THE LAIRA INQUIRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11089, 16 April 1898, Page 6

THE LAIRA INQUIRY.

I: The inquiry into the Wakatipu-Laira collision f was resumed yesterday before Mr E. H. Carew, j S.M., and Capttiio 803-d, nautical assessor. Mr Hoßkhii; stated that .k<s, understood the Collector of Customs had finished his case, and that an opportunity would now be afforded to the other parties to adduce what further'evidonca they desire. His Worship stated that Mr Hoskiug could speak to the collector on the point. There was no one charged, unless it might be the captain of the Wakatfpu. '. Mr Hoskiug: If necessary we could formulate ! a charge. .•-'"'" | ; The Collector :It rests with me to formulate j ■■'* charge. ■ . " . • . " I Mr Hocking : I epgak on behalf of the under- ( ! writers. I would like* to ask Captain Smith j soiae questions. '""■•■"■ > Mr MacGregor said he would object. j Mr Hosking : Then I will aak the bench to j put. the questions. i The Bench asked the collector if he thought j that the evidence would bo calculated tossdst ' ' the court. : " ;Mr Cbambarlain otated that it was under- j etond Cnptain M'Osllum .was to be recalled, j As, however, they were now in for another day | he did not feel disposed to object to the cvi- i dence Mr Hosking proposed to call. j • " 23r MacGregor objected to Mr Hosking put- j ting ques'tioaß-at'that stage to CapUiu Smith, i The latter wes ia the position of an accused j person, and he was entitled to hear all the I evidence before he wan called upon for his i defence. Counsol objected to evidence being called by the Harbour Board or the underwriters or anyone ehm who had anything to do j with the inquiry,.and whose sole object was not j to. get at fcLe true c&use of the accident, bub to j implicate the Union Compiihy in a civil suit. > Mr Chamberlain, in "reply to the bench, said \ he did not proposs So call any further, cvi- ! dence. '..'.■ ' -. ;' ' Mr Sim said that oa behalf of tbe Harbour I Board he would inform .the courc that there ! were several gentlemeu in attendance who were ; in a position to give evidence regarding the J accident., ■.•■■. ; , ,\ r Mr Carow asked Mr Sim if he could outline j ;that evidence. , - ! :"■ Mr Sim replied that he could. One point j to which his evidence would be addressed would < be the speed at which the steamer was travelling—to show that she travelled from the ■ heads, a distance of about? 14 miles, in about an i hour. ■'. . i '•;.. Mr MacGregor: "Why was tbe log not in.- i speefced. Why not bring the log ? ■■■.■;■ ! Mr Hosking : Bscstuse tha log is not true, j ,: Mr Sim said his evidence would further relate j ■to the depth of water inthe chsunel. Cactain j M'Callam' was prepared to gire further evidence ' ■ on that.Dpiut. ~• .' ■..-•■ . - v I ..Mr''Chamberlain: It was agrecft to recall ■•him.--'-, '' :- ■ • '■'■' ■■'„ -" •.■ ■■■■':. ■•• -~' I .' Mr Sim.said that the witnesses furCabtain j Smith bad niadn a point as to the difficulty of j navigating tbe channel, but C.vptain M'Calium i would say tbat vessels iiacl bsen brought up ! for years and that an accident had never hap- j "Mr MaeGregor: Oh! '. '. . j ( Mr Sim ; Under the board's pilots. j : Mr.MaeGregor : They never corns up under \ the board* pilots. ..*'.;.. j Mr Sim:- Well,, his Worship could judge;i whether that evidence, would be of assistance I to the court. Captain M'C&lluni would also j say that he was in Clyde street and saw the j Wxkatipu earning up, arid it struck him that she S was coming up too fast., 'arid he said so to a uaaa ! who could be produced if necessary, j Mr Hosking said .that''-.he h*d a witri«es to ] call, and uuderstood his evidence: would bs i directed to this: that it was an act of negli- t gence to come up on the Srst pajt of the tide, I particularly with a ship that did riot answer i her helm with the wind arid tide as they were. ! oxx that day; and uexl;}..the evidence would \ show that what was dons by Captain Smith j was the -very means of bringiog about the i accident; instead of: avoiding; it, ■in \ this way: \ the Wakatipu had a right-handed screw; and j the .tendency of a right-handed screw.in going j astern was to bring "the head to starboard ; j ;niso that she should have dropped the pore I iristead of the starboard anchor. " j '■.'