Book or apparent time) was about: to be made when a junk was reported by the lookout and seen from the bridge e, having no 4 lights out and being uncertain as to her movements, the helm was put to starboard to give her a wider berri, the deck-stern lights of one of the steamers referred to being North of the junk and about three points on our starboard bow. The Master hearing order to starboard came on the bridge and directed that helm should be starboarded to give steamer a still wider berth, when it was meticed that the steamer was rapidly starboarding and closing with us, the port engine was immediately reversed full speed, but the steamer which proved to be the Chinese cruiser' Whantai closed and struck us on starboard side at an angle of about 20 degrees to 30 degrees by forward gangway ladder ripping it away, the starboard engine was then stopped and the Whantai slid alo ship's side and it was suppose she had sustained no injuries beyond a glancing blow. Engines Were at once used to bring ship back to the vessel who now showed signs of distress by frequent blasts on syren, boats were cleared away and two life boats at once dispatches to assist, finally eight of ship's boats were taking off liber crew, she apparently having received damage Our starboard propeller." aft, evidently from contact with
Then follow particulars of the rescue sinking of the cruiser It will be at once observed that while the plan makes the two vessels meet at an angle of about forty-tive degrees, the entry in the log book makes the angle one of between 20 and 30 degrees, and this agrees with the evidence of most of the mail steamer's witnesses, and also more in accord with the injuries sustained by the mail steamer. Ju. another plan drawn during the trial the angle is shown as forty degrees, and that seems to be the lowest angle the maneeuvres assumed in the plan admit of.
If the veewels had met at that angle the damage at the points of first impact would probably have been much more serious.
But a more important clement is the clement. of time. We cannot expect to have in a collision a record of the exact: wt at which each thing is seen or but we have in this case the means ing with reasonable accuracy the h elapsed from the time the cruiser was seen to starboard until the rs of the two vessels came into col-
The Commander says that very soon after going on the bridge it- appeared to him that the cruiser was closing and he gave the order to starboard, that as he gave that order he was sure she was class ing, and gave the order to hard a starboard, and, as he did so, to save time, he worked the telegraph' himself and ordered the port engine to be reversed, and he says that the order to reverse the port engine remained on the telegraph until the first impact. The engineer in charge of the port engine says that he was standing within a few fect of the levers when the telegraph bell rang, that he reversed at once, and thet the next order full speed ahead was given at the time of or immediately after the impact. He said that it takes from ten to fifteen seconds to alter from full speed ahead to full speed astern, and he estimated that the engines were going astern fully three arters of a minute. But he afterwards said that the engine made about thirty
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.