The Express. — 1864-08-22 (London, England)

TWOPENCE  THE STRANDING OP THE COSSACK STEAMER.  The following official report has been made to the Board of Trade relative to the stranding of the Commit steamer :  My Lords,-1 have the honour of reporting, for the information of Jour lordships, that, in conjunction with Captains Harris and Baker, I have bald an inquiry, as directed by the Board of Trade, into the ciecumstauces of the stranding of the steamship Cossack, on the Sviiiboes Shoal, is the Kettept, on the 9th of May last. The Cossack is an iron screw steamer of 871.58 ton, and 90. horse power, built at Hull in 1859, the owner. being Meows. Bailey and Leathern, of that plies. She left Hull Docks oo May 5 for Croestedt, sod anchored in the River Humber, being et that time commanded by Fred. Horatio Ford (holding a certificate of competency, dated 21at of June, 1853), and had on board a general oargo chiefly cotton, of about 600 tone, 70 or 80 tons of coals 'and 43 bales of cotton being on desk. Her crew num, bored 21 all told, and there was one passenger on board. When in the river she wu.swoug, and her alto compares were adjusted She lay in the river all night, opposite the citadel, but some accident having occurred to her anchors she returned to dock on the 6th. and finally proceeded on her voyage on the evening of the same day, passing the Spurn Light about 10 o'clock p.m. Nothing of moment occurred prior to the 9th, though it would seem that the accuracy of her compasses (the card of dei istiou of which is shown to have been given to Captain Ford) is proved by the bearings taken ofEihertkilmfits, Bartacball, Skew, and Knobbio Lights. At 10'30 p.m. the Kellam Light bon E. by N., supposed dietetics about four or five miles, which war not verified by either a cross bearing or a cast of the lead. The course up to this time appears to bare been S. 4 E., lied was then altered to S. by E. 2 E Whilst going on this course, at • speed. of eight knots per hour, about 11.30 p.m., the weather puts calm, the Cosear.k struck on the Swabian Shoal, her lying, immediately after striking, S. or S. 4 E.., and the Kam Light bearing N., while Nekke Lights bore W. J N., and Elainore Light was seen immediately after she bad struck, right ahead. After passing the Konen it is not asserted that the bearing of any of the lights was takes till after she struck, nor was there any recourse to heaving the lead, though it is stated that • haze bong over the land, which made it appear further off than it really was. Looking at the position of the vessel when abreast of the Kullen, with a navigation before her beset with difficulty, I can suggest no excuse for neglecting to take the bearings of the lights, nor forthe omission to heave the lead. The adoption of either of these precautions would have at owe pointed out to the captain the positiau of his vessel, and would have enabled him to avoid the dangers before him. It would seem, however, that no precaution was taken, and almost as if the captain had trusted to the deceptive judgment of the eye alone to determine his distance from the shore. Under these circumstances, that the Cossack was not totally lost most not be attributed to any vigilance on the part of the captain previous to the stranding, but must be comaidered to have boon the accidental result of the weather being very fine, and the proximity of the appliance that enabled the captain to save part of the cargo, and get his ship off the shoe! before she was broken up ; the stranding having, beyond all question, oocurred in coussquence of a neglect of many of the precautions that ordinary prudence would have dictated. I find, therefore, that Captain Ford was guilty of default, and that the grimed' of defence met up—namely, an unlooked-for deviation from her course owing to defect; in the compass', a set of the current, and a list in the venal—are wholly untenable, and entirely at variance with the evidence adduced. It is fair to state that the steps taken, after the vessel was aground, for the preservation of the cargo and the ship, appear to have beep judicious, and it is no doubt owizg to the having procured steam pumps from Copenhagen and the other appliances used (u detailed in the evidence) that the Cossack was saved from sinking. I have thought it my duty (with the economises of the useenors) to scispeod the Impieties certificate for six months from this date, and I have now the honour of placing it at your lordships posaL —1 have, dm,  T. H. Titans, Police Magistrate, Hal Perim Court, Hull, Aug., 17, 1864. We °amour is this report, Hr. HAMS, 1 Natitiral daemon. R . B. Batas,  THE PrentiT or MIILLIIS, THE SUPPOSED NCRDIRK& —ln addition to the knowledge that Inspector Tanner, chief of the tookepolitan polka, has, with Sergeant Clarke and the two wheelies' who went out in the City of Manchester, safely arrived at New York, we now learn from a private source that Inspector Serrieney, who has the second warrant, has also got there is the City of Cork steamer. Every preparation has been made, and every facility given to Chief Inspector Tanner and his subordinates by the goverment and polio) authorities, and a steamer has been kept in readiness with the steam up night sad day, so that as soon as the Victoria is sighted the °Meets can at owe proceed out to see before the pilot boat, and arrest the 'unpaged murderer before any communication ma possibly reach the Victoria, either by design or militiamen, to let Muller know that the officers of justice are in moult of him, the fear being that he may in his despair non commit suicide, and so evade the punishment which, if guilty, he so richly merits.