The New York herald., 1872-10-11

engine, with hose properly attached, DO. At night
Are S fon Is
one or the engineers on watch therc.T
itualiy broken. The chief engineer and captain
testify that IL has been usual In port TO keep only
ten er twelve poSnSs q steam on T e sy
When the engineer was asked why he did not keep
up full steam he answered that TO keep up full
blowlng-on and consequent waste Of steam
and coal. Now, 1t 10 welknown fact that econ
omy In fuel is strictly enJoined on the engneers;
supply OF steam ON has more than probably been
sanctioned by the company and Its agents. For
between @ the 'c Company ana the engineer; and In
my opinion, the first should bear the heaviest
brunt Of the matter. Rule 70 reads ;--rne senior %
the engine room without being relieved BY another
engineer, and he IL to be particular that those
missionn This, too, has been habitually ignored
In port, according to the sworn testimony, No en-
glneer Is on watch; the donkey boilers are Ia charge
ponds the safety OF the ship In an emergency IKE
the fatal one we are chronlcilng: Whether the
rule do not know; II Il is not. then the chief en-
Ie Rule 81 % reads. "The chief engineer is to SEQ
or TO De attached are In an eicent state and at all
times ready when required" For evident nom
oonformance with this rule the chief engineer Is
II might be asked why the Iower cocks were not
turned on and tho ship hooded and sunk, thereby
sy9s Ssys Ct eas e G 3 s
answer 10 this is-'That at first his efforts were
60 o e he
were unapprOachable." The great loss or life is
without doubt attributable to the attempts Of the
thom appeared In the Court and stated tnat when
the alarm was lrst given II they had not been pre-
oms o%
% rom tie othe' testimony. The Chinese ADMIT
dred on tho ladder. OF course tho ladder
broke. The probabilities are that II any such In
reference took place IT was TO warn them from
baggage. Several OF the bodies picked up had
large bags Of clothing tied on theiE backs :, One
wa c
gers and cndeavor to get them all Off the ship In
an orderly manner; but there Is no evidence that
THE COURT OF INVESTIGATION AND IT'S FINDING.
Tho oficial investigation lasted nearly four days
but 1t was by no means complete one. Many un-
Va ones oted The United States laws @ for s
government Of passenger-carrying steamships
were apparently, not consulted: Besides, a q
the President OF the Court towards the witnesses
entirely at variance with the usual suave manner
witnesses on the defensive, they seeming to have
a feeling that each individually was on trial for
burning the ship. It is most probable tnat more
where expert shipmasters and engineers win be
called upon for testimony. That the investigation
here should have been incomplete Is quite cOmpre-
henslbe. The COnrt cannot be expected to be
thoroughly posted upon steamship matters, and
there were few 4 any experts at his command.
Nevertheless the Court evinced the utmost patience
In trying to silt the matter, and II 1t did not thor
oughly succeed but little blame can attach to 1t.
THE DECISION
rendered by the Court Is o lengthy one, and de-
cues lOtnfng. III IL o mere resume or the CcStl-
mony with the opinions Of the Court attached 1t
seems to me they might have gone little further.
With the exception OF very lightly rejecting ION
the want Of preparation or great tardness" In the
engineers department, no blame Is attached to
ing all this capacity-referrng to Its capacity for
putting out fre-steam was only on one donkey
boiler, and, with fun head OF steam, not more
than i've streams altogether, could be supplied to
extnguish fire." Surely, somebody is to blame
for this.
The Court finds that 1t is usual to allow steam
ers, when in port" II this be true, and the com.
pany Is aware OF this, then the company Is respon.
slole Il not then II rests with the Captain and
Again. the Court finds that too much time and
to ahS ~ we're ts W.T. M ne
nobody to blame for tniss Is anybody to
blame for Or IT. the al nisapprehenslol as to the
lastly, is no one to blame for the unexpected fail
ure of water2'
The ''convictionr entertained by the Court that
the fire was the work OF an incendiary scarcely
borne out by the testimony That 1t is quite pos
sibe and even probable is most true, but not more
possible or probable that 1t was the result OF an
accident. There Is no reason to suppose that any
antipathy did exist " on the part OF some person
towards the Pacific Mail Steamship Company or
some OF It's oficers.n And as to the fact that the
few Chinese passengers were generally supplied
with large sums OF mOncy-this Is Of monthly Oc-
currence-every steamer brings more or less China.
men.
The America was carrying an exceptionally
small number OF passengers-l60 in all. However,
n U QtAt tn1 oh hnNn hnr ip tIat unh IN
suppose that 1t was the action OF some depraved
wretch as to suppose IL was the result of acci.
destined, am afraid, to remain forever mystery.
The Omcial Investiga alton.
The Court consisted Of Consul Shepard, presiding
Captain Paul Shirley, United States steamship
Lackawanna; Captain Percy, American steamer
Emperor.
United States Minister De Long occupied seat
on the bench, and from time to time made sug.
gestions to the Court.
The Court convened August 81, 1872.
SETH poANE's TESTIMONY.
,Captain Seth Dosne being duly sworn testified Am
siss;sS
aroused By the si to eser " who said the sp se1
IRE as near as can recoIleet i was few minutes past
e hose nd
SasE has o the Witch e
rTecosnizcd as such); page 4s OF said book is the
Fire stations bill copies OF these posted all the
ship saw the flames through the headlights OF saloon
deck; these headlights were about half way between
main and mizzen masts; saw the light of the fame
through the headlights; there other evidence OF
fire in the saloon as there was outlet; men at
tempting to open the hatch leading down 20 the seerage
deek ordered them to desst and not to open the hatch
low; saw no smoke other indications of tre there;
then returned TO main saloon broke open headlight
and led hose down there are flye decks In the ship
orlop freight seerage main and hurricane; the hold
has three bulkheads and two COMPARTMENTS space be-
tween orop deck and freight deck used for freight and
coal coal bunkers occupy space amdshps alongside of
engines; after bulkhead comes halt way between main
ana miLzen masts the space between freight deck and
steeraee deck sused for freight that between eerage and
man deck for passengers and freight this occasion
there was only hay in that part the alter
parment; the fire was discovered steerage deck tor
ward OF after buikhead in middle compartment; ii
directly over the space occupied by coal il may have
ueen over either both compartments; could not tell
exact situation OF flames; soon after putting the hose
down the headlight the smoke and flames drove every
uody away got 10 the steerage through side
door which Is IN about the middle OF The ship got nearly
INTO forward part OF steerage, but the smoke
dense could not stay cannot whether Are broke
on rcrht deck or sleerage deck cannot tell particularly
what was burning. the whole deck n erie of