.. Mr Carew said the court thought that if there ! was evidence that the vessel came up from the | heads iv the short space of time named it would i be:mn,terial to call it. . . j ■ Mr Chamberlain said lie. confessed that ou ; vaading the memorandum he-did not tbink the i evidence material, hut. it would perhaps be j advisable, to make iha evidence "complete "arid I 'Satisfactory to everyone, that those witnesses ,!■ :should be put in the box. " : 1: Mr Carew : And as to the evidencs as to the . depth-^— '■: ';] '/^i\^:.: .:''. ', V, Mr Gham'oerhkin : 'Thatlies material, and it ■ was simply held over. In respect to the other V ■witnesses,' 1 1-.do not qbjtei. M'n apy >vay ifjthey j can say wh&t is of Valuß to the co^irt. ;: ; ; ; ; .' Captain ''Jjouden, Rignaiinastcr' if.' the' ©ta(?o i 1, said' he had held;' that office for W; j, years.; ■ He kept a record of ;tb"e hours at, whicli vessels passed ;thC'ai3ad;s^;,,iviHe?g6'tt .th&'time •from Weilingtori every morning at 9 o'clock. lOu the morning the 'Wakatipu 'arrived he 'received the time jiisfc asrshfii was abreast df the lighthouse,, in the channel,— just crossing tha b»r. It was esactly 9 o'clock. From the. bar to Port Chalmers by the channel- was seven miles, and from Port to' trie wharf was eight lailes. . . ;'. '■' ;'' ' i William Moore, assistant harbonrmßS'er, ! stationed &t Port Chalmers^ produced a log (' book, in which na entered fcb.e arrival and dt- j. parterres of all ships from .Port. He was also : time-ball keeper, and got bistims once a week 1 from Welliogton. On 2nd April the Ws^atipu J passed-Port Chalmers Bpken wharf at 9.30 a.m. j There was an automatic tide gauge at Port, and | there were 3ft. on the gauge. . ■ j i To Mr MaeGregor : Wxiqifi" »'steamer"is piss- j ing Port Chalmers goirjgjtio Duaedin bs told j them, jf they came to the wharf, tiie depth of i the water on the gauge for the Victoria channel; | Those were tha Union Company's boats. As a j rule when a Union Company's boat p lassed the J Port without coming to the wharf the boatman pulls out and tells the captain what is on the j gauge, and wheu witness •was there ho i told the waterman what there was on !. the gauge. There Were' gauges all the ■pay up from Port Chalmers to D'utiecHn. Tha Wakatipu left Port' Chalmers before the Koputai and Pluc!c7, which were towing.the j Euterpe. Pilot M'Dotiald told wiineas that the j Euterpe was drawing 20tt. The Euterpe passed ! Port Chalmers" two hours"affer the Wakatipu. I To Mr Chapman; He did nob know th&O tbe j Euterpe took -the ground- at Diiaedm.'~; At | about haif tide the tide would rise about a foot i por.hour in thegauge. Ifc;ill depeudefl oa tha | weather. He had seen it'rise'lS inchei'in'the j :gnuge. '.. ~■„-,.■ '~ : ' j'.:^\-.'..' ..:,.:■■■. .. ;[. To the Bench: It w&K Bob unusual for j steamers the size of the"Wakstipu to go to" j Danedin at the same stato of th 3 tide a 9 it «as ■ then, Witnes3 would send such p.. sieamar .to ' t)unediu whea there ivas only 2ft on the gauge j if he kne>7 her draught.. He would d'iS,so ifshe j was drawing 15ft Sin. Three feetin the gauge : would mean 18f5 in tbe Victoria channel. . .Hs; knew the lea*t depth in-the channej ay low water to be 15ft. That was the latestf sounding he got from the harbourmaster. j To Mr MacGregor: Ths greatest minimum.! depth he ever got.froua the ha'rhourtn&ster was, j he believed, 15ft 6in in the Victoria channel. 1 That was a month or two ago. Ho had uoi ! since this accident received instructions from ] the:harbormaster not to j?ive the, captains the j depth of water in the Victoria channel or on the gauge. Captaiu Wm, Thomson, marine surveyor, Btated that assuming the Wakatipu was drawing 15ft Bin astern, and passed Port Cualmera at 9.30 a.m. with a tide gauge of 3't on tbe first half of the tide, and with the wind blowing a fresh breoze from the nortb-e*.si', it was, in his opinion, a mistake to come up so early on the tide. The last quarter of the flood was the \ proper time, ia his opinion, to manoeuvre largo | vessels like the Wakatipu in the upper harboiuI.' j The'tide was then slack,' arid the risk of" accident was reduced to a minimum. It was not the practice of the Union Company's