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New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6564, 30 November 1882, Page 4

Tuk eiHiuiry into the cause or the capsizing of the Orient steamship Austral in Sydney harbour is now concluded, and the evidence, the whole of which we have now before us, does not appear to have ', been very satisfactory in its results. All ■ uflorts to obtain distiuot information as to how the vessel capsized proved unswc- i cesaful. From the master downwards ' there spoils to have been a want of know- ' ledge of the ship that is surprising. Xo ' one seemed to have any idea of tho centre of gravity of the vessel when light, or of ' the coals when tho bunkers wore full and s the ballast tanks empty. Knowing the £ draft of water, and the vessel's dimen- j sioiis, coupled with the above information, anyone might have been able to have 0 arrived at tho information H3 to whether all tho Austral's floating power was not so ( below her centre of gravity as to have j made, it utterly impossible for the vessel j

to remain on an even keel. Another very material point remains unsettled, and that is, was not the centre of gravity of the machinery too high, aud so .-insisted to make her crank ? In our article upon this subject a few days back we expressed the opinion that the aole cause cf the vessel's capsizing was the absence of water ballast in the tanks. The infonmr.ion to hand now tends tu contirm this o; in: .11. Captain Murdoch says in his evide ice : — " The Austral had a double bottom, and there was a height of 3ft llin. b ;tween the lower and upper bottom of the s! ip. The space ran aiding the whole length of the ship. Supposing that space were tilled with water, there would be 800 t"ns of water on the lower bottom/' " He was perfectly at a loss himself to account for the accident which had happened to the ship." Surely no practical man, after reading this evidence, could hesitate in saying that the sole cau«e of the disaster was owing to the water ballast tan;-' being empty. The difference between the top of the tanks and the bottom of the Austral is :sft. llin., and this hollow 3pa.e runs the whole length of the ship. On the top of this empty space which, in itself, would have enormous leverage and tendency to make the vessel crank—is placed coal and cargo to the extent of about 1500 tons. With such a weight in the vessel, and placed so high up in her, the only remarkable thing is tint the vessel stood upright so long. The course pursued in the loading of the Austral on this particular occasion is almost simil ir to commencing to load a sailing ship 011 the : tween deck only, without any balla3t whatever iu the lower hold. We finite agree with tin: rinding of the jury, and we do not think » grosser ease ~r carelessness iu the loading of a vessel could 1: ive been sh- w;i than in this lamentable accideut to the Austral. We notice that every possible preparation is being made to try and raise the vessel, and we sincerely hope theil'orts will be .successful.