New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-08-03
PRICE FOUR CENTS.

calling witnesses, uness experts should give opinions
adverse TO the Company, when il would attempt pre-
sent rebutng opinions Of experts.
Mr. Lowe, In opening the session. said that they
there to make the most searching inquiry into the
Of the disaster. Inspector Hill had been summoned
from Boston 10 member OF the Board in place Of
Inspector Matthews the being concerned In
tho result OF the inquiry having signed the inspection
certificate Of the Wcstheld Mr. Lowe added that any
who looked into the matter must sec that was one
OF those things which might have been ayerted.
great responsibility rested and 1t was tho
duty of the engineering inspectors to fix It, He would
give them every facility and assistance aud procure any
witnesses they required
The examination OF the witnesses was chiefly conducted
by Mr. Hill. small number OF spectators and MINER
GUS reporters present.
EVIDENCE OF INSPECTOR MATTHEW'S.
John K Matthew'S Inspector OF Boilers or this Port,
testified that he thoroughly examined and tested tne
boiler OF the ferryboat westaeld Oh the 18th OF june
and found no flaw or weakness In it; he believed thai
the boiler was constructed at the time az the boat
in 1892 at the time Of giving his certificate he had NOT
tho eghtest that tho boiler was not perfectly
safe and he would have been perfectly Wiling 70 nave
he used the gauge belonging to the boat whch ne mo
had a locked safety valve loaded to a pressure of n
pounds the weight on the regular safety valve was
tbe locked SAFETY valve awe" wps of the KIND known
as the American valve; tho witness did not have
can" valve could not be raised by the strength OF ono
man unless there was pressure OF steam underneath,
raised by upward pressure of pounds tho
inch; the area OF the valve was square inches; tho
1t would work freely hydrostatc pressure Of pounds
tothe square inch was applied as was indicated by tho
gauge; the boiler ten feet in diameter the iron was
fair thickness. the shell being about quarter OF
WcTns valve 70 @ s and NOT work freely tie
valve OF the Westaelds boiler had an area
with the engineer Of the .westseId, .Sut never
had conversation with him IN regard 20 his quail
ructon Of the law by the Secretary of the Treasury
empting him from needing license as he was on ferry
thought the engineer seemed to. be intelligent.
Hc wond have had No eesa dD 70 s saEs
a DIS feyno om There were means for raising me
safetyvave by line 1t was possible for the engines
out It's being indicated, the engineer might have al
tered the lever after the witnesses examination The
steam might have risen to dangerous point even after
the lookup satetyyalye was open The witnes; would
ing tested the boiler at that pressure The working pres
sure alleged was rae %e'fS be Uar
most likely to BECOME damaged by use; the watef
6o9m Of the bdo Ss Ss e of be sna
for boilers Of that class; the boiler broke In inc
a Of ns s was
the witness had no idea where the fracture began
feet in the bottom of the SHE'LL it injured by
IL was impossible to examine the inside or boiler OF
Saf anv on e outside Of which Showed
signs leak fraere the hydrosatic test was the
there was some soft patching the OF the bot
part of the shell this was considered by engineers
and the witness had known steamboat owner TO
new the seams 81 s preserve
there would Be good deal Of difference between the
aSsr IT ns wHess 9
THIS Of T in
contracoh4t would OCCASION but he should not appre
much osenr Il sS s om 81
she'll the witness did not think that anything Of this
hind was The 81 the
cehp at the business he was seven years IN the nayaa
had h an 81 sa S the s
Mail Steamship Company for six years. he bad served Oh
on any boat In which he had charge of the boilers he
had been an inspector OF boilers five years.
EVIDENCE OF CAPT. VANDERBILT.
Can't Jacob H. Vanderbilt testified that he Presi-
dent Of the Staten Island Railroad Company, which
owned the staten Island Ferry the Company had three
boats the Norbeld, the Westfeld, and the Middetown
two ran constantly, while was kept as spare boat,
the boats were all built and appointed on the same
tnem Oh as sunday last the wesed had regularly
The time Of the accident ~ the time Of '
%ss scSs CAPTAIN
Geld wished to get out Of the way the Roa was IN the
the al amount 81 money taken at the office thouss
less Of a he %eseS Sa been
poyed by the Company that capacity for seven years
the witnesss knowledge the handle OF thd eed,eock
comes into the engneoom aud Is under the control OF
the engineer the engineer when In the ehgine-foom,
has no means Of knowing the hight OF witeE In the
boiler the boiler built in 1852 it had always been
worked with fresh water between October and Deem
Der OF last year the boiler repaired by taking OF the
water bottomand substituting egs the witness was not
OF any other repeirs he considered tne boiler IN
excellent order believing 1t the best III the three boats
thought that the iron Of better quality the boieH
was built by the Aare Works after the war began the
quality of the iron in the market was not so good as be-
FORE which was the reason why the iron In the boilers OF
other boats was hot good as that in the Wested
the witness could form no idea of the cause
of the explosion he had often sat over the
boiler which had exploded he dEd not con-
slider difference OF two pounds Of steam OF great eonse-
1uence on board steamboat unless the addition or this
amount brought the pressure very near the extremes
engine-room the engineer was considered by him
the in the employ Of the Company and was always
chosen when a boat to be tred IL Was Intended
to soon Lay up Wesfeld for repairs such as cleaning
and painting but there intention OF repairing
the boiler as 1t considered in perfect condition
ence to safety he would probably have selected tho
WestHeld and would have chosen her engineer as the
one under whose charge accident was least likely to
occur considered the boat perfectly SAFE and would
not have been surprised had his house fallen down
on than he when he heard the news OF the
explosion he had been in the steamboat all his
life, and had commanded steamboat as or 30 years.
The Board then adjourned. to enable the members to
make a personal examination Of the wreck. The engi-
neer aud other officers of the boat will be examined to-
day.
TIN nrAn AMI WnIrNDEn