THE JESSIE NICCOL-ROTOMAHANA COLLISION.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 133, 6 June 1904, Page 6

THE JESSIE NICCOL-ROTOMA-HANA COLLISION.

SUPREME COURT Mr. Justice Cooper and a special jury of rwelvo, continued, m the Supreme Court, on Satuul^v ufteinonn, the he,mng of the civil action in which William Cook, of -Lytleltou, fiuex the Ui.ion Steam Ship Company for £1532 damages caused by tho iiiuning down by the s.Si. Rotomahaua of tho schooner Jessie Niccol utien the latter was at her moorings in Wellington Haibour on tho night ot the 19th Decembei last Mi. Myers appeaicr tor the plaintiff, and Messis. Gray and Wiiford for the defendant company. Neils Peter John.yon, who was cook on the Jcbsio Niccol at the time of the collision, baid ho won aslu>ie when tho accident liappeived. He cleaned trimmed the lamp that, afternoon ; the T»eMiut break in the glass was not there when lie cleaned it. He and tho mute ■were a.vhoro tluU. evening, and returned iv a boat about 9.30, When they lenched the Jw«io Niccol she wns just sinking. The lamp was burning brightly., To Mr. Wiiford: Ho could not say if the light won then flickering. Henry Tatnm, night watchman on the Glasgow, Railway, and Wool Wharves, said he noticed tho Jessie Niccol's light about 8.45 .p.m. ; it was burning pretty briyhtly. He saw it from the Glasgow Wharf. He saw tho Rotomohana leave, and thought she wns too far to the north■ward. She was going pretty fast. So soon as she' hud passed the <md of the Glasgow Wharf he heard aomo one say •■go astern*" and he ran to the end of the Glasgow Wharf, hearing a crasli as he went. Wljen ho got to tho, wharf he could still see the Jessie Niccol's light, which won then nil right. Kvideuce- as to the Jessio Niccol's light' was also Riven by A. 11. Wedde, flfghtwatchman on tho Glasgow and Wool wharvw, John M'Uwhain, ni(jhtwrttthmun on tho tower, Queen's .Wharf, J. Thompson, waterman, and G. S. RobieHon, master (mi tho Wellington CoHexo ■taff, who whs » p«w*engor on the Rotom&hana on the mght oi the collision. Tho Court rose at 5.20 p.m. The hearing of the case was resumed this morning. John Black, storekeeper in tho Past and Tek-gropli Department, testified to •eetng-the-light on the Jessie Niccol from Waterloo-quay ou tho nigltt of the collivion. , lien Martell, mate of the> scow Kia Ora, Nvid lie« «yiw th<! light Jiurnhig on tho •chooncr. Tlkj light was as good as that on any other v««el in tho harbour. He wna on the deck of tho Kia Ora when tho Rotomahnna collided with the Jessio JJiceol. It wns admitted by' Mr. Gray that ' the- llotonmliauu did not whittle prior to Itlw collision. Cajrtwiu John ; White,; mtuster of tho *Rt«wn launch "Mot uroa, gave evidence confcerning a tost made one night' of the light ou tho 3e«!,ie- Xiccol. 'Ths latter -vessel's lamp v/itu bung on tho rigging of .the whip Invercttrgill, and the light wav .'aeon plainly about ono and ahidf miles Away, by thtxse iwisons on the Moturoa. Captain >fu»t, sliipmastcr, wid he had | • found "hurricaw 1 " kmps, aimilujr to that used on tho J«wio Niccol, effective and ! proper. He "would- rnt her tnu*t a "humcane" than a "Tom Howling" lamp, and he considered tho schooner ,wa» in a safo Sicboruge on the night of the collision, o thought tho Rotomahana was out of her course when ffiio raa down the >««choonor. To Mr. Wiiford': There might Ibo places between the mart-of-war and tbo William Maroon buoyn where ves^ds could not be safely anchored, as they would be in tlio fairway. The J««sio Niccol was not in a dangerous anchorage. Re-catled, William Ferguson, Secretaiy of tho Harbour Board, said he had not reociv«l any written complaint*) concerning the position of the man-of-war buoy. There luul bewt some