SUDDEN LIST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 99, 29 April 1933, Page 7

SUDDEN LIST.

MISHAP TO LINER.

"SOMEBODY MADE A

MISTAKE."

OVER £50,000 DAMAGE.

News by mail contains further details respecting the mishap at Seattle on March 24 to the 14,000-ton American mail liner President Madison, which suddenly listed and heeled over while undergoing repairs, endangciing tlie lives of 185 men as torrents of water poured through the gap left by the removal of three of her forward plates. Imprisoned in her flooded hold all night were Jack Ross, 60, engine room storekeeper, and Carl Edberg, 40, junior, engineer, and. for some time tliey were given up as lost. The following morning Ross was rescued by divers, but Edberg was still missing next day. "Turned Wrong Valve." "Somebody made a mistake," was the cryptic statement of Ancil F. Haines, vice-president of the American Mail Line, in explaining tlie freak accident that caused over £50,000 damage to the liner. Thomas Short, United States steamboat inspector directing the official investigation, concurred, declaring: "Probably somebody turned the wrong valve and pumped the water ballast to the starboard side, causing a list that put the hole where the plates had been removed, under water, but it could never have happened at sea." She was lying fast undergoing repairs alongside the Todd dock in Ellitt Bay. Her three forward plates had been itmoved. Her water ballast had been shifted to port to allow workmen to get between the dock and her starboard for necessary repairs. Suddenly —without warning—the liner teetered to starboard. Shouting and scrambling of the surprised crew and workmen caused & near

panic. In three minutes the President Madison had listed approximately 60 per cent and settled against the dock. Danger of Fire. A thoughtful crew member or officer touched the alarm bell, and it rang constantly as men scrambled through a maze of jumbled chairs, tables and railings to tlio main deck, now nearly vertical. The coastguard cutter Chelan answered a call for help and aided officers in rescue work. Three Chinese, trapped on C deck, were hoisted through portholes on the starboard side of the liner. It was with difficulty that John Hansen, GB, veteran deck watchman, was rescued. Officers followed his low, weakening cries to the dining room, where he was found pinned virtually under water. Da'nger of fire added to the hazardous position of the liner. Although the

engine-room crew shut off oil from the boilers, smoke continued to pour from funnels and through, portholes for some time. Efforts to right the ship started next day. Temporary plates were to be put on her starboard and Gin pumps started to relieve the waterlogged liner. It was believed the President Madison will be out of commission for two months.