THE TARARUA INQUIRY.

Evening Post, Volume XXI, Issue 128, 3 June 1881, Page 2

THE TARARUA INQUIRY.

FINDING OF THE COURT. ! ittnitbd pkesB association/) | Dtjnedin, This Day. Judgment in the Tararua inquiry was given to-day. The Court found that the ■wreck and loss of life were principally caused through the failure of Captain Garrard to ascertain at 4 a.m. on the 29th April the correct position of the ship, when the simple j use of the lead would have told him the dis- ! tance from the shore ; that the course in which the Tararna was steered from 1 30 to 4, assuming the compasses were magnetically j correct, was an insecure course, and, therefore, improper, especially as a heavy swell and ebb-tide tended to set the vessel in Qhore ; that at 4.25, when the second officer first called the captain's attention to the noiss of breakers, the vessel was off Slope Point, and in dangerous proximity thereto, but the captain believed her to be off Waipapapa Point ; that although it is to be regretted that the second officer did not exercise the power which he had to stop the engines if he found the ship in imminent danger, when for the second time he fancied he heard breakers, the Court could not come to the conclusion that his not doing co was a negl ; gent omission. It was reasonable for him to suppose that the captain had ascertained the position of the ship at 4 a m., and he might natnrally be impressed with the idea that the hearing of breakers could only be fancy, and took the action he did to report to the captain in terms of his orders. At the same time they were of opinion that the leaving of the bridge at any time by an officer in charge of the deck, when the ship was under way, was fraught with extreme danger, and that Captain Garrard's orders to his officers to call him personally were imprudent. In their opinion, the immediate cause of the wreck and loss of life was the negligent failure of able-seaman Weston to keep a proper look-out ; that after the vessel struok and filled, the captain committed an error of judgment in not placing his passengers iv the boats. They considered that there were sufficient boats and life-buoys in the Tararua, but thought many lives wonld have been saved had life-belts been availablo for the passengers and crew. In reference to the management of the boats, they thoughj; the loss .of the first officer's might have been avoided by more Blriiful management, but although censuring Lindsay for his lack of skill, they were not disposed to say the casualty resulting there from was caused by his wrongful act or default. They thought assistance should have been rendered from the Bluff or Invercargill when the intimation was first received of the accident, for no passenger vossel on a rock could be considered in other than a dangerous position. Astonishment was expressed that the officers of the Tararua were igno- ! rant of the deviations of the compasses, but, in view oi the peculiar discipline on board, the Court were not disposed to say to what degree, if any, the ignorance was attributable to their own neglect. The certificates of both officers wera then returned. In conclusion, the Court made the following recommendations :— (1) That a light is urgently required in the neighborhood of Waipapapa Point ; (2) that all passenger vessels trading in New Zealand waters be compelled to carry life-belts for the maximum number of passengers and crew ; (3) that a regulation be made compelling exeroUo in the management of the boats, at statod intervals. In answer to a question, the Court said that as the captain had lost his life, there was no one against whom an order for costs could be made.