THE QUEEN OF THE THAMES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1239, 19 July 1872, Page 4

THE QUEEN OF THE THAMES.

A Board of Trifle indtiiry into the lose of the steamer Quqen of the Thames was lately held in London, when the following judgment was given:— , ; " The Court have come with regret to a conclusion very unfavorable to the raastei in this disastrous lojss of the Queen of the Thames. The ship seems to have mode a favorable voyage up to the 16th of March] 1871,, having made the land at Cape Recife about 3 p.m. of 1 that day. This landfall was satisfactorily made, which proved that both the chronometers and compasses were correct. At noon the following day, the 17th, observations for both latitude and longitude were made, which placed the ship in lat. 21*38 E., Cape Agulhas being at a little northwardly, and distant about 81 miles. Little or no information could be got from the officers as to thti navigation of the ship from this point, either as to the courses steered or the speed of the ship, although the Court could scarcely expect that such important elements leading to the destruction of the ship could have escaped their memories, notwithstanding the time which has elapsed. The log-book is a blank from the same time. All that could be elicited was that from 1 p.m.j after the noon observation, a strong wind sprung up from the W.N.W., right ahead, accompanied by a short head sea, which greatly retarded the speed of the ship. At 8 p.m., or thereabouts, a light was seen nearly abeam on the starboard side. The officers all concur in stating that this light resembled the light of a lighthouse. Several of the passengers, however, some of whom stated that they had been discussing the question with' the sailors, seem to hive been of opinion that it was a bush fire, an object of frequent occurrence both on the coast of Africa and Australia. The captain, in his statement says that it was a little before 9 when he sighted the land on the starboard beam, and a bright fixed light about two points on the starboard bow, which he took to be Cape Agulhas light. One might have supposed that his first object would have been to ascertain the position in which he then was by taking the ordinary precaution of working the course of the ship and distance run since noon. Had he done so it would have been apparent to him that the ship had not run the distance of 81 miles ; hence the light seen by him could not have been that of Cape Agulhas. Besides, the difference of lat- , titudeof his ship at noon and that of Cape Agulhas being only three miles, assuming the proper course to have been steered, that light would have been close to them instead of many miles off, as the witnesses described. The Court cannot but observe, with deep regret, that at this critical time, the land so near, the master, instead of being 1 on deck, was engaged in the saloon at a musical entertainment of the passengers. The first reliable evidence that the Court have of any courses steered during the last 12 hours was not until midnight of the ui 7th, when the|captain, being on the bridge, gave the course N-N. W., • and at half-past twelve went below without leaving any orders whatever with the fiwt officer how he was to act on any emergency that might arise. The N.N.W. course was continued until a quarter-past ono a.m, when the ship going at a speed of 10| knots, struck the ground, and became fixed. No soundings had been taken since noon. The master, in his statement says he had referred to the log slate at 4 and 8 p.m. of the 7th ; but no one of the officers confirms thiß statement, or professes to have seen the patent log hauled in for examination, and most of them did not. know for certain that it was T set. Such is a bare summary of the circumstances which led to the destruction of this fine ship, and eventually to the loss of four lives. Reasonable care would have averted all this, and the neglect, considering the number of lives and the value of the property, is inexcusable. The Court, therefore, find him guilty of a gravejdefault. But it is the duty of the Court to examine also the further conduct of tho master aftqr.this disaster, in relation to the saving of the ship. Upon thiß the first officer and the chief engineer were both of opinion, that an effortto lighten her.by tfirowwg sons of the cargo overboard might have been madelJwith reasonable probability of succmsJ and the chiefj engineer seems to have pressed this upon the roaster, bat he stated to the Court that he found him so ttfterly prostrated by the misfortune, that Ijp.waa quite, unable- to form any judgmen t upon any matter, or to exercise ary manly energy whatever. The captain himself states his conviction that no eflprts on his naft would have got her off. £he Ctwrt, however, think that, considerEthe fineness of the: weather for several >^*oipe. attempts ought to have been le. evidence adduced, making evetjf ajUpvaace for any prejudice which may 'few **•» created on the part of some of the pasae»gero.on account of the lots they bad sustained by the wreck, has impressed on the mind of the Court the conviction that the discipline of the ship was very lax, and not at all what it ought to have been. Had an officer been placed in command to: protect the baggage' of the passengers, there is no doubt there was ample time,' before any mischief was done to the ship, to have landed the whole of it. The best proof of this is that one gentleman spoke to having saved his own chest from the bottom of the hold, perfectly dry, so late as the Tuesday following, whereas during the Saturday night the passengers' lockers were broken open and much valuable property stolen. Some of the passengers who were examined attributed the want of dtfgeipluw arid oider, and consequent loss of baggage, to the intoxication o| the. master, and although it ifi not doubted that be is a person of most tempejrate. habits, the Court cannot resist the conviction that after having got on shore, he weakjy had recourse to wine to overcome, the depression of spirits-in-djiqed by his misfortune. Considering all tjie circumstances, the Court can find no

ground for a mitfgjtfkra oi the sentence which so. great a default calls for ; but . Ijhay take i^td account that the deferring olthia inquiry for nearly' a year beyond the time when originally directed by the . Board of Trade, has praoticallv had the effect of suspending the masters employ--aient for that time, and they, therefore adjudge that his certificate be suspended far one year from this date.*' Mr Westall, who had instructed counsel for the captain,, protested against the Court having'lhe power to inflict punishment, anothercourt having been first held at the Cape of Good Hope, and stated that legal steps would be taken to obtain the restitution to the captain by the Board of Trade of hi* certificate,