DEATH OF A SEAMAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 133, 28 February 1908, Page 4

DEATH OF A SEAMAN.

! CORONER'S INQUIRY. I SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN DEVOrKEI BY SHABKS. i ! > The'adjourned' inquest touching tho death ;r : - of Angus M'Kinnon. a seaman, who fell over- | board from the Union S. S. Co.'s steamer [ • Warrnnoo on January 21 last, during the 5:;. : • v voyago of tbo steamer from Sydney to.Weilington, wag held before the Jtfeputy-Coronci, f i\Jr. A. Simpson, yesterday morning Subi,lnspector O'Douovan appeared on behalf of tho police, \i • .William John King, phief officer of. tho r.v.'i.-Warrimoo, deposed that he was. not on duty f. . ; at the time of the accident. Ho had known I the-deceased seaman.-.(Angus- MlKinnon). smco. i' . . - joining the ship on October 12, 1907., M'Kin- ■ • ■ non was rated as A.H., and employed oil tho . stoamer as quarterdeck man. His duties were- to seo that "the. as, kept clean. Witness: first-became-.- aware of the .! fact that something was wrong by,.- heating j , . the [engines being ■ reversed.] . He. vent ...to stiperviso the lowonng of tfee boat, vhicli was then in tbo act: of being,-lowered, Theio : was no sign of tho missing seaman,: - V\it-. • ness -subsequently obsoiTcd:,twp ;01 tjuco ' large sharks swimming about the spot iihei,e deceased was last seen, and camo to.tlie con- . ' elusion that the seaman had been .attacked. ,v >. by them. The steamer remained 111 the. locality ~oftho accident from . 1.19 p.m. until «..-2-40 p.m. ■ A look-out was posted at eaclt masthead and tho ship ended about, but ■ nothing further was scan. ..Tho rccognispd. i : rule in such cases was, when the alarm -v as - giveji, for the, 1 ship to go about, not astenv .. In single-screw, steamers this inauosuvre .took ; .longer than in twin-scrow steamers, Tho deceased, seaway was " responsible man,, and | . .- did not require supervision. Witness knew i ■ • v nothing of ■M'Kiiiiipu'b. duties oii-.thcL.QCca-. i .Bion. ot the accident. -It. was not. usual for ■i i seamen , to be employed on • tho -vnil cleaning ' • : or painting the- outside of a ship while- at sea, and : such, duties were.: not : often per- ' formed on;j steamors-; in v.v.luchv: witness had • ■• ■ been.. Deceasodiwas a careful and tidy man, ..-. > •- whose prido it was to keep thfit part of the. '>■■■ , ship winch was allotted to him spick and-; .; - span, and .this, no doubt, led him.to engage- • in tho .work -which, contributed to his. death:*

: Witness would • certainly have stopped :■ M'Kinnon from tho. performance of such T.'ork, m fact, had doni to'-on a previous ■I ' occasion.; J Any passonger^who-miglit . have • observed 'the'. oceurrenco -could have thrown •.! a life-buoy:.or some..of:.thoL.dcck.chairs ; w]nc]i_ ' i stood about. Ho had-not been able to dis-: cover whether»any buoys had ■ been : thrown: ■ . out or .notj although an empty, belt was, v afterwards- noticed. : A-i life-buoy-ron'Ssuch'sa-ivn:: ■ dayas that in question could bo seen for a. -. .-. distance of - .two. miles. - . .Witness,-considered

; - that M'Kinnon was . entirely -to blame., for: . the accident, wlijch had been brought about ' by-Ins own failure to comply, ivith his (the, chief: officer's) previous prohibition regarding work on tho ext'eriorof tho ship.;, r.i Arthur'-'Victor -Richardsou,"fourth .officer; of tho Warnmooj stated, under examination, -■v. that ho was oil the bridge at the-.timerof'the . i accident. Tho third officer reported to him that M'Kinnon . had:- fallon overboard;'.! jHo

: / . did'not throw a life-buoy; to?tho man/but :.'A,rnshod off. to clear tho boat. His reason for i not throwing a life-buoy ■ was due to the v• v fact that he. hod heard tho . third officor giving ordors .to ;son)cono .to .throw'. oiio: Wit- ;■ ncss took chargo of tho boat, and directed :..: , its: courso towards: iv cluster of birds winch had settled on tho water/.. .Several large i-v.sharks, some as large as tho boat;,-:were seen v : .; ~in; the vicinity, pointing /to the : conclusion- . that dccaased had boon dovoured,.. fho boat : was rowed about the spot for about'an hour before returning to thc'slup. Witness had ; not observed tM'Kinnpn -at work-previous to ; • the accident.' ''Had :ho dono so-lie .would : have reported the matter to the chief' officer; ; l AVilliam^Lindsay,, third officer' of <thc Wari . . : rimoo.f statedvthat on. the day -in . question ■: v - it had beerf, reported to lumby'a passenger that aman: had fallen ,overboard. :■ Ho vfjid not know at. the timo who tho man was. i: v. " Witness , was not on duty then j immediately on .hearing, of the accident ho wont;on tho bridge and rang for "Astorn " Tho sen'oi - officer on. tho bridge in' such an emergency . i .took • chargo. No orders r were- givon '. to •'; throw a life-buoy. . Ho thought : t|iat a : buoy ■■■;■ should have been r thrown to indicate the / , .t■;... Bpot . where the had boon stopped. It. i v. : was, however, a 'calm day, and tho steamer's wake was plainly discernible. His order to - , , go astcrn was in accordance with the Com- • i pany's instructions. : Tho spoed of tho vessel .at'the time of the (accident was from 13 to 14 knots, and .three minutes would elapse' ;....' •. lief ore iher: way. was stopped, and va- distance-1 . of; three-quarters of' a mile would probably I ■ i be-.covered, and this distanoe--would- require , to bo traversed by the/boat. : Witness con-' .. • Bidered tlafc-everything . thaty was i possible -to be dono'hadi been, done.' ..- -v-vv ;■ Benjamin James Finucane, a passenger on ooard ,tho Warnmoo on the occasion of the' ; accident, gavo , evidenco. that on going to, . lunch at 1.5 p.m. he observed a seaman ... standing on the rail and working round-towards-tho outsido of tho ship, •' Evorythiug possible :was, -m -. his opinion, dono -on tlio occasion in question. Ho did not seo any > buoy thrown •by a passenger; had a buoy • . been thrown lie would have seen it. ' ' , ;.Cecil Finucane, : ag<;d .sevnn v yoars, stated that ho .fla(v-».spaman Btflinling on tho rail, : ;i; . washing tho-upper'deck, on' tho date of tho : : occurronco. - Witness saw the man-fall into tho watei. Decevod 'did' not cry out, but ■■.!, threw up his hands. Ho did not' know what . happened to the man.after. 1 Witness called • out, and tho alarm nvaS l given..? ; Oth'er pas- 1 sengen collected at the storn, but nothing ... fnithoi was .seon of the ■ seaman. ••Witnew' did not seo any hijoy? tin own Owing to tho absencQ of O'aptnin Newton, . commandcr. of the s.s. Waikaro,: who was ;, in charge .of the ,Warrimoo at tho time" of- . tho accident,, the ;inquiry, was , further ad--, ■journed until'; 11-a.iri; -to-day.-