MARINE MISHAP

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 31, 6 August 1919, Page 8

MARINE MISHAP

STRANDING OF THE KOWHAI

FURTHER EVIDENCE TAKEN.

The circumstances connected with the stranding of the s.s. Kowhai on the 9th June last were further inquired into by Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., and Captains F. Black and W. Manning, nautical assessors, at the Magistrate's Court to-day. Mr. J. Prendeville appeared for tho Marine Department, Mr. P. Levi for the Union Steam Ship Company, Mr. S. Kirkcaldie for Captain Dinsmore (master of'the Kowhai),' and Mr. A. W. Blair for the first and second officers (J. R. Clarke and C. J. Anderson). Christian John - Anderson, second officer, continuing his evidence, said he knew the country at Farewell Spit. It was high at,. Cape Farewell, and then a low flat sandspit ran along for about twelve miles. At night the spit could be noticed on-account of the high hills at the back of it. Both the captain and witness were on the bridge when the white formation was seen a good way off, and this was taken to be Curious Cliff. Unless the vessel made a lot of leeway it could not have been Curious Cliff. In the moonlight it might have beea a sand hill: uiat loomed up as a cliff. All thought that they were on a course that would clear Farewell. Witness considered the course safe, otherwise he would have called the master. Mr. Prendeville: Somewhere during your watch in some clearness brought about by the light of the moon you say you saw some white patch, and took this to be Curious Cliff. You suggest that this might have been the sandbank marked "90"?— I did not suggest it. I don't know what it was.

■ You saw a bank of clouds come upj is it not probable that that was mistaken for .the loom of the land at Farewell? — No; I can distinguish land from clouds.

Mi. Riddell: When you saw that white patch, was there anything, to prevent you from taking a bearing to verify your position —No. I do not know whether the master verified it or. not.

Alfred Edward Carter, ordinary seaman on the Kowhai, said that he-went on duty at the wheel at 4 a.m. on the 9th June. The course set then was S.W. by S., and" this was checked when he took over. The course was continued for about six or seven minutes, when he was told to alter it to . S.W. No other alteration was made up to the time the vessel struck. Witness did-not see the chief officer leave the bridge, but he saw him come up with a cup of tea and toast. That would be a little more than ten minutes before the vessel struck. Witness had been at sea for about three years, and after serving in the Amokura until last August he had been on two other vessels prior to joining the Kowhai.

Mr. Kirkcaldie: How old are you?— Seventeen and a-half years. . It is the duty of the man at the wheel to keep- his eye on the compass?— Yes.

Mr. Riddell: How long have you been steering since you. went to sea?— Ever since about two months after I went to sea.

When did you leave the Amokura?— About a year ago.

Were you on any other vessels prior to joining the Kowhai?—Yes; the Poherua and Mapourika.

Did you steer , both those vessels?— Yes. '

Mr. Blair: The chief officer tells me that he was a real good helmsman, too.

• Gordon Campbell ; Hplden, able seaman, said that he had been at sea for about five years. He was 19_ years of age. At the time of the mishap he was on the look-out, and stationed on the starboard side of the vessel. On going on watch he was told that there was land on the port bow a good distance off, and this he could see. Witness was keeping a good look-out from where he was stationed.

To Mr. Blair: He felt a bump before the vessel actually struck, but he considered this to be due to the vough weather. Two or three minutes afterwards the captain came on the bridge and put the engines astern. He was quite sure that he could see nothing to indicate that there wa« land in close proximity. CAPTAIN RECALLED. Recalled,, Captain Frank Dinsmore said that the order given to the officer was to make nothing to leeward of the course, as shown on the chart. Having Farewell light abaft the beam and land open'on the port bow, witness , s did not consider when ho left the bridge on the morning of the 9th June that any further observations were.necessary for the safety of the vessel. . • Mr. Riddell: Is there'any objection to the spare man bringing the tea on to the bridge?— None whatever. Li reply, to another question from the Court, witness stated that when he rushed on the bridge he went straight to the telegraph" and did not look for anybody. The engines were going ahead, and after reversing, them he went to the chief officer, who.was on the bridge. Martin A.' Scott, chief engineer of the Kowhai, stated that he was on duty at the time the vessel went ashore. It was 4.20 a.m. by the engine-rOom clock when he received the order for full-speed astern. : Harry Reckstraw, an able seaman, who had been for eighteen years continuously on the New Zealand coast and frequently round Cape Terawhiti, stated that he was on the look-out on the bridge from 3 to 4 o'clock on the morning of the vessel's stranding. There .was land on the port bow, and he was positive that this was Farewell. If not, then he had never seen Farewell before. There was no land ahead or on the starboard side. The weather was clear, but moderating all the time. Captain Manning: On the course taken from Cape Egmont, do you think it possible for any sane man to mistake the high part of the sand-bank for Cape Farewell? Witness: Absolutely impossible. This concluded the evidence, and Mr. Blair briefly addressed the Court on behalf of the chief officer of the vessel. The conversation between the captain and the chief officer, he said, showed, that both were of the same opinion—that there was no danger. Little importance could be attached to the fact that the chief officer went to the chart-room for his tea, as this practice had been in vogue. In any case, he was only absent for two minutes, and had been back on the bridge for some time prior to the stranding of the vessel. The Court reserved its decision until later in the day.

Owing to a misconstruction placed on remarks made by counsel to the Bench at the Magistrate's Court yesterday during the rehearing of a case in which John Frederick Archibald was charged with having cruelly ill-treated a horse, a mistake occurred in the report of the case. When the case was first heard Archibald was sentenced to fourteen days' imprisonment without the option of a fine, noteix months, as stated yesterday. After hearing further evidence, Mr. E. Page, S.M., agreed to give the defendant the option of paying a fine of £15, ingoing to gaol for fourteen days.

Messrs. Harcourt and Co. advertise the following sales: —On Thursday,' at 1 p.m:, at 20, Marion-street; on tho 14th, at 1 p.m., at Dundas-etreet, Seatoun. On the 21st, two cottages at the Upper Hutt, and » section in Molesworth-street will bo submitted.