CORNOER'S INQUEST.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5306, 13 February 1879, Page 2

CORNOER'S INQUEST.

A£ inquest .was held yesterday alteraiobfi z n; i at the Railway Hotel^rt^fo^fcevSfore Dr; Hitchings, coroner* onjhe'bpdy^i.^ of ThomasY, Smith, late masters of^tfi .T^ Mohaka, who was drowned on theVJ- -:f Mohaka's last trip to Porangahau. >The N ;'i' j following; jury was 'empanhellecl:— John •>•*;.- Burton (foreman), John Mabbett, Llsices^ / ;■*■ ter: Kedwafd, -WilUani I ''TBuriiom> i :pei>B^V- :^i Peterson, James Watson, WillianVOor ''■*& '"*"■ Walter Catb, William WiUdej -^iexander^- ;^ Davidson, , William Morris* 1 'an^'%JoM^ if * Ndrthey. ■•■■'■■'■^ f v;Mv>6iiriH "■' " ' The following evidence^was adduced fr^?^ , Hans Peter Hendrickson depbse4.;/li#in, "V employed; as ai.seaman; on ; ,bpa'ri l&^rlLi, • steamer; Mohaka. The deceased Thbm^ ;^ v s Smith' was master of the vessels I-identifyV $;-i the .body lyifig i; 'here_aß'-th'at46f-ipaptaai£iiT/f'; : Smith. ;On Friday ; af terhpb rijf • tie *7&*>i>?i ■ in ,ant, the Mohaka r starlbd L frbm(Na'pier'«-?{^:\ between sand 6 o'ctockT^B^^ there were, on bgar.cl'lhe deceased'a^dfoneHs;^!;----seaman niuned' M^ir.'' .We ■■&i i i^f-'-Porangahau at jduytiglifcj nexf^jaoriungj *"'*''}s•?, and entered the river at ' 6 o'clpcE' 'ffi&% i}t-» crossed the, barj .^d^tjsp.^iiMleßv^&p^^. river we anchored and discharged; cargaV^jJ^ After discharging vwoatookliii.: a; ipad oM*.^, wool, consisting of 32 bales and 2.pockets,{j., ; A. After 5 p.m. we finished ! loading;; kWe took the boat on deck, f atfd had^tea.^ We 'K'Si hove up anchor, and steamed .slowly- to : :£oV-. the mouth of "the river) 1 ■" The ' deceasedil: \ r - then asked me the time. Tfoid'JiM < 'ouyf quarter, past seven. . The, deceased went -*p-<j' : up to the 1 masthead to' Idbt outfor^the -^ channel whilst dropping „dow^i the, xi^evi-^} , He was sitting , on a amaU'tar^of-'/iroitty^'/;;'^" with his arms around, the mast. ... I cori-f " v ' sidered it a secure place in. smootKwater,! . , i but dangerous going over the bar.. X'HftV.'^ ,^ then gave orders to the engineer to steinx-^. full speed ahead. The order was obeyed. .-^ On entering the bar we struck throe times^-hYS heavily. We continued on, and got'anto;;,.. " the breakers. The last breaker on the bar > "' struck her on the bow, gave her a lurch to v> < starboard, and I saw the deceased falling ' :;i^' into the sea. I did nbt see himfall from :^ ; r l. the masthead. He fell five or six yards; 1 . 1 clear of the ship's side. . . ;When he came' Oi " l up he was abreast of our quarter, and ; sang out for a rope twice. I sang but to" ~ " • the enginieei? to. .stop' the engine. :The;j:l r *■ engineer did not 1 hearine.' I- made for.-' ; : the life buoy, which was hanging over the stern rail. ; It. was ,some ; time before I g"6t '""*•""'■ it free. ' I threw but the life buoy." It was s withiri six'or eight yards of ' him^ but he j ! did not succeed in catching it. Heap- } peared to swim towards! it> By this'^ ■ • 5 time the engines had; stopped, ;.but had - not backed. :J saw a heavy' breaker { 'strike deceased, and before the life bitoy 3 was thrown, , two other heavy ; breakers V" " > struck him. HHe was all tfo time • in^tfie '.', ":l t, surf; and we did not hear him speak. I \ Baw him close tothe'biioy,, whenayerxf) / l heavy aea struck him. v/Hthe: after luff, ) we could see him under-thfr water, hia , legs and arms stretched but) Heitiey&f,;, '. . rose |again. The buoy was floating inside t 5 near where he had gone down. Itwaijiif, \ nearly high water when we had crossed .!Luv 5 the bar. The tide was coming in. Th«/ : engineer, after he had stopped the engine^ m* . came on deck, and said, *''Lopk out for i; , vessel, I will back her astern " Aboiit '" this time a second buoy 'was .thrown. My mate, Muir, said to the \ eh giheer) '"^Full, speed ahead, or else we Bhall be aniragßt 7 the breakers." We went a few strokes . ; ahead, and then stopped her. We stopped until it was dark— about ten^mmutea after,' ? ■ we saw the Captain go dowhr 'We did not -XI lower a boat, because it .was dangerous p and impracticable. -'Muirthensaid/ "-'lt' I '•'*■'■ '■'■• is no use. waiting any longer, he is gone." The engineer th^n went on .slowly/; He ' ;> . came on deck,* and after.jspme cpnVersar ; tion we determined to go on ifo Napier. ; The wind was blowing pretty stiff from 8.N.E., and the weather looking threa- .. tening. ( We left for Napier j and. arrived .J j 1 between 5 and 6 o'clock on Sunday, hlprn- '",,', 0 ' ing. As far as I know, the Captain was * ' 1 sober. . . < By a juror : We did not consider it any use in going back into the. river, as there k ,.j [ would be too much time lost in turning ; ! the vessel. If there had been a? line ... ; standing near, and the engines' had ■'.'. \ been stopped, we could have saved him... : ' ; 1 James Logan Muir deposed :lam a seaman and cook on board the screw.^ ' steamer Mohaka. I went in that capacity^ ; on the last trip to Porangahau. I remem- , »., , ber discharging and loading and dropping ' . down the river. The deceased; wag. a t the,.-' 'l wheel part of the 'tithe. He then gave the wheel over to Hendrickson, and went aloft. He sat on the; iron outrigger, for , holding the lamp at the mast head, with . . ... L his arms round • the mast Ido not cpnL sider where the deceased was sitting a ;; secure position, unless he was lashed. He _ 1 occupied the same position when going in. We struck bottom two or three times going over the bar. We* got over the bar and into the breakers outside. I was standing \{ forward by the stay-sail. I heard a noise -^ ; of something falling. I looked up, ; an^-r ..! saw the captain was not there, and. heard^N ■ the last witness, exclaim " Stop her, stopV, i r , her." Before this she had been struck by- V: a heavy sea, which caused her to roll very; . ;: j much. I tried to get a rope, but they : v ,, were all foul. I put my head down the t skylight, and cried out, " Stop her/ the; }* captain is overboard. The engineer;"^ stopped her. I ran aft and threw, the life-buoy to the captain, who was astern. vv of us on the starboard q\iarfcer. The life^ '■ ' buoy reached within a few yards of him. "'* I did not hear the deceased speak. „At -. this time the engineer came on deck, and he backed her astern. I then threw the second life-buoy.. As the engineer was <.. going down a heavy sea struck deceased, „={ and lifted the buoy right over him. ; Wev. ;j went astern as far as we possibly, could, v,}i when the witness Hendrickson. saidy *' Go^\ „ aheadj or wewill be in. the break*" We 1 ' - ' ''•:■?:-' '-:..t,' ■ .' t\