grumbling, and Captain Manning hod spoken to wit new about the nutter. The Board thought the buoy wiw in tho most suitable powtfon, though a Board of Enquiry bud •aid tlie buoy should bo niniovcd, and Captain Mntiiiig had Si»id that in it* present position the buoy was an obMtructiou to navigation. Tho Harbour Board thought that if the buoy was removed from its present position, tho ships of Iho Admiralty, over which -the Board liad no Authority', would ignoro the official michorugß and lx»rth in it more awkward ptwition, n* tlfcy used to do before the j present buoy wn« put in position. Edwin Hayes, steward on the Rotomahana, remembered the collision, and &aw the light burning brightly on tho Jessie Niccol nfter the accident. John M"D! Etheridge, who vai) second oflker on tho Fohertia on the night of tho collision, saw tho • schooner's lnmp burning brightly from a distance of a aiile during- the evening, nnd, to within five minutes after the cfillifion t To >lr. Gray : The Jessie Niccol was in a good position, aud had one of the best light* of any of the ships in tho Itatbour. Witness was no longer in the employ of the U]iion Company, having Waigned in March last. Hud ju,st fin Inhcd two months' service on a man-of-TPjir as a member of the Naval Reserve. Captain »*m. Bcndnll, Lloyd's Surveyor at Wellington, «Rd the Jessie Niccol was an old vessel, but in fairly good condition prior to the collision. Hci market value, in hi« opinion, was £750. Hi« Honour #aid tho market value of jruch a ve»*el jut the Jessie Niccol was tho measure of damage in a civil ense, and not the own«r'» .value. Witness awid veesels of the schoone»'s clawi were scarce in New Zealand waters, and hatd to purchase when wanted. To Mr. Gray: There were not many ports, in tho colony which the Jessio Niccol could not trade to. For her age, she was in a found condition. He .regretted that nowaday* wows were built For the timber trade, 'instead of schooners like'tho Jesnic Niccol. To Mr. Myers : If was the duty of inaaters oi- vessels lying i(t tlm wharf to observe during the dny time what vessels aro lying in the track along vhich he is to take his vewel out of the harbour in the evening. Mr. Gray : But should not vewifls lying in his track at nighC show a dwrtinci light? Witness : Certainly. To Mr. Myers: A flare ahead of an anchor .watch light nugbt, merge the lutter light. If the capUii. ot h vtwol ■n .<t absent from lux Vessel during tho daytime, then the Hist otKcer should observe the Iny of the vossels in the harbour as a i/uido for the time when h'w Ship is Icavmft the hnrbour «t night. The luncheon a<ljourninent wus then taken. <Hi l-^umiitg this afteinoon. Ciiptiim Aliman, who had at on<> time ttimmnndPrt llw* Rotomihnna. cuid tie sciiuoiHT \\.\n in «n wjjholutely Bnfo an•ihorago on thf> night of the collision. There wes umple room for the. steamer Ut ■ pa«t between tlw=> two buoys. The "hurnnine" lamp gave a better light than the "Tmn Bowling" lamp. .To Mr. Gray: The Rotomahnna. could pull her*«lf up within a length and a h;ilf of herself when going at a speod of 14 !-uot« an hour. Had used a "hurricane"' !"vmp for the past four years. Charles Stewart, timber merchant, one of the Rurchaet'i-s of tlie Jessio Niccol

since tho collision, reckoned the repairs already done had cost about £500. To Mr. Gray : There wevo no rotten or bad timbers taken out of tho vessel during the repairing operations. Robert Aherne, journalist, of Cliristchurch, so. itl ho was a passenger ou the Rotomulmnn, on the night of the collision. Tbo .steamer lWbcil closer to tho Glasgow, Wlmif than no thought it should do. After the steamer .struck the schooner he saw the lamp on the bchoouer. It. gave- v bright, clear light. (Left sitting.)