New Zealand Times. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1875.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4369, 22 March 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1875.

We occasionally come across strange things in our contemporaries; but for sheer romancing, commend us to the following, which appeared in the Southern Cross of the 10th instant. In a leading article, on the loss of the Cospatrick, which begins in the jerky hysterical stylo for which our contemporary has become somewhat celebrated, we find the following rather strong condemnation of ourselves. The Cross writes: —

“ Our object now is to take exception “to the strong condemnation of Dr. “ Fbatheeston which was indulged in “ by the New Zealand Times when the “ melancholy intelligence was first tole- “ graphed throughout the colony, early “ in January last. Bashly taking it for “ granted that Dr. Fbatheeston had per- “ mitted explosive substances to form “ part of the cargo of the Cospatrick, the “ Times assailed the Agent-General in “ unmeasured terms, and subsequently, on its being learned that ah explosion “ took place on board, it repeated its “ condemnation. The narrative of facts “ shows that the explosion was only the

“ blowing out of the ship’s stern, from “ under the poop deck, most probably “ by reason of the ratified air aocumu- “ lated below, and not from any explosive or inflammable material. . .

“There' is nothing whatever-ilx; the “ dread story of the ‘ Cospt,trick’s ’ fate ‘ ‘ which in any way reflects a particle of “ discredit on the action of the Agent- “ General in sending out tho ship. The “ very want of water and provisions in “ the boats which succeeded in getting “ away, was due to one of those strange “ fatalities—the too trustful neglect of’ “ seeming trifles, which make up the sum' “ of life, and the attention to which form ‘ ‘ the success of discipline. It was owing “ to omission of that strict obedience to “ rule, without which, even in tho “ smallest matter, great calamities may “ arise. The boats had been cleaned, “ and in the process the water kegs and “ the bread tins had been removed, and “ not replaced. The fire came, and swept “ the souls away, and hence the horrible “ ten days, and the boatload of thirtyfour, of whom only three were left to “ tell the tale. It is mournful to_ dwell “on the dreadful story. Eut, viewing “it in any light we may, there is no “ blame attachable to Dr. Fisathbkston, “ and the New Zealand Txmss cannot too “ speedily offer a palinode for the injus- “ tice with which—unthinkingly, or be- “ cause of loose thinking—it treated him “ respecting this calamity which has “ created so much painful commiseration “ in the heart of everyone who has heard “ or read the sad story.” Our contemporary is careful about the reputation of Dr. Feathehston, but not more so than we are ourselves ; he should, however, be as careful of the reputation of others, and remember the lesson which, we suppose ho learned in his youth, not to bear false witness against his neighbor. Our contemporary has committed something very like tins offence in his zeal for the Agent-General. He has not quoted our words :if he had, they would not have justified his strictures. More than that, the despatch of the AgentGeneral, with its enclosures, which we published ou the 15th instant, and which we are aware our contemporary had riot then seen, justify to the full, every word we wrote. What does the Agent-General write, under date January 13th, 1875 ? “ Soon after midnight an alarm of fire “ was raised. As to the origin of the fire “ I will not at present hazard an opinion. “ I reserve such remarks as I may have “. to make on that subject until the in-. “ quiry now pending under the direction “of the Board of Trade is concluded. “ But whatever its origin, certain it is “that the fire spread with almost in- “ credible rapidity; that the efforts to “ stay its progress were from the instant; “ of its discovery utterly desperate aud-i “ unavailing ; that the flames and smoke “ gaining way continually, the energies “ of the captain and crew were paralysed, “ and confusion and despair soon pos- “ sessed the minds of all. Some of the ‘ ‘ principal available means ot escape were “ lost in the struggle to utilise them. In “ about an hour and a half the ship was “ a vast mass of burning wreck. Of its “ people, only two boat-loads remained, “ and they were without provision of “ food or water. Through what dire extremities of endurance they passed in “ the days that followed I will not at-- “ tempt to tell. Of five barely living “ men who were rescued by the barque “British Sceptre on the 27 th, ten days “after the Cospatrick perished, three “survive. It is my belief that they are “ the only survivors of a ship which con- “ tained as fine a body of emigrants as 1 “ have ever had the honor of despatching “to the colony. . . . In view of the “ official inquiry for which preparations “ are now in progress, I am in communi- “ cation with the Board of Trade. It is, “ I am aware, the purpose oii the Board “ to make the inquiry one of a peculiarly “ searching and complete character ; and “ I am not without the hope that it may “ have the effect, in tracing the causes of “ this disaster, of pointing also to the “ means by which risks of the same sort “ may in future be in some measure ‘ 1 averted or mitigated. ”

