"MAN OVERBOARD"

Evening Post, Volume 137, Issue CXI, 10 June 1926, Page 5

"MAN OVERBOARD"

MISHAP ON TUTANEKAI

INQUEST ON MISSING- SEAMAN.

The disappearance of Alfred Henry Edwards (50), a fireman, from the Goveram-nt steamer Tutanekai whde the vessel was on her way from Aitutaki to Palmerston Island on her recent cruise of the Pacific Islands was investigated at an inquest yesterday afternoon before the Coroner (Mr. E. Page, S.M.). Captain S. G. Stringer, Marine Superintendent at Wellington, conducted the inquest, and Mr. T. P. Cleary appeared for tho relatives of the deceased. Captain John Bollous, master of the Tutanekai, gave' evidence that at l.rfu a.m. on 11th May, he was called from his cabin by the second officer, who said there was a man overboard. Witness immediately went to the bridge I and ordered the engines "full astern. When the ship had lost way, he sent the lifeboat away in charge of the second officer, but though a search was made for an hour and a quarter, the deceased was not seen. Edwards was a steady worker and had always conducted himself on the ship in a proper manner. To the Coroner: A man could not fall overboard by accident unless he got on to tho bulwark. Owing to the hot weather, it was the practice of the crew to sit on the rail. There was only a moderate sea running, but tho movement of the ship might have dislodged the deceased. To Captain Stringer: If a man were sitting on the rail' and fell over, he would bo drawn under the counter and struck by the propeller. The rail was about 4ft high. Henry Williams, the second officer, gave evidence that when he heard the alarm he threw overboard a lifebuoy with a light attached, which burnt as soon as the water was reached. He searched the vicinity •in a lifeboat for over? *a hour without success. Ben Hakaria said that ho was on duty with Edwards in the stokehold, and the latter said that ho was going up on deck to get a drink. Witness did not see the deceased after that. Edwards had not complained of illness to him and had seemed in good spirits. Christopher Wall, A.8., said he was on lookout duty on the bridge when he saw a man get on to the rail and balance himself, lying practically straight along, the rail. Then he fell over into the sea. Witness gave the alarm, but did not see the deceased again. "I can find nothing in the evidence to suggest that his death was other than accidental," said the Coroner, in his verdict. "He was simply carrying out what seems to have been a somewhat risky practice by the men in those hot latitudes of getting on to the rail to catch the cool winds. There was a light sea running and the inference is that he accidentally overbalanced and fell overboard. The verdict will bo that Edwards was accidentally rowned through falling from the rail of tho Tutanekai on 11th May."