The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 20, 1903. THE ELINGAMITE WRECK.

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 804, 20 January 1903, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 20, 1903. THE ELINGAMITE WRECK.

The decision of the Court of Enquiry into the circumstances of the wreck of the Elihgamite is a fair and just one. it seems hard that one who behaved so bravely as did Capt. Atwood after the wreck should he so called to account ; hut there can he no doubt that had proper precautions been taken all the probabilities arc that the steamer would have been safe. A captain’s position is one of great responsibility, and in the interests of the travelling public it is very necessary that that responsibility he not lightly treated, la the case of the Elingamite, the evidence showed that the vessel was being pushed at a pace that amounted to lull- speed in a log when the vessel was within the vicinity of land. The Court finds the (Captain guilty'of neglecting to sound when he should have done so, of altering the course without sufficient reason, of not carefully ascertaining his speed when going slowly ahead, and in guessing at the speed on the Saturday morning, Errors of judgment were to some extent excusable when there was tiie excitement of trying to save life, hut the Court puts its finger on a weak spot when it says “ A grave error of judgment was committed by the master in allowing No. 1 lifeboat to leave the ship and to leave with only half the complement she was] able to carry. No sufficient excuse had been urged either by the master or Captain Reid for leaving the wreck.” That is a point which has been much pondered over by people who have been reading of such doings in the light presented by. certain writers. Next lo the fact of No. 1 boat having been allowed to leave with only half the complement of passengers comes Ihe practical desertion of the rails by the boats, hi its concise judgment the Court lias alluded to these matters in a way that will have the hearty endorsement of the public. Naturally, all will feel sympathy for Captain Atwood, hut the steni necessities demand that no sentimentality should lie allowed to bar the way of just treatment in the ease. 'The horrible fate of those on the raft, and the uncertainty u£ tlu: fate of those in the missing boat are still too fresh in the memory to permit of any sympathy being wasted in such matters. We venture to say that the. people of New Zealand and Australia will be almost unanimous in their approval of the finding or the Court.