Now, let us see what we wrote when we first received the news of the loss of the Cospatrick. We said ; “ The sea appears to have,been tran- “ quil, or the boats could ne t have been “ freighted with so many persons ; but “ the fire made such rapid progress that “ within an hour after its discovery the “ ship was completely gutted. What was “the cargo? That is a point which “ should be rigidly inquired into. We “ have looked over the cargo list, but no “ combustible material is disclosed. It “ is beyond question, however, that some “ combustibles were on board as cargo. “Should it turn out that through the “neglect or connivance of the Home “ agency, combustible material was ship- “ ped in the Cospatrick, as ordinary “ cargo, the country will require at least “ the dismissal of every one directly or “ indirectly concerned in the affair. Eini- “ grant ships, sailing under the inspec- “ tion of the Emigration Commissioners “ to Australia, are not supposed to carry “ combustibles as cargo, and we do not “ see why life should be less (.acred when “ coming to New Zealand. The public “ will insist upon a rigid inquiry into “ this melancholy tragedy, which must “ seriously interfere, as a deterrent, with ■ “ emigration to this colony, i n the whole “range of disasters at sea, ,ve know of “ none so horrible in its surroundings as “ the burning of the Cospatrick emigrant “ ship, on the 19th of November last. “ The captain and doctor appear to have “ behaved with coolness and courage. “ This is a most unhappy affair, and it “ is one which the Commissioner for Im- “ migration, Major Atkinson, should “ probe to the bottom forthwith. Let “ us know what cargo was on board tho “ Cospatrick, and should it tarn out, as “ we anticipate, to be tho cate, his duty “is to make an. example of every one “ who is at all culpable. We refrain from “ further comment at present, but wo “shall return to tho subject again. It “ is much too serious to be slurred over, “ as the culpable negligence ol tho Homo “ agency, in tho matter of transmitting “disease, has so frequently been. When “the victims are counted by tens, the “public are unappalled ; but when five “hundred human beings arc sacrificed “as a burnt offering on the high seas, “ public attention must bo arrested.”

It will be seen that we demanded an inquiry into the nature of the cargo, with the view of ascertaining whether any combustible material was on board. The Agent-General informs the Government that the Board of Trade is instituting an inquiry of a peculiarly searching and complete character, and that he is not without the hope that it may have the effect, in tracing the causes of this sad disaster, of pointing also to the means by which risks of the .same sort may in future bo in some measure averted or mitigated. This is precisely what wo impressed upon the Commissioner for Immigration should be forthwith done. But we are further borne out in our remarks regarding the cargo by the despatch of Governor Janisch, of St. Helena, to Earl

Carnarvon-, also published by us on the 15thi He writes': — .

“ The fire is said to have originated in “ the boatswain’s looter, which contained “ kerosene oil for ship’s use, some tar, “ paint, oils, &c.,- whilst near the spot ‘ ‘ were several casks of fat, as well as “ about seventy tons of coals, ihis, to- “ gether with the fact that the vessel “ unhappily was laden with a large quan- “ tity of spirits (said to be over 200 tons), 1 ‘ accounts for the fierceness and rapid ly “ with which the flames mastered the “vessel. The alarm of fire was given “shortly after midnight on Tuesday, “17th November, and in less than an “ hour the stern was blown out by the 1 ‘ igniting of the spirts, and the whole “ vessel was enveloped in flames. . . “ The impropriety of loading large “ crowded passenger ships with quanti- “ ties of inflammable matter, in addi- “ tion to their living freight, will also “ be made painfully evident.” Our contemporary, however, by the force, of his own imagination, accounts for the horrors of the scene, and lays the blame of the catastrophe on that ancient and most incorrigible offender, “Nobody. The utter want of feeling, and the total want of comprehending what he was writing abput, are something stupendous. ‘\The narrative of facts “ shows that the explosion was only the “ blowing out of the ship's stern from “ under the poop deck, most probably by “ reason of the rarifed air accumulated “ below, and not from any ex-plosive or “ inflammable material What narrative of facts ? Whore did he find Ins facts 1 Not certainly in the official record which he had not seen, and to which we again refer our readers. Then, again, we have his imagination drawn upon in - accounting for the dread calamity in the boats, and we are again taken to task for charging Dr. Feathbrston with having caused the catastrophe. We are accused of having “rashly taken it for granted “ that Dr. Fbathbrson permitted ex- “ plosive substances to form part of the “ cargo.” We did nothing of the kind, nor did wo make any charge whatever against the Agent-General. Our remarks applied generally to the department, and not to its head, although he is officially responsible, no doubt. We had examined the cargo list, as published, and found no record of combustible materials in it, but added that in our opinion combustible materials were on board, and that should this, on‘ inquiry, prove-to be the case, through the neglect or connivance of the Home agency, the country would require the dismissal of every one concerned in the affair. Subsequent official returns sustain our opinion regarding the composition of the cargo; the Board of Trade inquiry will saddle the blame on the right shoulders.

With reference to our article in January last, and subsequent comments on the explosion which were mor'o general still, and had reference to the nature of the cargo, we do a single word Our contemporary calls upon us to apologise to Dr. Fbathersion for an offence of which we have not’been guilty; we call upon the Cross to apologise to us for a very serious offence of which we have convicted him, and we trust, that in future he will make certain of his facts before assailing us. We should be the very last to say or write' a harsh thing of any man, much less of the AgentGeneral, but we have a duty to perform as journalists, and that duty we intend at all times fearlessly to discharge.