Précis of the Reports referred to are annexed in alphabetical order. 1. "ADINA," of Glasgow. Official Number, 58,579. Date when last heard of, 20th April, 1880. Date of Inquiry, 22nd November, 1880. The Adina was an iron schooner of 92 tons register. On the 20th April, 1880, she sailed from the Clyde, bound for Exeter, with a cargo of 176 tons 6 cwt. of coal, and since that date nothing has been heard of her. An Inquiry into the circumstances of the case was held at Glasgow before the Wreck Commissioner, assisted by Captain H. D. Grant, R.N., and Captain Kennedy, Assessors. The Court found that the vessel had no other means of ventilation for her hold than the booby-hatch, which was wholly insufficient for the purpose. As, however, the coal which the vessel carried is of a kind which gives off very little gas, being shipped from the Hey. wood Collieries, the Court did not think that the loss of the vessel was due to an explosion. The Court consider, however, that the vessel's freeboard of only from 1 foot 34 inches to 1 foot 4 inches was wholly insufficient, and that she was consequently overladen; and it is to this cause that they attribute her loss. 2. "ERON VALE," of Aberystwith. Official Number, 28,297. Date of Casualty, 6th June, 1881. Date of Inquiry, 22nd and 23rd July, 1881. The Eron Vale was a wooden brig of 20163 tons register. In April, 1881, she loaded at Cardiff a cargo of 300 tons of steel rails, but when the loading was completed she was found to be making water. She was therefore placed on the mud for examination, and an open seam being found it was caulked and payed with coal tar instead of pitch. Several other bad places had also to be repaired. On the 30th April the Eron Vale was towed to Penarth Roads, still making water, and on the 10th May she sailed for Caravalles, Brazil. On the 25th May the vessel began to leak more, and continued to do so, and on the 6th June the water had increased so rapidly that the master and crew were compelled to abandon the ship, which shortly afterwards foundered. An Inquiry was held at Cardiff, before Mr. R. O. Jones, Stipendiary Magistrate, assisted by Captains Forster and Castle, Assessors. The Court found that the Eron Vale was not in a good and seaworthy condition when she left Newport, nor when she sailed from Penarth Roads, and that the leaks discovered were not properly repaired. They considered that the freeboard (2 feet 3 inches) was not sufficient, and that the cargo, having regard to its nature and to the construction and condition of the vessel, was too heavy. The Court did not think that the master was justified in proceeding to sea with the vessel in her condition, and they also blame him for not taking her into port. They, therefore, suspended the master's certificate for six months. 3. S.S. "ALFONSO," of Middlesborough. Official Number, 78,401. Date of Abandonment, 18th October, 1879. Date of Inquiry, 7th January, 1880. On the 15th October, 1879, the Alfonso sailed from Aarhuus for Ipswich with a cargo of 1,619 quarters of wheat, stowed partly in bulk and partly in bags. On the 18th a moderate gale came on, during which the vessel lurched and went over on her port-side, and it was then found that the cargo had shifted through the temporary wooden bulkhead which had been fitted in the main-hold having given way. Subsequently the vessel was abandoned. An Inquiry was held at Middlesborough before Mr. Coleman, with Captains Curling and Beasley, Assessors. The Court attributed the casualty to the shifting of the cargo, and they considered that the ship had not been properly laden, as required by section 22 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1876. They found the master in default for fitting a bulkhead unfit for the purpose, and not using other and sufficient means to prevent the cargo from shifting. The vessel had no shifting boards, the master relying solely on the temporary bulkhead and the packing and pressure of the grain in bulk, and no attempt had been made to use the bags by laying them on the top of the grain. The master was aware of the cargo the vessel was to carry, and he had special facilities for getting shifting boards. The Courts also found the mate in default for neglecting to see that the temporary bulkhead was properly fixed and secured before taking in cargo. The Court suspended the master's certificate for six months and reprimanded the mate. 4. S.S."ALNE HOLME," of Maryport. Official Number, 72,925. (See Official Caution, page 246.) 5. "AMADINE," of Liverpool. Official Number, 56,466. Date of Inquiry, 6th June, 1877. On the 30th August, 1876, the Amadine sailed from London on a voyage to Penang. Her cargo consisted of 325 tons of coals, besides a quantity of coal tar, matches, beer, spirits, and crockery. The hold was ventilated by means of a sliding panel in the fore and after-hatches, which were provided with covers in case of bad weather. The main-hatch was battened down, and the long boat put above it. On the 6th December, the boatswain when called to relieve the watch was found stupefied, and there was a strong sulphurous smell in the cabin. On the two following days the smoke or steam increased, but nothing was done to ascertain the cause until Saturday, the 9th December, when, as the vapour was still increasing, the master had a ventilator put down the hold. It soon became clear that the ship was on fire, and after making unavailing efforts to save her, the master and crew were forced to abandon her. At the Inquiry which was held in London before the Wreck Commissioner and Captains Forster and Castle, acting as Assessors, the Court found that the loss of the ship was due to spontaneous combustion of the coal. The Commissioner observed that the coal had been shipped in a wet condition; that a part of it had been subjected to much breakage; and that there was no evidence to show that it did not contain iron pyrites. The Court thought that the mode of ventilation adopted was not good or proper, but that it did not contribute to the loss of the ship. They, however, blamed the master for not taking steps at the first to ascertain the cause which ultimately led to the burning of the vessel. 