THE TAUPO INQUIRY.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4264, 29 March 1879, Page 3

THE TAUPO INQUIRY.

The following article from the Auckland "Star," puts a Very different complexicn upon the tacts of the Taupo accident to that which was placed upon them by the telegrams we received, and by tbe judgment of the Court of Inquiry. In confirmation of the view taken by the "Star," it may be mentioned that since the accident the buoy* have, according to the "Bay of Plenty Time*," been chitted, by order of Captain Johnston, of the Marine Depsrtment :— The decisions which have been made by Board* of Inquiry investigating the causes of the wreoks that have been so frequent of late on our coast* have excited much unfavorable comment. Whether - ship has bun some ■core* of mils* out of its coune, and ha* run headlong into a candy beach, or whether a steamboat has been driven at full speed, in a thiok fog, on to a rook well known to everybody, and correctly marked on all oharts, ths judgments arrived at by these mysterious institutions seem te be inspired by motives, or produced by reason*, which ordinary mortals -vainly attempt to deduce from the evidence produced. At length a case ha* occured in which, by the audacity of it* conclusion* and it* supreme contempt for oemmon senss and well-established precedents, a Marine Board of Inquiry has shocked the general corsciance. This judgment fortunately ia invalid until confirmed by the Governor, and there can be little doubt that hi* advisers will withhold their approbation of this fearful and wonderful proceeding. A telegram in our Saturday's issue, reports that a petition to secure that result is already in course of signature. The harbor of Tauranga is perhaps as easy of approach as any harbor in the colony. The western head is a level and low bank of sand, the eastern head is a remarkable and solitary vo'canic hill of great altitude, and visible for many miles. The entrance of the harbor i* more than half a mile wide, but the deep water channel is only 250 yards. It is direotiy open to the north, and may be entered by steamers at all times and in all wind*. Am soon as the channel narrows to the 250 yards, a series of buoys and beacons commences, which is continued almost up to the township, or apparently until the channel becomes straight. These buoy* are black on one ride of the channel, or road as we may call it, and red ou the other. After two buoys, one on each hand, are passed by an entering ship, the channel takes a sudden turn of more than ninety degrees in an easterly direction, and on the spit whioh protrudes from tiie -mountain at this turn ,a standing beacon is fixed. This beacon is about 300 yards further in the harbor than the first buoy on the same, that is the easterly, side. Between this beacon and this buoy, but at a considerable distancs outside, that is te say, in the deep water aide of a line drawn from one to the other, at present lies stranded the noble ship Taupo. If then, these official guide* to ships indicated the truth, the Taupo would at this moment be afloat. Now, this remarkable and unhappy state of things should be thoroughly comprehended. We have here a fine harbour with buoys placed by the officers of H.M.S. Miranda, to point out to all navigators the deep water, and consequently the safe channel. In such a place and with such aids, soundings are unnecessary by a passing ship for they have already been taken, and there they are plainly recorded. All that the navigating officers have to do is to keep between the lines of tho buoy* on each side, and safety is guaranteed. And the Taupo is between these lines. Any passing landsman can see this, for the distance inside, that is on the channel side of the line, from buoy to beacon, is considerable. Our reader* will ask—Then, why is the Taupo ashore ? The answer is ready, but the facts are almost beyond belief—the buoy has shifted. It was originally placed by the officers of the Miranda on the very protruding bank of boulder* on which the Taupo now lies. lb was washed further to reward, and more to tbe north, and left this fatal bank extending a long way over the line between itself and the beacon. The consequence is that the Taupo, keeping outside the line, and in the channel thus marked out, was led officially into certain and inevitable danger. Will it be believed that it appeared in evidence that the harbor-master was well aware of this change of position of the buoy, and had been frequently urged by local navigators to replace it ? One of them, Captain Sellers, remonstrating strongly, had warned him that a wreok would happen there. But there the buoy remained, and there it remains still— and there, also, lies the victim of this criminal laziness. We have been informed on good authority, but can scarcely believe euch a painful statement, that the fact of this buoy having shifted, and of the certainty, in it* new position, of its leading ships to destruction, was reported to the Chief of the Marine Office in Wellington. Captain Johnson ia the UnderSecretary and should know, but be did not mention the circumstance during the sitting of the Court, of which he was a member. We have not space on this occasion to analyse the evidence, or to examine the very singular judgment of the Court, but the subject will be resumed. At present, we invite the public to consider the peculiar aspect of this event. Either the Marine Department were responsible for the catastrophe, in consequence of the ill position of the mark to guide ships, or the master of the Taupo wa* responsible for disregarding them. Yet we find a representative of this Department, one possible delinquent, sitting on the Court to by the other. What would he have said if Captain Cromarty had been the Court trying him for neglect to replace a drifted buoy, whioh, in the captain's opinion, had earned the loss of bis ship ?