STABILITY OF'THE DUCO.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 671, 23 November 1909, Page 6

STABILITY OF'THE DUCO.

FURTHER EVIDENCE CALLED. EFFECT OF TUN TONS DECK COAL. The inquiry into tho circumstances surrounding the disappearance of tho steamer Duco, whioh left Wellington for Waitangi, in tho Chatham Islands, on September 7, was continued yesterday afternoon, before Dr. A At' Arthur, S.M. Captain Grcv and Mr. J M'Lean sat as assessors

• Mr. F." G. Dalziell represented, the owners of the Ducd (the Wellington : Ferry Company), Mr. A. Gray appeared for Captain Abranis, master of the vessel, three •.. engineers' Were represented by Mr. T. Young, while Mr. Men-teath-appeared-for "the Eoyal Exchange and other underwriters. : Mr. C. S. Nixon represented the' Marine Department. . Isaac -J."■■'.. Skerrett,. .a coloured ' man, who- .had -been engaged V as. cook -on the Duco during her first trawling, cruise, stated the circumstances" under which he had left the vessel, and added. that, had he been well, he would doubtless have made the second, trip, la reply to Mr. Young, he said: that a good'trip had been oh the first occasion. : ,

J. M'Lean, ordinary, seaman; on; the first trip, ;«vid that'he' went chiefly -. for pleasure'. The weather, experienced on that cruise' was not particularly rough. : . • .To Mr.. Young: He made the,trip to gain experience, in navigation. . The \Duco was a good boat except in a'heavy sea:-. Mr. Dalziell :6bjected to this evidence, as witness' was not'an expert.. A Night in a Seaway. . ',' y Y Witness, went on to say; that on ;one' occasion he was steering .the vessel on the return .journey.: The mate, :Mr. Skyey was lying down : oil ; deck-- at' the time! and'' witness was taking the watch. - The.sea' was fairly heavy, and the 6hip took a heavy Toll—so far that she did hot'come ; backr Witness" could hot make out; what was, the matter, so ho roused the mate, who considered that the,force of the! wind was-responsible for the .roll. The mate subsequently directed witness to bring her up to the wind/which he.did.- The mate added that : she had" a' lot of water in thebdge. Also the deck ports were lashed and' the water, could not, get away. The crew were ~an'd■■'. the : ports released. . Witness thought that if: a: broadside sea had come then the hare gone right-over. - -To • Mr. Gray: ;lt '.was the .mate's tratch, and there-was no impropriety in Captain; Abrams being below. ( Ho (witness)- would . probably have.made, the second voyageif he had had the opportunity.'.;. ;" ... : ./. -.:;-. . . .:, : ii. J s ™' purser on the Duco, said that he had. intended making the.second trip, but ..was iunable to.do so owing, to circumstances. .Nothing had occurred on the voyage to prevent his making, the second trip.- : To Mr..Young:. Ho was a- clerk .in.the office ot the owners. .He intended seeing the: vessel '.on-.-on the : day of her second departure, - but she;had left; the wharf before he could' get dowTi. :;-,.. . ■■■ ■'-.;■' .; •

lo Mr. Gray He knew that the ship went away without papors, and H supposed the captain forgot them Witness was not scared at the- incident described b> M'Lean, and did not express any fears of tho tnp to anyone He saw Mrs Abraflis when he heard that the vessel had not arrived at the Chathams, and told her that ho could not offer any hope that the boat would turn up Ho did not think 6he asked wny . « r . S ra / „ Dld you & lvo M a reasoi i of your belief that the boat would turn over? Witness No I thought it useless buoying her up with a false hope I said that I thought that tho Duco had gone down Mr Gray Did you say that the ship would tn s? , ovcri '- Ido not remember saying that" Will you say you did not?—"No"

