Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1873-07-17
THE LOSS OF THE WASHINGTON
Interesting yeveiO;.El meats.

IAl1EAA. jLlIN Ia. i he bTItial invest
l-,tlIou INTO the cause of the VT. OK OF
the City of Washington was opened yes
ter!ty 10y Captain Sect, OF lie Royal
Navy. CAPTAIN Phelps Was the hrst
Witness and testified mat after The hrsi
two days from QuaenatUwn h. was un-
abb 10 take tsironu.ulc.Ii observations.
In wind was IL Westerly head Wild the
entire lsls>i.ga and 10 sOuudlI,S were
taken. He did not notice the least
change i'll the color Of the water. They
We're eight days in the fog. The ship
struck ut lilo P. NJ, on tue 9th. She
WAS lot going at iull speed: he dIdn't
know what her speed Was. but supposed
IT WAS an,ut niue knots. II WAS on
deck VIII. II the vessel ST. uck and lmme-
diately ordered signal guns tired. the
boats We're lowered promptly without
confusion and sent to shore in perfect
order. Tue ship was III first class order.
With full complement Of men, provls-
Ions and coal on leaving Liverpool, and
Was well found Ill all RESPECTS.
The general instructions Of the COM
pany are that the MERIDIAN of Cape Race
IS 10 be passed at about latitude ~. He
:,ns~ere.i these Instructions.
Capt. W. Il. Hammond. II passenger,
testlned that he never sa~ IA better dis
cipIned steamship; that there WAS no
confusion i'll lowering the boats. and
that he never SAW ANY oi the Officers
touch glass of lIquur.
John Sheau, first Off ,er, testified that
he hover >.tw the snip steer better, and
u'td no reason 10 suppose she WAS Ln'.A-
inS more than she should have done.
TIE log WAS hove every hour. The iu9
Ms 80 dense that he could not tell the
proper color of the water. When the
snip grounded the engines were stopped.
Tue lead ~.is not hove durIns the >oA-
..ne. lie did nrt heive the lead bec;,,.se
ne Thought 1t would be useless. He
never crossed the Atlantic when tue
Neal her WAS SO continuously thick.
liz chuuing> were made with more thai.
usual CAKE on account of the thick uesS
ur the w.atner. HIS reckoning agreed
Min that III the captain within n few
lnIie>. According 10 his reckoning the
snip shuuld have been very much fur
tner south til III she Was. lie attributed
THIS 10 elih-r the northefiy currelt ur All
error vi The cuInpass. He had been
crossing III Iht>- sleuIhels Ior tour NtaI>,
and had always sieered them the same |
w thtu ClS.tT 81 4
everything. Tuere WIS tHreefourtiis al |
a point vi dItftre nce between the COM |
pass on the LIIdge aud the standard |
colnl"ss.
a II. Anderson, third officer, testified |
&, hal he had not the slightest Idea that
tlir sLip Wis m,Ans more horihwaru
than sine wouIu 10y the course sle-Ied. |
lie Noticed 40 dI,coioreL water which
~uuld lead LIm to believe the
snip Was not going night. HI,
fe,AuuIug OF this voyage was over
100 miles ont OF the way. He did hot
i. Iueluher exactly what IL Wis. He al
tIibut.d the large deviation To All erIor
ia h o -npass, Oh account Oi the Iar.,e
,lno..u, uI i.o.A and Steel ton ming part "a
ne cargo. We sIeerei SO AS u Sv lo the
southwark oi the I'D degree vi latitude
III passing C"pa Race, rs the instructions
u The COMPANY require. We took the
Ok the water every two
louiS.
Thomas Bruce, engineer. testified that
he u;,Ines were hot slowed down or
stopped during shis thick weather, but
he WAS always ready to do 80. When
he ship struck he Was ordered to stop
lie engines. The averauge steam gauge
Mas q pounds.
The court resumed its sittings to-day,
.nd adjourned 10 Thursday, when jud.,-
nent Will be rendered.