New-York tribune., 1872-09-03
OCEAN DISASTERS.
p1rpN1NG OF THE BIENyILLE.


ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF THE AGENT-Lsr
OF THE CREW.
A reporter of The TRIBUNE again called,
Yesterday afternoon upon Capt. F. r. Baby the agent
of the Pacific Mall steamship Company TO obtain further
nartcuars OF the BIenvile disaster. Capt Baby had
received no dispatches later than those already pup
lshed but his thorough acquaintance with the condtoh
Of the Renve and the character of her officers enabled
him to lmpart the following information;
The Pacific Mail Company for the reason that u never
er ts soats but takes its risk, had the Blenyie
,,,d m far more than ordinary scrutiny before she
was chartered and the inspectors were perfectly salts
Gea with her condition Considerable alteration was
made in her. boilers were put In as wei as some NC"
machinery She was also provided with new steam pipes
running from the boiler to the hold for the sole purpose
NJ proecon against fire. There are many cases where
water seems TO have little effect in exinguishl9g
fire but where steam subdues very quickly. o nno
Renyille was chartered only on cOhdltlOh tiV SUN
iistrd OF heavy goods such as would pack firmly To-
prther probably difficulty would nave Deeu 'Apcii-
enced In extingushng any fire that might 1aVe taken
place; but her cargo was, unto r ~ frnre
character consisting largely 0i WOpueh WdIc hulu'
&C. with considerable quantity OF ard piched ~ ts,
aud the flames, when once started, % cDuu Nln uUy Nv s
bc reached. There is always dbculIy III caae Ol lic
when the cargo is OF mixed cnaIaccr INC prC"hlhs
down OF the pumps was entirely nexplcable as they
were known TO be IN excellent even alS
they became useless At seems strange thal tT steam Gou
nos have accomplished the desired end. The manage
ment OF the vessel Capt Baby thinks was excellent;
nerve iu time of accident But few men would at sucn
"A time be able 10 send Oh six boats from burning Yessc
with the upsetting Of only one, winch was speculy
rphted The wind must at the time have been uOftn-
east, since the captain made fOr Ecuthcra lsanu ne
must have gone round the south end OF the island ana
up the western side, the surf ON the eastern sue
would be very heavy. From Eeuthera Island ne mdue
for Nassau but only five o the six boats reached TINS
point Here he obliged wait for the steamer LOT
Havana which accounts fCr the long delay before lulcl-
ligeuce of the disaster reached this city. Ihe reason
OF the Companys dScrcdtlng the dlspalch
ON Saturday was that no intelligence was
received at the office till p. m- except
from the fact that the COmpany's agent IN Havana
is also the agent Of the Associated Press ana WIS
Obliged to attend 10 the press dispatches before Olclay
Informing the company OF the loss The loss OF me VIII
probably be mostly among the crew. capt BaDy JUDGES
IRON the dispatches and incomplete returns already re-
ceiyed. Theopassengers picked up by passing Ntsol7
NAV not be heard for time, since few OF me
vessels IN that section are running 10 havana ana IL
may be "A considerable time before the unIOrtuhlJts
reaf that port though they Will, OF course DC lOr-
Wared as possible. The loss To the Pdclnc mdu
Steamship Company comparatively small, as Ine Ne'-
sci was owned by Livingston, Fox Coz ana the cargo or
the most part was az risk of the owners. Tie loss on
property probably covered by insurance. The Yessel
Is also thought to be fully insured.
Below will found complete iist Of the crew Of the
BenvIc obtained from Official sources The passenger
list is as vet very incomplete and unsatisfactory In
the list those whose printed in italics arc said
TO have been saved in the message from Capt Maury
received by Capt. Baby and the others were missing
though many were doubtless picked up by passing yes
sells The captain also teegraphs the names OF Drew
and Walters saved but such men were in the crew.