The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1877.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 199, 23 August 1877, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 1877.

Nevlr was a strict, searching, and impartial enquiry moro needed than on the occasion of the lamentable wreck of the Queen Bee. When the new*-: first became kuowu. and for days afterwards, the air was thick with rumors of the most absurd, exaggerated and we may add, spiteful character. These' however, bave now been cleared away, and we have before us the naked undisguised truth, as deposed upon oath before the Court. Upon the facts there stated a report has been framed, and judgment pronounced. Public opinion appears to be divided as to the amount of blame that attached to the captain and the justice of the sentence pronounced upon him, and we therefore feel calle i upon to make a few remarks upon these, especially the former. It seems to us that gross carelessness has been proved against him beyond all doubt, and we base this opinion not only upon the evidence of others, but upon that given by himself, so that we caunot b-** charged with accepting the testimony of a hostile witness in preference to that of a friendly one. In reply to the question, "To what do you attribute the wreck ? " Captain Davies replied, "To an error in the compasses and the effect of the currents." Now if the compasses had suddenly, and without previous warning, become erratic in their movements, the captain and officers of the ship, might very fairly be excused if they were bewildered aud misled by the vagaries of the needle, but we know that this was not the case ; we are told that for months past from the time of the ship leaving the Bay of Biscay, what ought to have been trustworthy guides had proved themselves to be utterly unreliable, and that after twenty-four hours' running the ship was frequently found on observations being taken to be miles away j fiom where she should have been had the \ course intended to be steered, and which according to the compasses had been steered beeu strictly adhered to. And yet the safety 0jL c the Queen Bee and all the lives on board were J&ft to the mercy of these untrustworthy guides at a time when the greatest accuracy was necepary. For hours the roar of the surf breaking oa t)}o Spit had been heard, none knew better than the captain and his chief officei that they were close to a dangerous point, and still the rule of thumb was considered a sufficient safeguard against the disaster which was so speedily to follow. To faulty .compasses and a rough guess at

the distance from the light Captain Davies entirely trusted ito keep him clear of the 1 danger against which the chart and thesound of the breakers warned him. And yet by taking the simplest of precautions he might have steered clear of the difficulty. Had he taken soundings he would have dis*. covered his mistake long before the time that the vessel struck, and acting upon the warning thus received he could have kept her away from the fatal spot. But nothing of the kind was done, a blind faith waa placed in the compasses that' had so often proved deceptive before, and who cau be surprised at the consequence? The error in the compasses is one of the causes to which Captain Davies attributes the loss of his ship, and that this is not a sufficient excuse has beeu pretty clearly shown. The other cause mentioned is the effect of the currents. But should not a shipmaster aware of their existence take such precautions as to render him independent of Jtheir influence ?. A man possessed of local knowledge, such as the masters of tha steamers trading between here and the! West Coast, would of course be more intimately acquainted with the force and direction of the currents at tbe Spit end, but quite sufficient information on this head is afforded by the charts to render the navigation perfectly safe for a stranger provided he navigated his ship yfith. ordinary care. The testimony of others does not appear to be required to justify the report of the Court so far aa Captain Davies is concerned, for by his own words does he stand condemned- Asto the sentence, it is, without doubt,- a severeone, more so, it is thought by many, than the circumstances justified. We must not, how- f ever, forget that through the captain's neglect to avail himself of ;the means at his disposal of ascertaining his position a fine ship -has been wrecked, cargo to the value of .S^OOO at least has been lost, life has been sacrificed, and much misery and privation occasioned to those who ware placed under his charge. All these might have been saved by the exercise of ordinary care. With regard to Mr. Going, the second mate, we would say that, although the Court has held him partially responsible for the loss of the ship, and has punished him accordingly, he has many claims not only upon the passengers but on the people of Nelson ' who are every ready to acknowledge and reward humane and gallant conduct such as he haa displayed since the wreck. Arriving here in the Lady Barkly with the fitat boatload of passengers after going through much hard work and mental worry, he did not hesitate to start off again in that steamer an hour or two after arrival on her useless trip to the Croixelles, he readily responded to Mr. Gully's invitation to accompany the Naval Brigade in their search, and did all that man could do to assist in the rescue of the unfortunate passengers. As he told the Court yesterday, he hardly knew what it was to get an hour's sleep from the time of the wreck on Monday night until hia return from the Erench Pass on the following Saturday evening. The law has adjudged him guilty ot neglect in respect of the wreck, but what he haa since dona entitles him to the commendation of all, . and we trust that the Kehef Committee will see their way. to awarding him a substantial reward for the services he so willingly rendered.