THE PAKEHA

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 31, 6 February 1925, Page 8

THE PAKEHA

MISHAP. AT THE BLUFF

NAUTICAL INQUIRY RESUMED

WHERE DIE .VESSEL STRIKE?

| ; The nautical inquiry into the cause of X. tlve mishap; to the steamer Pakeha in ;| Bluff J Harbour on^' 3rdj June ■; last*; was; continued at the. Mag-' .:.- istrate's Court to-day. Mr. W; G. , KiddeU,".&M.," presided. He had with ■;. him as assessors Captains W. Bollons ';: and Barron. ■! •. . . Cl Mr.' J. Prendeville appeared for the :' v Marine Department, 'Mr. J. .Macalister :£ ' for the Bluff Harbour Board, Mr. H. 1?.. O'-Leary for tlie owners of the vessel, the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Co., and , Mr. E. K. Kirkcaldie for the master, , Captain W. P. Clifton-Mogg. ■'. , Andrew Bain, chairman of the J Bluff Harbour Board, said that the board had gone to considerable expense in :; blasting and dredging the Mararoa Rock. ■;.-. Since, 3rd' June everything had been done to test the channel t6 the harbour i- for the purpose of ascertaining if there :i was any ■■■obstruction, which might have ■'-; caused the damage to the Pakeha. -Up i to .the present .nothing had been discov- '. .' cred. The board also wrote to the Ma- ': rine Department asking them to under- .; take a survey, and he personally saw ;: the.Minister regarding the matter. The j; board was very anxious to clear the mat- :, ter'"P. and he. still thought that there : - should be a survey by the Marine DeJ ; partment.,,, '... „■ .'. Mr. Kirkcaldie: "This inquiry has re- ■> ■ \ealed that there are rocks in the chan- ::■ nel? —"I don't admit' that. It has '.; shown that there is a small rock which .;; other ships of" bigger'draught can pass." j; Ihe witness did not think''that the •-., i marks lon ..the vessel's bottom had been I received, in ■ the ;channel. . ■. , :; Mr. Eiddell: "Don't the marks show I . that the must- have struck very .j- slightly?"—-'My; theory is that she ;■ struck when she was rolling, and she t didnt roll in the channeL" The diver -;i had informed him that the rock was flat' ;• and level. . . . ■ . . ': In reply to Mr. Kirkcaldie, the wit-f ■;.• ness'said "that he was certain that the' I vessel did not strike in the channel. He ;;■. said that in the face of the statements ol nine witnesses -who had stated that ■;, they felt a bump. ■: • rvn B ?? aster °f vessel, Captain . Glifton-Mogg, ■ who had previously given i evidence, was cross-examined by Mr ' Jlacahater. Witness was questioned as Z vessel was from certain :; g01?^ «n the. coast during trips from ,i Port Chalmers to Bluff. O n one trip ; the distance .from Waipapa Point was . not noted. On a previous trip he had ; ; noticed that Waipapa Point was wrongi ly charted,, and he had written to ,the i Admiralty on the subject. At the iime •- ?f the mishap, on 3rd June, he was on , the bridge, and he heard two sounds :- VVh.n r Sl cI WJiS^ oin/ Upthe Channel. -i v"J IeS..£S, hcard the,first .sound he did m ; not associate it / with a ".. striking, ' but „ when he heard the second sound he cxi", pressed the opinion to the pilot that the' vessel had struck. ■■ - : - •• ■ : Z The^ chief--steward, Herbert " James 'r PvT p' 'Fi d h% ha* ieen lfti: y^rs on " , 2 Paheka. :.To the best of his kriowT, Jt. ge ' the Paheka had not touched any- :. ft"^- 11 ? lnff- Wh 'en the vess^ ■^ tiS;w was ip..his room amidships,^ .-• —and-he-heard;a distant hit.. - • ' ■-■-.'- ---. Mr. Macalister also cross-examined a ; v who said^ that he was on duty at the ? | lme. of the m l6hap . He heard a distant ... nit,. Ana. the vessel rose about a foot 1 ■" tWV?I!fe t0 o>L"*y» Halford'said « that he did not know the position of the • „ ■ vessßirat;! the time, and had stated PTe- ■■?■' y^^yl-that he thought she was bump:■i lnS--«l>,; against, the : wharf. ; x•■.7 > ■■■»" '^::li>> =.vV';S?'^ (Proceeding-.) . ,