boats to wait for the last quarter of the flood. There | was more need for ccution with a vessel which. | was a bad steerer. A vessel could cpme f rom j Port Chalmers to Dunedin at hall: speed with i perfect safety until she came to close quarter's;: j when the captain should have her going--!a6:-' such speed that he conld stop hot dead iv her' own length. Witness would not consider it wise to go full speed ahead after passing the | sand dredge unless to givs her a." tiiru .or t two iv order to assist the \sceftring. ! j The first revolution of " the propeller j i had great power in, throwing the ;.stem ' i in the direction wanted. lu'hi? jucljjrrierit, to keep the Wakatipu ofi the Bhip Ciufterbiiry; tbs port anchor would have been the anchor to go . provided there was water for her to pass over I it. If thsi deptb was 19ft and the vessel was ' drawing 10ft lOin forward she would have gone j j over it. The effect of going full spned astern j with a right-handed screw and the helm hard :t- I starboard would have been to bring the vessel right acrosß the channel with her bows pointing i towards the end of the wharf. IE the"Wiiki- ; tipri left Port Chalmers at 9.26 a.m., at halfj speed, and slowed at 9.1-5 and then stopped at 9.58, when somewhere about the sand dredge, it would be the steamer's record passage. From 50 to 55 minutes was the usual passage up from Poit Chalmers to the Dunedin wharf. ; If | the Wakatipu was going half-speed, at the j sand, dredge and her engine? were then stopped > I without going asteru, the momentum would j not be iost at No. I post, particularly with an j easterly wind. Th«i uorth-'east wind was well I known here, and whan .moderate at the heads j I waa a strong breeze at Ouasdin. ' j Captain Boyd . Tbat >.s the cass in the after- ■ ! noon, but dosii not apply at all in the morning. | Witness said hi« experience was that it thc-ro j wm 'north-east weather the wind caica ia with ! ! the flood tidt, and want on freshening, cod- | j tinning moderate at the heads, and iacreasing | I in force as it came np thft harbour. ] j To Mt MaeGregor ■. Witness acted as Lioyd:9 : ' registrßti »a<3 Us »lso »cted" tat the andet<

write™ of some of the marine offices. He took a great interest in these proceedings on bahalt bolh. of the.undarwriter3 asjd of Lloyd's., Thp Liira was'classe'd at riloyd'sV-and he had to report on tha matter ;»'; I/ioysV. It was his duty, and he musb take a grc&t-intercst in his duty. Ho last commanded the piddls-sleanier Geelong, of 170 tons, in 1859. He never had anything to do with ste&msrs since that; except j piloting steamers. The last vessel he piloted ; was tho Blanche warship ia 1872. He snper- : vised the biff dredge for three monfchs,aft;er sb.9 '■ cams out. The berths occupied by the Caatsr- • bury and Laira at the Victoria wharf wars J certainly nob (safe berths. Ha believed if the ! Canterbury had not bsen there tha Wakafcipu j would have bae;\ all right. Assuming the. i iWakatipu's head to have bten pointfag to'.1; the bow of flu Canterbury, if tho la.tt:r -' were not there the formic would ■have' j answered her helm it.ud cleared the wharf.! The starboard anchor contributed largely to.the' :■ damage, in his opinion. If he had beerrharbohr-•; master he could noii s>ay what he would have | done, bub bft certainly would not have reoora- j mended that berth to be u?ed by the Canter- i bury. The effect of bsrthing «* ship »« the | extreme end of the Victoria wharf ' was } materially to narrow the entrance for stearaer3 j tojthe bav.n, and made navigation at that poiab ; more difficult and dangerous for 'lou'g1., steamers'. \ to navigate. Prom what he kae.w Jifiw'hevwbuld : not put vessels when: the C.Aiiiierbury and Laira i were. He knew before thY ■abeidehb'.hKp.psnetl'! tfiafc these berths were notr safe.", - Tho, siyp:| Agues Lilian/was the last shij) rmvifito there, j That was • about Novs?iibor-.:*last,-. by' tha > steamer Ohau. These two .■■'berths / were u'n-I safe berths for the: ships berthed there, and .; givss the captains, of '. yessels:'.passing them i more trouble" to. myiceqvre their vessels. If-j the port auchor had been'tfropped it would have j chucked the Wakitipu** bow off" and checked • her headway.: Hfj did not know how far-the j Wakajfczpu was froei theLairawhen.ahedropped i anchor. , He .did not .know at whai. angle she.