then went ahead. After the sea struck """ deceased he never seemed to rally, and appeared io make no further effort to save himself. We waited until it was dark, and determined to go on to Napier. We did not attempt to re-enter the river, as it too dark, and there was too much sea on. "It was about 8 o'clock when wo left for Napier. The wind wajjE.N.E.; the wither looked dirsy< 'JB.Qjaf Nelson deposed: lam engineer of (he screw steamer Mohaka. On Saturday,* the Bth, when returning from Porangahaii, I was battened down when going over the bar. The witness Muir raised the skylight, and said, "The captain is overboard." I heard no order before. I Stopped the engine and came on deck. I Baw the captain in the water $verja ; .;h l u>dred yards astern. A buoy #as drifting^ towards him about half the distance. The deceased appeared to be swimming. I went, to the engine-room and reversC di the m ß ir t e * 3tern > w t en J ' ■ received orders to go ead > or we should be on the beach. I went aheau, . an shortly after came on deck. Before "I went ahead, I asked if the captain had got the lifebuoy. They said, "No,- he is gone." I kept going ahead. I went dead slow, and dodged about outside the breakers until it got dark, about half an hour. We had a consultation, the result of which was that we determined to go to Napier. lam quite sure we could not have re-entered the river that evening with safety. We could not have landed a boat, as the surf was so heavy. John Farmer deposed : I am a police constable at Porangahau. On Sunday last I heard of the deceased being drowned. I went out with a search party to look for the body, I was with four Others when we found the body lying on the beach inside the bar, on the north side of the river. I identified the body as that of Captain Smith. There appeared to have been no marks of violence on the body. I searched the body, . and found thirteen shillings, in silver, a wooden pipe, ftnd a pocket knife. I had the body conjfceyed to theP-orangahau Hotel in a canoe, and subsequently accompanied it from there to Napier, arriving here at 10 o'clock this morning. - Thomas Stewart deposed : I --am a settler residing at Porangahau. I had a conversation with deceased on Saturday evening* prior to his leaving. He retnarked that unless the sea moderated a little he would not go out that night. There was a heavy surf along the coast. He also said he did not like Coming in in the morning, but did not like to go back again to Napier. The jury re turned, a verdict to the effect that the deceased was accidentally drowned.