>~ ,jThe Coal Actually ' v The question of the ; ship's .articles was .again raised'by'Mr.V.Menteath,, and.Mr. Nixon explained.that, it.,- was- merely .by mistako" that the vessel had put' to" sea without the articles; ■"•.'. £• Guthrie, who was- in charge of the loading, of coal on the Duco on" the day 'she left, stated that; GOJ tons were put.aboard. She had abo~ut;; four, tons : on board prior to this. Ho.was loading/up to 1.30 p.m. iHe was aware that Captain Stringer gave .instructions that tho.coal. was not, to be placed, too high- on' deck and that one. tier, had to-be removed. He; .put .201 tons': in' tho /bunkers, about .five tons in the stokehold, ,25 ; tons in the Tefrigera--/tors, and the remainder, 10; tons, on deck, last-named quantity was in 100 sacks. The; ;( §a'cks were placed aft: •/'■ •'..'■. \i James Meadows, a carrier for the Westport 1 |Coa.h.Company, and, William Sando'rs t in th& employ of the same company/-gave corroborative..evidence. ' - ; ,. i' '. f v'v' ''A.Coffin forAII on Board." ',-;■':'.'■ /< William ': Williams,' secretary; of the Ironmoulders'' Union, s'tatecj that be had been' employed, oh! tho:Duco.lßmpnths' ago. He "saw the vessel on.the day.she sailed, and she'looked 'to him., to-be-dangerously low -in, the water. Once, ,he;tried to open two of the 'ports, but they were .rusted, and ho .could-not open them, ■even with a' crow-bar. The Duco was ;a dirty •.sea-boat-at,all.:times.i .; '■;., .'■'■■■( ■':"■•■• , : vTo Mr. Dalziell: Witness was not discharged from the Service of' tho: Ferry Company for threatening to punch a passenger's head./ He had informed Mr. D.'.'. M'Xaren, M.P.,' and others, that; thoso responsible:for letting .the vessol go were deliberately committing murder. .This was; on tho night that she sailed or the night after. He did not speak before as he had no; power to'interfere. '■ ". .

To His .Worship: He had told Mr. M'Laren that;,the Duco was'a coffin for all'on board. • James Henderson, .in', the employ .; of Lysaght's,.'stated l , that; he saw six boxes of concrete ;:placed. on board..:... ... .;'•' Captain-Bendall's;Opinion/ ' ;■' ") -Captain Bendall, : surveyorv'to the 'underMTiters'and Lloyd's, stated that he suf. veyed•' the ...vessel '.for'.the local l underwriters before she made 'the initial, trip.'- He found her.-in .good- condition for' .the purposes proposed, subject to. her stability and righting powers',., being preserved. 'He calculated ; that she ,could ;: carry 'ISO ' tons, " including the inacninefy and-boiler;: A vessel'of'that'sort should'have more reserve buoyancy. She was well proportioned,, but was not intended for a' long trip, and had little, room for coal. ~A vessel, of,- her. description required: her vcentre of gravity' low' down, and the ten tons of coal on the deckwouldbedangeroiis. -Cargo should not have been on, the deck, and had helknown that .it'-was -he. would have, gone to the authorities;. The. effect of the.load Vwould make \the steamer...unstafte;and decrease her power-of lighting herself. These, points ,were discussed by the, captain and himself as' the ballast; was, altered. Also, the coal' might block the, ports, and not allow water"coming on, deck to escape. ' It. was true . that' some vessels sailed better with deck cargo, but this did not apply-to a vessel of this sort.. *'| ; " To Mr. Dahdell: He had. known Captain ABrams for 35 years, and he always, found him a very oapable man.- He never..reported against the carriage of deck, cargo, but thought' that Captain"• Abrams would not have carried it When,the. vessel.came out 'from England her':centre of< gravity was stationary, ,as she had 40. tons, of pig-iron ballast in addition to. her machinery., No one wa_s. mow. surprised than he to .hear'' that the Duco'had gone away with coal oh deck. He went to the company's,; office, and said T "If the Duco went out with' 25: tons of coal on board in last night's ■''■: storm, •■-' she will never rame. back." He was told that there were only fivo tons on ; board. : . He-assumed that the Duco's people .would■":,sec. tho southerly '.coming »up,' .and anchor, at the .Heads. ,■'.The coal, on'.bohrd. could easily be .moved by the: crew if they did /if 'in, time. Tho. men-might have been cleared off, the deck as. well as the : coal.' If he had that, coal; on board, he would' have pitched it overboard. It was very imprudent of anyone to'go' to -the Chathams with .the quantity of'coal, stated, as no' one,knew what wearier was ■ coming up. '■■, He would .much rather be ,on" aboard the Aorere, with such a load. ■'■:. He .knew, that the weather. report was favourable: on ! .the day in question..,...:To Mr. Gray:- Captain Abrams; ,he was informei called oh Mr. D. C. Bates," and ascertained that the weather outlook was favourable. ...George Clark, seaman on the'Riwaka, who was for fourteen years'6ll .-the Duco, said he declined, to «make the trip,: as he', considered tho vessel iunfit., She was'about as dirty; a seaboat as ho had .'ever been, in during ancxperience of .45 .years; As the Duco went but she was "deeply laden. The belting.- was! .just awash- nit; this would'be;,'nearly; level with the. deck;'*','.,', ■■'.'■-■'•'■-'.' : '■■',-'" : *'■'■■' .-■■• ; To 'Mr. Dalzioll: During the timo-ho was on. : the Duco,' the ; vessel.went to Greymnuth, Picton, and Kapiti, but she behaved; badly in bad/weather.; , . !.-•...-.. 'At .this an adjournment until 2.15 plm. to-day..was-decided upon. .;'..:'• ■''":