6. S.S." ANNIE ARBIB," of London. Official Number, 68,522. Date of Casualty, 28th November, 1881. Date of Inquiry, 5th and 6th January, 1882. The Annie Arbib was an iron screw steamship of 753 tons register. On the 16th November she left Cronstadt for London, with a cargo of about 1,200 or 1,210 tons of grain (wheat and oats) and 115 tons of bunker coal. After passing Copenhagen she encountered a heavy gale, during which she took a list to starboard, and from that time the cargo seemed to be constantly shifting from side to side. The gale increased in violence, till at length the vessel being struck by a tremendous sea, which caused serious damage, lay over on her starboard-side. The master and crew then abandoned her and were taken into Yarmouth by a smack. An Inquiry was held at Westminster before the Wreck Commissioner, assisted by Captains Forster and Castle, and Mr. C. W. Merrifield, Assessors. The Court considered that the shifting boards fitted in the vessel were not sufficient for the purpose. There was a space of about 9 or 10 feet long in the fore part of the fore 'tween-decks, and a like space in the fore part of the after 'tween-decks, where there were no shifting boards at all, and in the after part of the fore-hold as well in the lower-hold as in the 'tween-decks there was also for a length of some 3 or 4 feet no shifting boards, and although about 4 or 5 feet of this space immediately below the hatchways would be covered to the extent of about a foot by the projecting ends of the shifting boards in No. 2 hatchway, the lower parts were open again; some of the shifting boards were secured to the stanchions by hook bolts and nuts at each end, whilst others had only one end secured, the other end resting against the stanchions, which formed a species of ladder for the men going in and out of the hatchways, and it was to these loose ends for the most part that the shifting boards in the hatchways were secured by spikes or nails, 5 inches long. Such a mode of fixing the boards was, in the opinion of the Assessors, neither safe nor proper, the planks being 17 feet long and single ought to have been attached at every stanchion. There were, moreover, no beam fillings in the 'tween-decks. The Court came to the conclusion that the master was in default for the defective stowage of the cargo to which the loss of the vessel was attributable, and they therefore suspended his certificate for six months. 7. "ANNIE RICHMOND," of Liverpool. Official Number, 60,070. Date of abandonment, 5th October, 1877. Date of Inquiry, 13th March, 1878. This vessel sailed from Liverpool for Valparaiso, on the 1st August, 1877, with a cargo of 1,000 tons of coal. A part of this had been taken from the Main Delf Seam of the West Lancashire Colliery Company, and was particularly liable to spontaneous combustion. Some of it had been shipped in a wet condition, and it was also much broken in loading. The ventilation of the ship was deficient, and in bad weather there was none at all, as the hatches when down, covered the mouths of the ventilators. On the 2nd October the cargo was observed to be on fire, and notwithstanding the efforts made to keep it under, the master and crew were finally obliged to abandon the ship. An Inquiry was held at Liverpool before Mr. Raffles, and Captains Grant and Wilson, Assessors. The Court found the master to blame for having no thermometers on board, as recommended by the Royal Commission on Spontaneous Combustion, a precaution which they thought the owners, as well as the master, might have seen to. The appliances for extinguishing fire were most unsatisfactory, as there was no fire-engine, and the hose was in a useless state. The owners should have provided a fire-engine, and the master should have seen that the hose was in a proper state of repair. The master should also have examined all the ventilators before sailing, and should from time to time have examined into the state of the cargo. The Court considered that owners and masters of coal-laden ships should be compelled to attend to the recommendation of the Royal Commission as to carrying thermometers for the purpose of testing, periodically, the temperature of the cargo, and that such an omission on the part of the master should be considered as a gross act of negligence. They also urged the necessity for a system of surface venti. lation, as recommended by the Commissioners. 8. S.S. "BALLINA," of Liverpool. Official Number, 78,780. Date when last heard of, 5th January, 1882. Date of Inquiry, 10th, 11th, 28th and 29th March, 1882. The Ballina was an iron screw steamship of 170 tons register. She sailed from Liverpool on the 5th January, 1882, for Ballina, with a general cargo amounting, with the bunker coal, to 296 tons, and was never seen again after finally leaving the river. A few days afterwards a quantity of her wreckage and the bodies of three of the crew were picked up in the neighbourhood of the Isle of Man. An Inquiry was held at Liverpool before the Wreck Commissioner, assisted by Captain J. M. G. Grant, R.N., Commander H. D. Burney, R.N., and Mr. C. W. Merrifield, Assessors. The Court came to the conclusion that the Ballina had not sufficient stability, and from the evidence given before them it appeared that at sea she would have a freeboard only of from 3 to 4 inches. They found that the owner was to blame for sending the vessel to sea overladen, and they thereupon ordered him to pay a sum of £150. 9. "BLACKPOOL," of Fleetwood. Official Number, 68,622. Date when last heard of, 20th January, 1880. Date of Inquiry, 24th and 25th November, 1880. The Blackpool was a sailing ship of 290-96 tons register, built in 1873. In November, 1879, she was surveyed for Lloyd's subsequent to her purchase, the result being that her classification was |