CLAIM FOR DAMAGES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13583, 12 September 1908, Page 7

CLAIM FOR DAMAGES.

WAIRUNA-MOONAH COLLISION

JURY FAIL TO AGREE.

Tare hearing of the claim for £1946 2s 2d damages, brought by the Northern Coal Company againa", the Union Steam Ship Company, in connection with the sinking of the ketch Moonah by the steamer Wairuna, in the harbour, on March 10 last, was continued at the Supreme Court yesterday, before His Honor Mr. Justice Edwards and ft special jury. Mr. T. Cotter and Mr. M. G. McGregor appeared for plaintiffs (the owners of the ketch), and Mr. J. R. Reed and Mr. A. Hanna for defendants..

Frederick William Bartlett, boatswain on the Wairuna, who was at the wheel on the night of the collision, gave evidence as to the orders ho had received from the captain. On two occasions, ae he was taking the ship to starboard, two short blasts of the whistle were sounded.

In cross-examination, witness said the Moonah appealed to drop across the Wairuna's bows. Ho expected a shock, and gripped the wheel, but there was none, but just a swishing sound.

David Gouk, shipbuilder, was called by Mr. Cotter to give evidence as to the damago to the Moonah. He had, he said, Wen 47 years engaged in shipbuilding in Auckland, and during that time he had raised and repaired 37 wrecks. It was impossible that the Moonah could have received her injuries by drifting with a northerly wind and a 1| knot tide on to the Wairuna if the latter were stationary. Ho thought the steamer must have been going six or seven knots. The Moonah was a staunch vessel, constructed to go to any part of the world. He was of opinion that when the Wairuna struck the ketch she broke through about 21ft of coal, and swept right over the vessel. His Honor: Well, wo know that did not happen. •

To Mr. Reed: The Wairuna •would not be stopped by running into the ketch at six or seven knots. The steamer would only go, perhaps. 100 yds, but then eh© was going astern. The steamer, in his opinion, carried the scow along for some distance, and then dropped Her. George Turnbull Niecol, shipbuilder, said the Moonah was cut to within 4ft of the opposite side. The framing boards were cut for a depth of Bft. Both masts were broken oil within a few feet of the deck. The foremast was shattered from the stump down to the keelson; 9in in hardwood on he side of the vessel were cut through. It would take a terrific blow to cause such an injury. The damage could not have been caused by the ketch drifting against the steamer's bows, and the Wairuna must have had a four to five knot "way" on. The Foreman: What, in your opinion, broke the two masts? Witness: The steamer must have gone over the top of the Moonah. Cross-examined, witness said he would not describe the Moonah as being a stronglvbuilt vessel. feJ

Counsel adduced the jury, after which His Honor briefly summed up. He pointed out the respective duties of a steamer and a sailing vessel in the circumstances, the steamer being bound to keep o,ut of the way of the sailing vessel while the latter kept her course. The case for the Moonah was that she kept on her course.up to the time when the collision was inevitable, when Captain Sylvera brought her up to the wind, and altered her course. Defendants said that the Moonah. without any reason whatever, suddenly altered 'her course, and ran across the bows of the steamer. In that case, of course, the defendant company was not. liable. Some-. «me, said His Honor, acted in an unjustifiable manner, which resulted in a loss of life. Reference was also made to discrepancies in the evidence of the captain aid chief officer, and briefly to the questions of lights and the whittles sounded. The question of damages, said His Honor, had not been raised. If the jury cam© to the conclusion that those on the Wairuna were to blame, then there could be no question that the plaintiffs were entitled to the full amount claimed. Before retiring, the foreman of the jury asked what majority was required— absolute or three-fourths? His Honor: It is a three-fourths majority, bat I would have to keep you four hours before I could take that majority. The jury retired at 5.8 p.m., returning shortly before 11 p.m., the formean intimating that they had failed either to agreo or to obtain a three-fourths majority. The case will accordingly come on again at the next sitting of the Court.