dn N the close vicinity OF Saratoga spit, aitu-
ated some ten mllea from y Yokohama;
That tho effect o1 the Go!ls1on on the Bonn
bay was comparatively ellSht:
That guns we're hred ifom the Unelda as sig
nals Of distress from ten to fifteen minutes
after the COLLISION LOOK place:
1hat the report OF these guns Wcre not
heard, nor the haahes seen on board tho Bonn
bay:
bay having been halled from the One1da WIS
reported to Mr Eyre:.
That Mr; EyIo only knew that some OF the
upper WORKS OF the onelda had been carried
away, and Was UNAWARE OF the amount OF injury
sustained b{ her: =
:. Ihat the Bombay vas mail sfea1ner ca5rJ-
ing passengers and cargo, and was built IN
compartments, only one Of Which Was reported
to him ~ making Watet fast:- -
That the whole extent OF injury sustained by
the Bombay Has not ascetta'nsd till the day
following the collision
hot oil ~
not considered to be serious for had it been
80 it is natural to suppose that the knowledge
of the pilot would have been ayailed OF, and
the Bombay run On to the Saratoga Spit:
That, in our opinion, no danger TO the Bonn
bay, her passengers OF cargo, was apprehend-
ed By Mr. Eyre:
That from the questions he asked the pilot
he evidently thought that the Oneida might
possibly have sustained serious injury
That lie waited ut the most Ave minutes
after the collision to see il signals OF distress
were made from the Oneida:
no orders that lookout should be kept in the
direction Of the Oneida:
That had he or anyone else been keeping q
proper lookout, tho flashes Of tho OneidA' g
guns must have been seen, though their re-
ports might net hive been heard. 49,.
Under al these clrcumstancea it becomes
our duty to pronounce whether, IN our opfn-
ion, Mr. Eyre was justified in proceeding on
his voyAge without waiting TO ascertain
whether the Oneida vas IN need OF assistance
We recognize tho M ia:t that he vas placed II
q position o. gzeat an1cu,ty ana doubt, and IN IN
erGamstances unae1 M Maeh no was cauea noon
70 aeG19e P1u.nFny: put " Iee1es 70 1ase 70
1esoio s! II as PIT oEMon LA us 5csea nasal
ana n-aas.set, u .nA., Ms.eao o. @Maaans W. ano
sa e-;tS,,t To,s.., ~, 1,f;au Il .uo -.
;osn resse1 was II nerio.,. cond;t;on I'm. nra,. 1
frrde,5 m h;s yoyare. ' fN~