TAINUI DISASTER

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16653, 14 October 1919, Page 4

TAINUI DISASTER

NAUTICAL ENQUIRY.

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS.

The nautical enquiry into the circumstances which led to the burning and wreck of the s.sl Tainui, off tho coast near Cheviot, on September 16th, was continued yesterday, at tho Magistratc's Court, Christchurch. Mr S. E. McCarthy, S.M., presided, and Captain Felix Black and Mr AY. J. Le Cren, ■ engineer, were present, as assessors. Mr S. G. Raymond, K.C.„ represented the Marine Department, Mr Cr. H. Buchanan the New Zealand Refrigerating Co., and Mr O. T. J. Alpcrs the j Vacuum Oil Proprietary, Ltd: Mr H. ; F. O'Leary appeared for Mrs D. McLean, Mrs A. Fuller, and Mrs W„. Townsend, of Wellington, widows of | victims, Mr W. T. Young represented i the Seamen's Union, Mr T. H. Weston the Steamship Owners' Federation, Mr >E. W. "Whit© the Merchant Servico Guild, and the relatives of the late C. , Williams, D.S.M., and J. Howard, two of the victims, und Mr J. R. CuningJiam appeared for the widow of the late j Captain J. C. Cowan. ! John Buchanan Hay, the engineer employed in insulating the Tainui, stat•ccl, in'answer to Mr 15. W. White, that ■ tho insulation wa.« only installed foe j refrigeration, and only for short periods. To Mr Young: At the after-bulkhead forehold the insulation would bo 15 or 16 inches thick. At the fore bulkhead tho insulation would be 1 to o inches thick. At the wings it would bo iut'hcs thick. To Mr Buchanan: While witness was carrying out repairs at Wanganui, no complaints wore" made by the captain and engineer regarding the leakage of fumes, nor had he received complaints regarding the airtightness of the hold. He had never considered the matter of whether it was right or otherwise to carry benzine in the hold. He noticed that the bulkhead door had been incorrectly put back some time in 1918. To"Mr Raymond: Because a cargo of meat might go soft, after a week in the insulated space, it did not indicate any defect in the insulation. Robert Logan, at one time serving in tho Tainui, said he left the vessel at Lyttelton because he believed her to be unseaworthy, in consequence of which he asked Captain Williamson's permission to complain to the Superintendent of Mercantile Marine. The permission being granted, he laid the complaints as reported at the inquest proceedings. To Mr Young: The fumes came from the stokehold through the "iiddelcy.'' When witness, as the representative of the Seamen's Union on board, made complaints to Captain Williamson, the latter said he expected that theso defects would bo attended to when the vessel next .went on tho slip. The captain also added that lie hoped they would be carried out, as he felt unsafe himself. The captain said that he had difficulty in getting complaints attended to. The deck hands got the sack, with witness, owing to the complaiuts.lod o-u. The lifeboat was never placed in the water while witness was a member of the crew. The" boat had no cover, JJ nt j would be open to all weather. H;ad, there been a steel rope on the keel or the boat the chances were twenty to one that the persons drowned would have been saved. The cork lifebelts in the boat were perished and practically useless. 1 i Mr Young stated that he was asking these questions because all the bodies recovered had lifcbolts around them. Continuing liis answers to Mr Young, the witness said the belts were of the old-fashioned type. Regarding the boat, witness had often passed the xpmark that lie would not like to bo put to tho necessity of using it, as it was too light and liable to capsize easily. In fact, she was scarcely a lifeboat at all She had air-tanks as far as witnns's knew, but ho had no knowledge o'f their condition. Tho falls were good, but tho sails were perished. With no cover on the boat, the latter, which was close to the funnel, would be perished, too. To Mr Buchanan: Witness had no personal grievance against tho company. ' If it had been stated that dur : ing the time he had been in thtf Tainui she carried no benzine, he would deny

To Mr Young: Ho was not examined p.t the inquest proceedings on, the question of life-saving appliances. "William B. Downbam, fireman, said he had bepn employed in tho Tainui for eicbteen months or moro, and was discharged ou June 14tli, 1919. He remembered benzine being carrieu in the vessel on several occasions. Tho fumes tvero so bad that lio would not go into the tunnel or bunkers with a nakod light. The fore ehd of tho boiler was so close to tho bulkhead that witness cduld not squeeze botwoen them. The bulkhead door alwayfe appeared in good order. When the\ previous witness loft the vessel at Lyttelton, she was leaking, and was a month overdue in her overhaul. Ho saw two holes in the afterliold through to tho bilges. The holes were caulked when benzine was carried. During his eighteen months in the vessel, boat drill was only carried out twice —onco at Wanganui, and •once at Lvttelton. He had seen the insulation in tho afterhold when it was damaged: To Mr Young: The fumes in the bunkers were always stronger than in tho ©ngine-rooiu. Occasionally, clinkers from tho fire would roll into th 6 bunkers. If the fumes were strong enough to come into contact with the clinkers on the plate, thero- was nothingrto stop an explosion, as the bunkers were only a few inches away. At the overhaul of tho vessel she was made tight again. . To Mr Raymond: After leaving Lyttelton on her last trip, the vessel "would probably be restated at about 2 o'clock the following morning. 1 Charles Ashwell Benson, a waterside worker, who was employed in loading tho Tainui before she left Lvttelton on her last trip, repeated the evidenco ho had previously given at the inquest. He thought that the tins enclosing the benzine were not so good as they used eo be. To Mr Cuningham: Because a tin of benzine was wet it did not always signify that tho tin was leaking. The ploughs shipped with the benzine had, no chance of shifting, even in rough weather. To Mr O'Loary: Before stowing the cases he examined them when carrying them from the sling they were raised in. To Mr Alpers: The fact that it had rained heavily while the cases wore in the trucks before being loaded might liavo caused the tins to be wet. "When he packed the ploughs in with tho benzine cases he could not hate taken another tier of them in, or taken one out. To Mr Young: The space was left between the cargo and tho bulkhead for a current of fresh air. Thomas Faull, a waterside worker, also gave evidence, stating that the cargo was quite the worst ho had over handled. To Mr Alpers: He did not hear anyone in authority complaining that the cargo was being" handled roughly. To Mr Young: He had handled cargoes of kerosene in a similar manner to this cargo. He considered that before tho war bettor* material was used in the tins than was now the case. He thought if the benzine was encased in drums similar to oil drums, it would be much safer than in the tins in use today. The enquiry will be continued at 9.30 a.m. to-day.