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Show The "IVis WISSM.M-1 Iiivosti;;u(ioii Wiushinglon,l. The oilicial report, of the n'-fev.w ' investigation was made public to-dav. The inspectors state that the H'"'ev-...7 was c onsid-ercd onsid-ercd safe, in all respects, and allowed to carrv thirty cal'in and twenty dock pa -senders; and that they do not believe be-lieve the statement of the otlicers that thevdidall that was: possihlo nudci the' circumstances to save the lives of the iasscugcrs. Kefcrring to tlie tcstiiuoiiy of Captain Woods, th.ey sav: "Tiie saving of ihe boat seemed to" bo uppermost in Ins mind, to the exclusion of the lives of the pass.cn- j gers, most of whom were helpless wo- j men and children:" and cite his own, - testimony in support of this opinion, i Attention wad called to tho fact that the evidence given at the mves- ' tigatiou by the olUcers and crew coincidcil with, in all tlie particulars, the assertion that there was no lime to do more than was done, no oppor-, oppor-, tunity to save the boat; that every man wad employed in the best manner man-ner wherever he happened to be on hand; that the boat's planks, etc., were thrown to those who went overboard, over-board, ami hose was laid, but water could not be applied. This testimony, ! say the commissioners, is seriously contradicted by some passengers, of more intelligence, perhaps, and cooler observation. The fire is supposed to have originated in the fireman's room, near the back connection of the boiler, and the inspectors, therefore, there-fore, should require all bulk-heads, boiler-hatches, and other wood work, near or around the boilers of all steam vessels, to be covered with metal, leaving a sufficient space for the air to circulate between such metal covering cov-ering of the wood work, us a preventive preven-tive against future disasters on steam- The commissioners find that the master wad acting without license: ! that he had no organization or discip- I line whatever in the department on ' board his vessel; no officer was desig- natetl to hike charge of boats, hie- j preservers and pumps; no printed in-! structions were posted up concerning the number and manner of using j life-preservers, or other life-saving ap- plianees; aud the women and child- j ren were deserted in the hour of their ( last extremity. Jf a. hose, bad been j attached to the pumps, or one or both had been promptly connected : with the fire extinguishers and steam smothering pipe, the latter of which was under charge, of the engineer, they firmly believe the fire might have been put out and a dreadful calamity ca-lamity avoided. The conduct oi I chief engi neer Pierce d u ri :ig the 1 burning of the steamer, as well as his unoHiccr-like conduct i after the calamity, deserve condemnation condemna-tion and the highest penalty pre-I pre-I scribal by law. The commissioners, j therefore, rccomineiiii the revocation ' of the license Of lioberf. Nash, a.s, engineer en-gineer on steam vesseis. "ivitiiin the I jurisdiction ot the Tinted States. i'.Vnd in order to guard against similar ! dUaster-i in future, the inspector- of steamboats are reerimmendi-d jo vilt vessels from time to time, and ascertain ascer-tain from their observation the condition con-dition of the organisation and apparatus ap-paratus !or extinguishing tire and saving life. As the ile.-at la-t inspection was up to the standard required re-quired by law, no dereliction of 'duty can be charged to the inspectors. Jus recommended, however, that tne Po-1 Po-1 tomae 1-eiry company he proseeuhxl for violation of tlie ste uuboai. ia a,ai Captain Wood and his mate ii. )) . Gpivott, for acting in siieh canaciLes without licence. The report has ben A-r'erit to uu Solicitor tieneral tor his action. |