Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-09-01
THE WAWAsET DISASTER.
Report of the Investigating Board.

FROM the Washington Chronicle.
On Saturday the board appointed by the
Secretary of the Treasury to investigate the
cause of the Wawaset disaster having COM
pIetei their report, it was submitted by the
Supervising Inspector General to the Secretary
OF the Treasury. Accompanying the report
was all the voluminous evidence to the case
taken by Inspectors Rose and Edgar. The re-
port gives the opinion Of the inspectors Of the
conduct Of the officers and the responsibility Of
the Potomac Ferry Company The board re-
commend the imposition OF the prescribed
penalties against the company, Captain John
Wood, and Mate Gravatt; revoke the license
Of Engiueer Nash, adjudge the company guilty
of taking on board greater lumber OF paSsen-
gers than was stated Ill the certificate, censure
the company and its unlicensed officers for lack
of effort in saving the lives OF the passengers,
and for inctficleucy in the emergency, aud leave
the Government 10 enforce the law against the
company and officers for the derciction of duty
they have been guilty Of 10 the premises. The
Secretary Of the Treasury will examine the re-
port of the board and the evidence in the case
as soon as possible, aud in accordance with its
recommendations institute proceeding against
the Potomac Ferry Company and the officers
of the iii tated steamer found guilty of violation
of law by the testimony taken.
lu the case Of the ferry company, which was
the fist taken up, the evidence Is shown con-
clusivey that the company employed Captain
Wood and Mate GraVatt, neither OF them hav-
Ing license, as required by section fourteen Of
the act Of February IS, 1871, to provide for the
better security OF lite on board OF vessels pro-
pellcd in whole or 10 part by steam, and that
the company permitted these unlicensed OIL
GERS 10 perform duties on the WaWaset which
ouly duly liccDsed officers are allowed 70 per-
form. For this fragrant violation Of the law
the board earnestly recommend the Imposition
of the prescribed penalties, as we'll as against
Captain Wood and Mate Gravatt who are
made equally guilty and responsible with the
company The section referred to makes 1t un-
lawful 70 employ any person, or Tor any person
to serve, as a captain, chief mate, engineer, or
pilot on any steamer, who is not licensed By
the inspectors, and any one so offending shall
forfeit one hundred dollars for each ofense. 1t
will thus be seen that both the company and
officers are liable 10 the penalty for every trip
made-the company for employing, and the
captain and mate for serving without license.
The next subject treated upon by the board
is the case of engineer Nash.
Reference is made to the testimony of nu-
merous witnesses who purchased liquor at The
bar, which was served by the engineer. Though
duly licensed, and from all the evidence,
competent officer, the board fined him guilty
of negligence, abandoning his post, attending
bar besides engaging in trading at the several
landings made by the Wawaset on her trips to
and from the rivers, and thereby endangerlng
the safety of the boat and lives of the passen-
gers. For this the board revoked his license,
by authority conferred by section II Of the
steamboat act already referred to, which pro-
vdes that an engineers license shall be sus.
pended or revoked upon satisfactory proof of
negligence. unskillfulness in;emperanc, or the
WituI violation of any provision of the act.
Upon the controversy as to the right OF the
Wawaset to carry fifty or one hundred and
fifty passengers, as the company claimed,
number of witnesses swore that, to the best OF
their belief, one hundred and fifty was the
number limited IN the certificate OF Inspection,
while the Inspector was positive the number
was limited to fifty. After due consideration
the board find that the copy of the certificate
on file in the Georgetown custom house, llml-
ting the number Of passengers to fifty, must be
recognized as evidence conclusive of the cor
rectness of the inspectors statement The
company is therefore adjudged guilty OF further
violation of the steamboat act 10 taking on
board greater number of passengers than was
stated ip the certificate for which the master and
company, or either Of the same, are liable to
any persons suing for the same, to forfeit the
amount of passage money, and $40 for each
passenger beyond the number thus allowed
In reviewing the testimony the Board is pain
fully impressed with the lack of organization on
board the Wawaset, which adds to the cupa-
blcness of the company and its unlicensed OIL
GERS. The latter are censured for the lack Of
effort in saving the lives OF the passengers, and
for ineficiency in the emergency.
The Wawaset crew, being subject only to the
rules of discipline enforced by their superiors
can not be blamed for their conduct, though
the evidence shows there was little effort on
their part to help the passengers. Had there
been proper organization Of the officers and
crew, Enthusiastically the magnitude Of the ca
lamity would have been averted
In conclusion, they regret that it was lmpos-
sible to ascertain the cause Of the fire; and, IN
the absence Of evidence proving that the boat
was not properly protected about the boilers,
the board do not venture an opinion The in
specrors distinctly state that the boilers were
free from contact with any partition, and that
the requirements of the law 10 this respect were
faithfully regarded. They trust they have
faithfully performed the duties assigned them,
and now leave the government 70 enforce the
law enacted to meet just such dereliction as the
Potomac Ferry Company and the unlicensed
officers of the Wawaset have been guilty OF.
A LUNArIc KILLED. Henry Showalter, a
crazy man living near Allegheny Springs, was
shot and killed CD Monday night last by a col
ored man named Barney Slata. The clrcum
stances as given BY the colored man are as fol
lows: Barney has charge of saw mill near
Allegheny Springs. In the night he heard his
mill running and got up TO ascertain the cause.
Suspecting some foul play, he returned to his
house and got his gun to make further search
Seeing an object somewhat concealed looking
like man he called to know what be wanted,
&c. The object disappearing aud re-appeariDg
caused him 10 be more positive 10 his demand,
and at length he fired and killed a man who
afterwards discovered to be Henry Sho-
walter. This unfortunate Showater has been
wandering about the hills and mountains of his
neigh borhood for many days GLIDING pursuit
and stunning officers. His uutimely death is