THE TURAKINA FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 25, 24 October 1907, Page 8

THE TURAKINA FIRE.

COMMISSION OF ENQUIRE : (Before Dr. M'Arthur, S.M., Captain Willi* ami Mr. W. G. Foster.) "' ■' Tho Commission resumed at 10 o'clock yes-■ terday morning. , ■ :■■■'■.■■■ George Timmis Seotchor, who superin- ', tended the discharging operations ;at. Mira-; mar, gave evidence. . ■• ■ , •;'■■ :■ To Mr. Myers (for the Marine Department) .\ witness stated: He had been unable to distinguish the brands on thc-discliarged bales, as fche action of the fire and the subsequent Hooding of tho hold had obliterated-them. Re- 1 ferring to the bales which, had come under his notice, he thought that, generally speak-' ing, 'they were of inferior quality. - ; About one-third (roughly, 500 bales), had riot been properly stripped, scutched, bleached,-or washed. Ho was of opinion that flax of this quality should not be shipped. He would have rejected it altogether. He understood that rejected flax was allowed to be shipped;

He was of opinion that in ■ thu ■ interests of tho industry, if for nothing else, such shipments, should not be allowed to go forward. '.. When properly treated before 'shipment, the bales; even if afterwards moistened; would not heat.

Only those bales' which contained , badly ! : scutched flax would 1 generate heat:-' The bales handled by witness were- only burnt on, the outside, none, showing signs of internal, combustion. There were, however, certain bales of tow, about '20 dumps, wjiich were' • very hot internally. Witness was riot in'a '' position to say whether those particular bales were shipped in a' damp condition' or riot. , ' The sample submitted was a fair typeofthfhanks used in the flax bales. In his mills- •, safety matches only were useJ. .i. ',' .-■ To Mr. , Johnston: Ho would expect to find; a "stick" of green flax in'common: grade '~ shipments, but. not in higher grades; ,cer- ....... tainly not to thelextent.ho. had'noticed;,at Miramar. : ; ' ! ■ '"< : .'- : , - -V , -.i <.-.i,;- ■'. To Mr. Fisher: : Did not think it probable that a stray match in the interior jf a bale ~ ;.-. would- ignite. ';'(•■.• :;- ■■• -.- ■■: ■■: ; To Captain Willis: The Auckland grader,, . : Mr: Johnstoiv had repeated that the Auck- . , land shipment for the Turakina, was in ox-. , . ceptionally good condition. Of the tow,,;he could say* nothing, there being no provision for the grading of that ■ product.- •, He had • ■■ seen tow-bales heated to such an extent that ■■ they could scarcely be touched.:- He had • never known a bale to -actually :. ignite.""

"Scutcher-dust" was always to bo found in i bales containing badjy dressed flax. ■■■■■ Thoso: bales at Miramar which were heated; all con- . : tainctl M s6utched-dust;" the others,' although ■■■• "they had been completely submorged'in the'- ' Hooding of the.'hold during tlicfire, : were quite i ■ cool, and wore entirely frec'from "scutcherdust." i< , ., ■;■'■ ' .'"' ■• To Mr: Myers: It was probable 5 that the- • ! falling market in London: had something to ■'■ : do with the inferior 1 shinmwits, "as the , mil-- ■ lers might possibly'have' liurried ; their , con-- ' signments forward. :..,... i ..-■ Michael Francis Bourke, wool and hemp ex-, porter, wasthen.cxamined. He had seen the discharged bales at Miraniar, and; had noticed that these were burnt on the outside only.. To Captain Willis: Had a' bale ignited m- : ■ternally, .the singeing would have beeirapparent right through.- With regard to ship-. • ments of tow, lie considered that these should be subject to proper inspection'and grading. ,■ Tow it properly : treated should''not'get '■'■ heated, oven if afterwards moistened: A; balo • > of tow would not of itself ignite, but if stowed in a-ship's hold in proximity to "slipi wool, -'. flax, and kauri gum, it , would be , difficult ,to say what the result might be: "He. was; of; , opinion that the tow'in question was damp : before shipment.,' ■' . . '■'. ' , __' .: .',; William Henry Ferns,' Government. Hemp -, • Grader, gave evidence that he had seen the bales from the Turakina at K Miramar. 'Hβ had gone out, unofficially, J out of curiosity. Did not think that he had seen -.any (lax , of inferior quality, similar,.to. sample submitted ' in court. Flax of the same quality 'as the .. sample would be condemned for quality, but would nevertheless be shipped. .There , ; >ya3, . no regulation prohibiting ,the, shipment .of. condemned bales. The Harbour /-.Board, officials . had sometimes -called, his, attention to, the, ... condition- of. certain shipments,, but he .was .... .. unablo to.interfere. . .They used to prevent such shipments from being stowed,., but did . not do so now. . It was mere?"; stipulated that the bales should be dry;. ■ ; ■ ,■ ~Dr' J. S. M'Laurin, Government Analyse,, gave evidence. . In/eply to.Mr. Myers, he ■-, : considered that prpperly.-dressed flax..could, not pbssibly ignite. ■~ ■In badly scutched bales,' ■ . there was' certainly', a greater to combustion. Green vegetable matter .in-, . variably heated in the process of decompo.si- .; Won. He suggested,:.as a theory, ; tuat spontaneous combustion arising from wool- ■ . bales might,.by the proximity of ;the flax-,-cargo, have contributed to the fire. !Hiswvn :i .. opinion was that.the-; fire- originated; from, . either matches or the ashes .of'; a. pipe while : the cargo was:being handled-iat -Auckland. • With regard-to the sample ■submitted,.-he! thought that there was a certain danger to - be apprehended in shipments-containing such.fln\ ■ ■■ .'■;■■ :■ ;'." >'* - ' .1" , .'i.^.' Mr. W. G.Foster. put it to witness whether there was any.-, analogy: .between -hay- ■■■ stacks and flax-bales. In the former, .where r the" hay had been -thoroughly dried, it; had ■ been found that no heating ever arose by tno ■ subsequent soaking.of-tho stack/- Could not- - this reasoning be applied.to flax-balesr;,v. ■ L Ur. M'Laurin thought that there was a slight difference; The principle was■'. cer- ' tainly correct, but there was a certain amount: of gum in flax which would require bo reckoned with. Ho did not think that 160 ■ per cent, of heat'would cause ignition.;-..- Ho ■ had been told that 150-per cent was ■ sum-■'■■ cient, but he think it probable;. ■• ; To Dr. M'Arthur: Did not think spontane- - ous combustion originated the fire.■■ ■'_-■ . ■ ~ Mr. Myers-'said that there-was no turtnor ovidonco'to call. .. Ho- suggested that tho ' Government Grader- at Auckland, might, through'the Agricultural Department,, asked to supply the details of. his classifica- - tion of the Auckland, shipments. He_iilso V suggested riiat, in; the meantime,- the Com- ' missioners might inspect certain bales which ' had been shipped in No. 5 hold at the same time' as' those- among which the 'fire had pn-' ; - ' ; 1 gimilly been discovered. '• '"■■ ". The Court agreed with counsels suggestions-, and an adjournment until 2.30 p.m; waa , accordingly made, to' enable Captain .Forboß ! ■ to make the necessary arrangements -for ;the inspection: '''.'.". '~... .'■. '