Providence Patriot, Columbian Phenix

The recent loss of the steam boat Washington, under my command, attended as it was by circumstances of a very distressing character,—was briefly noticed by me at the time, in a letter addressed to the Editors of the Mercantile Advertiser.

Having left the city on Tuesday, the 17th instant, for the purpose of endeavoring to raise the wreck, I had not time to notice the statements of John Voorhis, Capt. B. W. Comstock, and Nath'l. M. Allen, which appeared in the papers of that day, purporting to be an answer to my letter above alluded to. It certainly was not my intention in writing that letter to provoke a newspaper controversy. I was anxious as an individual in a responsible station, to protect myself from imputations which, under similar circumstances to those in which I was placed, are sometimes correctly, often without cause, lavished upon the actors in the scene, by a simple statement of the facts as I believed and still believe them to exist.

That letter has however, been replied to by counter statements," to which a regard to truth and to my own character, compel me at once to reply.

In my letter I stated that "I was informed, on board the Chancellor, that she was under the particular direction of Mr. Voorhis, the principal owner."

'To this Mr. Voorhis replies—"This is not the fact, nor was he Capt. T. so informed by any officer or hand on board the Chancellor. Who else could have warranted him in such an assertion?"

My authority for that assertion was Capt. Comstock himself, the master of the Chancellor. Shortly after she had left the Washington, I asked him if he was on deck when the boats came in contact.— He replied, "no." I then asked him who was at the wheel? to which he answered Mr. Allen and Mr. Voorhis, and that Mr. Voorhis gave directions how the boat should be steered; and that had not Mr. Voorhis been at the wheel the accident would not have occurred."

The same statement, in substance, was afterwards made by Capt. C. to another individual, whose name, if necessary, will be given hereafter. This I consider a sufficient answer to Mr. Voorhis' question of "who else could have warranted him in such an assertion"

Besides, Mr. Voorhis himself admits that he was standing near the wheel, and called out "stop her"—certainly a very improper situation, a very improper order for a mere passenger.

As to the statement of Mr. Voorhis, that "Mr. Allen, the principal pilot, was an experienced man, known to Capt. Tomlinson," without discussing the question of his experience, I would remark, that I never before heard of him as a pilot, and certainly had never known him act in that capacity.

Not content with endeavoring to screen himself from blame, Mr. Voorhis attempts to cast censure upon the pilot of the Washington; he says, "the wheel of the W. was the pilot's son—the pilot was not there" It is not the custom of the boats of this line for the pilots to take the wheel except in passing through the gate, or coming from at the wharf. The man at the wheel is under his immediate orders; and in the night especially, the pilot is frequently on the forecastle, from whence he can discover objects at much greater distance than from the wheel house, where his sight is dimmed by the glare of the binnacle and side lights. On nearing vessels so that they can be distinguished from the wheel house, it is his duty to repair to his station near the wheel, as was the case in the present instance. The pilot was standing near the wheel, giving directions to his son, at the time the boats came in collision.

The son of the pilot is himself a competent man, having been seven years engaged on the sound—three years of which, as mate of one of the Rhode Island packets, and is perfectly familiar with the route.

As to the time in which the vessels were along side, it is not to be supposed that in a moment of such imminent danger, when my mind and exertions were directed to saving the lives of the passengers under my charge, a number of whom were ladies, and to the preservation of such property as could be reached, that I could accurately estimate the exact number of minutes in which I was employed. As Mr. Voorhis, however, considers this material, I state, as I have before stated, my existing impression, that it was not more than twenty minutes before the Washington's bow was under water. Mr. Voorhis also considers me in error, in asserting that the W. was cut down twenty feet It argues but poorly for Mr. Voorhis' candor, that he should descend to such trifling matters to fasten upon me the charge he has been pleased to impute to me, of having made a 'garbled statement.'"

I presume he will not deny the sinking of the boat in consequence of the damage she sustained, and I really cannot see of what great importance the number of feet she was cut down can be towards ascertaining the party to whom the blame of the transaction is properly to be attributed. I may have been in error and time may, I regret I cannot say with Mr. Voorhis "will," determine whether I was in such error. I shall at present state the facts, it was impossible to have examined the extent of the damage from the outside, the position of the two boats absolutely precluded the attempt, my opinion was predicated entirely on what I saw in the cabin. The vessel filled so rapidly that we had not time to clear away the rubbish to discover the full extent of the leak; the births and doors which enclosed the engine were broken down, a space I should think of 20 feet at least.

The concluding part of Mr. Voorhis' letter is certainly very extraordinary. he says "no charge has been made by the Chancellor for services rendered to boat or passengers." I had supposed heretofore that it was the duty of man, at all times to assist his fellow man in moments of peril; and little did I expect to find any individual arrogate to himself peculiar grace for having saved the life of a human being free of charge—least of all did I suppose an individual of that profession whose home is emphatically on the deep, and who may at a moment be himself obliged to some humane person for his preservation, would authorize or permit a statement to be published calculated so seriously to affect his character as a man, and more especially, as a commander

"No charge has been made by the Chancellor for services rendered to boat or passengers."

Well might the incendiary who has destroyed the dwelling of his neighbor, claim compensation for assisting him to escape from the flames!

I shall trespass but little more upon the patience of the public. I will simply allude to the statements of Capt. Comstock and Mr. Allen. Capt. C. denies the existence of an understanding as to the mode of passing, and remarks—"nor did I hear anything of it, until I saw his (Capt. T's) statement in the papers" That it is the general understanding for boats when meeting to take the right, I appeal to the Captains of all the boats on the Providence Line; and I believe the same understanding exists among all the commanders of steamboats on the Sound; such in fact is the law of the state

To the statement of Mr. Allen, the acting pilot, I have nothing to say. That part relating to the management of the Ch. in the time of coming in contact, is sufficient to satisfy any person acquainted with nautical matters upon whose head the blame rests. The W. it will be recollected was bound eastward, and was struck upon her larboard side—a sufficient proof that the W. was on the right side.

This will be the last statement with which I shall trouble the public—a statement I have been compelled to make in regard to my character, injured as it might have been by the manifold inaccuracies of those by whom the statement by which this is a reply has been drawn out. For the present, to the public I leave the determination of the true state of the affair.

CHARLES S. TOMLINSON.