, 1875-11-27


to have charge Of the vessel, and
am Of the opinion that had there
been competent officers in charge
Of the Pacific at the time Of the
collision they might have got clear
Of the Orpheus. The way the Or
pheus was steercd might have
batiied the steamer some, witness
said, but had he had charge Of the
Pacific at the time, If he could
have done nothing else he would
have turned the stern ofthe steam
er to the ship and run away from
her.
BY Dir. Robertson.-The steam
er was going aboutthree miles an
hour; the ship was going about
five or six knots; tie Pacific could
not have gone one hundred yards
before her speed would come
down to three knots, her en- gines
being stopped; if we bad kept
our course we could not have
cleared the steamer; it would
have been too late even had we
ported our helm; if we had kept
our course on seeing the red light
we would have cleared her; it Yas
a great mistake to follow the
course pursued by the Orpheus,
but the steamer could have alter
ed her course; the people on the
steamer could have seen our green
light, but could not tell how we
were going. The course of the
Pacific should have been to port
helm in so embarrassing a position
as we placed her; our green light
could be seen l J miles; our red
light could not be seen on account
of the difference in the height Of
positions; l heard my captain at
tribute the blame TO the Pacific;
he didn't seem to be annoyed; the
captain appeared to want to speak
the steamer to find out where he
was; it is not usual in short voy-
ages to do 50; we had taken an
observation that day.
In order to a full understanding
Of the above We will state that
Mr.. Robertson was counsel for
the Steamship Company and Mr..
for the Dominion Gov
Below are statements Of
J. E. Englehardt, Agent of the
Pacific at Victoria, and the stew
ard of the OIpheus:
Have no certificate of ship; don't
know its contents; cant tell how
many passengers she was allowed
to carry; l think she had between
two and three hundred; the long
boats could carry about 5passen-
gers each; the tonnage is $40.
If 1000 persons had applied /
don't think 1 would have sold
tickets; | ard my clerk sold 1872;
on the Sound about IS were
booked; the purser may have sold
20 before the vessel left; l include
cabin and steerage; there were
about 167 tickets sold here and
on the Sound; the purser's 20
would make about 1877; it includes
Chinamen; the crewnumbered 46;
the statement that there were 800
on board is incorrect; l make out
that there were 238 on board all
told; there might have been 90 or
60 on board without tickets; can't
say how many boats the ship had;
the agents wrote US she had six
boats and a life raft.
Charles Davis sworu.---Was the
steward on board the ship Orphe
US. Just was in my berth when
the collision took place; ran up
on deck and saw the Pacific just
getting clear Of the Ofpheus main
rigging and lashings !; It was about
half-past nine; the shock was very
slight; had felt a heavier shock at
san Francisco stfikir against the
wharf; saw regular blue lights
burning; saw the rockets; would
say the steamer was then about a
mile from Us. 1t was about thirty
minutes after the collision when
witness saw the blac lights, and
believed that the captain saw the
lights also; heard no hailing. This
was my first voyage with Captain
Sawyer; saw him take drink,
but cannot say he drank liquor
freely. The 2d mate, carpenter,
and some Of the men were under
the influence Of liquor after the
vessel went ashore; myimpression
IS that the 0rpheus was willfully
run ashore; there was liquor ON
board, and the captain had charge
oft.
The statemept Of the quarter
master. O'Henly differs materially
with that of JelIy's as to the con-
dition Of things subsequent to the
disaster. In Jelly's evidence it
appears the shock was slight, that
no fears were excited and the an
swering words were heard Of "it's
all right" and Jelly consequently
4...,,aa -, h;s hartb XVh;le fbe