neer of scientific attainments and much practical experience. His services were therefore invaluable, and his inquiries critical and complete. I have the houor to enclose herewith the testimony taken, together with a list of the witnesses examined, and to remain, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. W. M. MEW. I certify that I was present and assisted in the investigation into the cause of the loss of the Evening Star, and fully concur in the foregoing report. WM. BRADFORD, Supervising Inspector of Steamboats for the Second District. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 21, 1867. SIR: I have the honor to state that, in accordance with the instructions contained in your letter of the 3d instant, an examination into the cause of the loss of the steamer Commodore, in Long Island sound, on the 27th ultimo, has been made, and the evidence being before me, I am enabled to give you what I believe to be an accurate statement of all the facts in the case. They were collected by Captain William Bradford, supervising inspector in New York city, an accomplished seaman and officer. The steamer Commodore was built in 1848, and was therefore more than eighteen years old at the time she was lost. She was built principally for navigating the waters of the sound, but for some years past has been considered weak and unsuited to winter navigation. She was 275 feet in length, 32 feet in breadth, moulded, and 11 feet deep, 1,117 tons register, and drew 6 feet of water when light. In October last, by reason of her ascertained unseaworthiness, the vessel was condemned by the supervising inspector above named. Much of her timberwork planking was found to be rotten, which, added to her age, rendered her at once unsound and unsafe; whereupon she was docked and subjected to an overhauling and repairing at a cost of $10,000. This it was believed rendered her sufficiently strong for summer navigation; but even then she was regarded by Captain Bradford as ill adapted to withstand the severe weather of the winter season. It seems that to the extent above indicated she was deemed fit for service upon the sound; and upon certain conditions the local inspectors at New London seem to have determined to grant a certificate as soon as she was properly equipped according to law. This duty, however, the owners failed to perform, and the necessary certificate was therefore properly withheld; and at the time of her last sailing she was taken to sea, in violation both of law and regulations, in an unseaworthy condition. Had she received a certificate of seaworthiness from the local inspectors, they would have committed a very grave error, unless the vessel was in every respect sound, and fit at any time for Sound navigation, for the law does not contemplate the issuing of conditional certificates of seaworthiness. It appears that she left the wharf at 4.10 p. m. on the 27th December and proceeded on her voyage; that at the time of her leaving there was a lull, but previous to that it had been blowing heavily from west to west-northwest during the entire day, attended with snow squalls. The weather appeared clearer at the time of departure, and the captain, without consulting his barometer, was induced by the apparent favorable change in the weather to put to sea. At eight o'clock that evening, however, the breeze freshened from westnorthwest and soon increased to a violent gale, with a heavy sea, and with flood tide making against the wind, it became still rougher. At 10.30 the vessel, heading east north (the wind nearly aft) and steering wildly, broached to and was immediately thrown upon her beam ends, and in this condition she was driven by the wind across the sound, and was brought to an anchor, with two anchors down, near Horton's Point, (on Long Island,) when she soon righted. It was here discovered that she was leaking so badly that it was necessary to slip her cables and beach her in order to save the lives of her passengers. This was fortunately accomplished without a casualty or the loss of a single life. The cause of the leak seems to have been the severe straining which her timbers and planking experienced when she broached to, and while being driven across the sound on her beam ends, and not, as has been stated, by her taking the ground, for it was when she had righted at her anchors, her butts and seams, which had been sprung, being then brought under water, that the leak was discovered. It is very clear from the testimony that the Commodore was totally unfit for the service in which she was engaged, as well by reason of her age as by her light draught of water, for to this, added to the effect of her top hamper, may in a great measure be attributed the fact of her broaching to; with the wind W. by N. to N. NW. and her course E. & N., she must have been yawing con siderably to bring the wind upon her starboard quarter sufficiently to broach her to. Her light draught was, in a great degree, the cause of her steering so wildly, for the rudder not being thereby sufficiently immersed, and being frequently out of the water, could not perform its office, and the vessel was therefore, in a measure, at times uncontrollable. The crew seem to have been inadequate to the emergency, for some of them were totally unacquainted with the management of boats. It is a wonder, there. fore, that no lives were lost in landing. Not a little of blame pertains to the captain of the steamer for taking her to sea, knowing the character of his vessel, as he must have done, on such a day; and had he consulted and relied on his barometer he certainly would not have ventured out. I have been at some pains to ascertain the state of the barometers at different localities at the time, and from all the information that I can gather they indicated severe weather, they being, earlier in the day, at an average of about 29.10; and at night as low as 28.8, an infallible indication of violent weather in these latitudes. The captain unfortunately placed no reliance in barometers "on the sound." It is the belief of many eminent seamen, among whom may be mentioned Admiral Fitzroy, that many ships are wrecked and lives lost by a disregard of the premonitions of this useful instrument. From the facts above recited, gathered from the testimony of reliable witnesses, there can be no doubt that the Commodore was lost by reason of her manifest unfitness to withstand a gale of any severity in the waters which she was employed in navigating, arising partly from her age and consequent weakness, partly from her light draught of water, and partly from the indiscretion of her captain, first, in taking her to sea, and then, when at sea, in not making a harbor. She was also lacking in equipments, and therefore unseaworthy, and being navigated without a certificate, her owners are liable to penalties for a violation of law. The loss of this vessel affords another comment on the necessity for additional and effective legislation. The law as it now stands is totally inadequate to an enforcement of the moral obligations of owners and others towards those who place their lives in their hands. Happily there are exceptions to this necessity; for there are many honorable and high-minded owners of vessels whose constant desire is to obey the law in all its provisions, and provide their passengers and crews with adequate protecH. Ex. Doc. 51- -2 tion to the best of their ability, and regardless of expense. But on the other hand there is a class of owners, far too numerous for the public welfare, who can be reached alone by the most stringent enactments, and made to fear the consequence of defying the laws and regulations by the certainty of a swift and appropriate penalty, and such enactments must be made as soon as practicable, and such rigorous enforcement thereof prevail, embracing in their scope every obligation which a ship-owner owes to the people whom he serves, including the equipment of vessels and the official certificate of perfect seaworthiness, with a punishment for reckless offenders, inaccessible to higher motives, which shall be severe enough to deter them from perilling human life and property. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. W. M. MEW. A resolution of the 16th instant, transmitting a statement of information required by act approved April 12, 1861. JANUARY 22, 1867.-Referred to the Committee of Ways and Means and ordered to be printed. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, January 21, 1867. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a statement, in answer to resolution of the House of Representatives of January 16, 1867, introduced by Hon. Mr. Allison, asking for information required by the provisions of section 2, of chapter 39, of the act of the first session of the 39th Congress, approved April 12, 1866. The delay in transmitting the statement has been occassioned by clerical reasons. I am, very respectfully, Hon. SCHUYLER COLFAX, Speaker of the House of Representatives. H. McCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. The total issue of 5-20 bonds under act of March 3, 1865, was, on the first day of January, 1867... Of which amount there had been issued in conversions, viz: $266, 665, 350 00 which were made upon the terms indicated in the schedule accompanying, marked A. The avails of said bonds have been used in the purchase of 7 notes to the amount of $41,212,250 principal, upon the terms indicated in the schedule accompanying, marked B, and the balance in retiring compound interest notes, certificates of indebtedness, and temporary loan. The commissions paid on account of sales of bonds amount to $88,872 75, as per schedule accompanying, marked C. The commissions paid on account of purchase of 7,3 notes amount to $13,010 56, as per schedule accompanying, marked D. |