New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-04-10

twenty-ffth of January they walked as far
as Yokoska to the FrancO-Japanese dock.
yard, and were there well taken care of
until the steamer Bombay, which had gone
down to the scene of the disaster, took
them on board and ultimately transferred
them to the American steamer Yangts2e,
which brought them to Yokohama.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE COURT-rHE BOMBAY
CAPTAIN MILDLY CENsURED.
Following are the conclusions arrived at
| by the court Of inquiry:
That the effect of the collision on the
| Bombay was comparatively slight; that
guns were fred from the guns as signals Of
| distress from ten to fifteen minutes after
| the collision took place; that the reports of
| these guns were not heard, nor the flashes
| seen on board the Bombay; that after the
| collision the fact of the Bombay having
| been hailed from the Oneida, was reported
| to Mr.. Eyre; that Mr. Eyre only knew that
some OF the upper works Of the Oneida had
| been carried away, and was unaware of the
amount Of injury sustained by her; that the
Bombay was a mail steamer carrying pas
| seDgers and cargo, and was built Ill COM
partments, olly one of which vas reported
| to him as making water fast; that the whole
| extent of the in ury sustained by the Bonn
! bay was net ascertained till the day follow
| ing the collision; that Immediately after the
| collision it was not considered to be serious,
| for, had il been so, ii is natural to suppose
that the knowledge OF the pilot would have
been awaited OF, and the Bombay run on to
the Saratoga Spit.
That in our opinion no danger to the
Bombay, her passenger or cargo, was ap-
pretended by l1r. Eyre; that from the ques
lions he asked the pilot ne evidently thought
that the Oneida might possibly have sus-
tanned serious injury; that ne waited at the
most five minutes after the collision to see
if signals of distress were made from the
Oneida; that after his ship again proceeded
be gave no orders that 8 lookout should be
kept in the direction of the Oneida; that
had he or any one else been keeping
proper lookout the flashes of the OneIdas
guns must have been seen. though their re-
porte might have not been heard.
Under all the circumstances, it becomes
our duty to pronounce, whether IN our opln-
ion Mr.. Eyre was justified IN proceeding on
his voyage without waiting to ascertain
whether the Oneida was III need of as
slstance.
We recognize the fact that he was placed
in a position of great difficulty and doubt
and in circumstances under which be was
called upon to act promptly; but We regret
to have to record 1t as our opinion that he
acted hastily and ill-adyisedly in that, III
stead of waiting and endeavoring to render
assistance TO the Oneida, he, without having
reason to believe that his own vessel was
in perilious condition, proceeded on his
voyage.
This conduct constitutes, in our opinion,
breach of the thirty-third section of the
sixty-third chapter Of the Merchant Ship
ping Act Amendment act OF 1862, and we
therefore feel called upon TO suspend Mr.
Eyres certificate for six calendar months
from this date.
kanagawa, February II, 1870.
FRED. LOWDER,
Her Brittanic Majesty'5 Consul, President of
the Court.
ARTHUR TINaLER,
Commander Her Majesty's ship Ocean.
DAVID MOORE,
STAFF Commander Her Maiestv's ship Ocean.
JOHN GILFILLAN,
Master steamship Sultan.
WILLIAM CHAPMAN,
Master Rockliffe.
COMMENTS on The 2EPoRr-rHg CouRr CEN
SURED.
The Japan Herald crlticises the action and
verdict of the cours-charging that 1t was
partial and crcumscribed in its range of
INQUIRY, and organized in the interests of
the surviving captain. Still 1t thinks the
evidence goes to shows that no deliberate
could be charged against him.
1t says:
It is not little singular that the court
appointed to INQUIRE into the circumstances
of this tragedy-in which, in the course of a
few minutes, liz hapless beings met their
doom, and ship built and equipped at a
cost Of $500, coo was sunk, au lrreCoverable |
wreck, to the bottom of the sea-shouid
have been evoked at the instance ofthe cap |
tain of the surviving ship and the local
agent OF the great steamboat company to |
which the Bombay beiongs--not We may be |
sure, TO ipcrimlnate Captain Eyre, but to |
axcuipate him from blame. So far, indeed, |
az public opinion was concerned, this |
prompt action TO secure full, impartial aid |
searching investigation into the details OF
his most melancholy case, was rewarded by |
4 great modification in Captain Eyre's favor !
when, by the publication OF the evidence, |
inc real circumstances OF the case became |
more fully known.
REMAINS OF CAPTAIN WILLIAMS or THE ONEIDA. |
The japan Gazette, OF February :, says: |
Last evening the only corpse that has yet |
been found out of all the officers and crew |
v 10 persisted in the Oneida, was brought to |
he harbor and taken on board the United |
tates ship Idaho. II was that Of Captain |
3. P. Williams. 1t was denuded Of clothes. |
With the strange exception of the shirt |
,olar, which bore his initials. 1t was recov-
.red we'll cut of the channel, many miles |
With the strong current seaward and the |
prevailing direction of the wind during the |
asst few days, most of the bodies will be |
AIKEN out to sea, and few if any recovered. |
his FUNERAL.
The same paper of the eighth gives the
olowing account Of the funeral OF Captain
Williams:
The funeral Of Commander E. ?. Williams,
United States navy, deceased, late of the
Oneida, took place this afternoon.
70 speak of it in ordinary every day terms,
s all that we can do: and yet the deep feel
ng that possessed the heart of every human
)eing in Yokohama WAS 80 evinced by the
immense cortege, and the great number Of
persons who, unable to join in the process
lion, were witnesses of 1t throughout its
whole line of march, that the most skepti.
al must have been convinced of the warm
'egard entertained for the deceased gentle
nan who was being conveyed to the ceme-
cry, and the whole of his late comrades.
Very sad and solemn was the general public
iemeanor; and although in Yokohama we
lave had TO mourn other friends taken from
among us under circumstances that inten-
flied the ordinary pain of parting, none
lave possessed such peculiarly distressing
interest as this.
It was to have been expected that there
would be very large attendance; but it was
ctualy far greater than any one could have