[ bore to the Xaira,- but from ,(he, evidenca he > balieved she was heading to, ill■; Canterbury;. I He did not know if the. W»ka'tip:i; were awing-■■! iugto starboard or .port.' Hs still thought th*sTi the dropping of th's'staybpard anchor v/oiild | cause her to swiu/; on to bhV-LMra. : After. .Sitits ■ | collision he would'" still expeeb to/nrid the i anchor on the starboard aide of the Wakatipu. ! If a vessel was coming up a narrow channel so | slow as to lose steerage way the proper thing j was to sjiva her a turn or two ahead. ! To Mr Chapman : The depuf.y-hartjpnrmaste-: ; at Port Chalmers ought to bs a pretty good j judge of what amount of water on the gnugii | would justify a vessel going np the harbour. ! To the Bench:- Tbera was no difficulty in ■ sbeeriag 'alter a steamer got to ths bend cjming j up from Ravenibauriie. Tho course had only ] to be altered two painr,?. j To Me Chapmau : Witness assumed in his j answers that the'vessel did nob pass over ber j anchor. . . j To Mr Hasking : Assuming the Wakatvpu | drawing 15;t Bin in 18ft of water, he did uos I think it was credible that she was smelliog the j ground. . | Mr Cirew ssid that wbab was understood by ! smelling the ground wa='b;iag less, than a loot j from the bottom. ■.;.■; ; : . ' : _~..- .. : ~;,... .;.'. I To Mr -Hoskiug:.-.The conrse had to be altered* ) afc No. 1 post: 'He 'did^not kbow,thei'efore,"ii i the anchor should have bsen dropped whsr?. it j was—-jiz., hslf a length from the Laira. She! m%y hava answered bee h?!lm at the last; 1 moment. He would not hive dropped tbe • starbou-d auohor. If at No. 1 post he found j her sce'eiMg-i power had goue and nhe was head- j ing for-the bows ■of tua Canterbury, he would ' havn tdad the mauceavre of Oaptnin Flemiug ! o! the I'ai'AV/era sind given her greater speed. ! Still ho was speaking from what he had heard, j He might have acted differently if be'had been } in Captaiu Smith's plaoa. What, hs had heard '• referred to Captain ■ Fleming's evidunca a3 to '■ what he did. It had bean tHe practice to berth : ships a; the end of the Victoria wharf ever j siuce it was constructed—rully 10 years, he | thought. There was a callisipn with the wharf j previous io the Agnes Lilian accident, but those I were the ouly. two collisioas that witness rj- j membered before this one. , j To Mr Ohapmaii : A prudent captain wonld j not have dcoppad the'starboard anchor so long j as-there was a chahes of clearing the Canter- j bury. Witness would not have dropped any ; anchor if ho thought there was a chsnee of j olsatiiig the vessel. I?he faot^of a captain j droppiug an anchor showed that he at least thought there was no chance of clearing tha Canterbury/- ■ ■ :,..' ".■'.-■ Captain M'Cillam, harbourmaster (recalled), ' deposed that the depih of the water iv the j Victoria channel was ascertained by sound- i iDgs made :mder his supervision. The | soiiudiags were taken aomeiimestwice a rtfouthj and soineiimes once a 'mouth— iioax the' lower | entraucs .of the channel to the Dunedin j wharve". The miuimuEn depth of the Victoria ! .channel ;a^ ebtiadings takrn'.&i. h8 thought;- i the 26th January, was 16ft. The soundiugs ; *?ero taken with lead aud line. His report for ) "Ee'brnary showed a mini'miim:degth o,f*lsfb-;6in ) or 15ft 9iu. It showtd a'shoa.liug'from the j previous sounding.-- When, thevwater was not smooth; is jyas. j ~d-sibui.!; ;bp. ge^;. the r spuading j -.within a coujgieiif inches. .U l^be'shoaling mi^tit \ .be due to'drdppings from ths dredge b'nclcets-- j they very often got a knoli of-a foot or 18iu ( :from that causa—or a knell.might bs eauied by j :tha aewage travelling, down from the wharf. ! They had been dredging oat sewaije for several ! ■waeks. Soundings wera taken during Marcb, i and witness reported bo the board on tb.B 31«t 1 March, a day or two after, they were taken. ! The minimum depth of Victoria channel, j according to those soundings, 'was lS^lb. \ Soundings were taken on the 4-ch and 12th" of April.in the part of the channel opposite ths Victoria wharf, but witness was not present. 'Witness kept an automatic tide regisfce? at tho upper end pf the Victoria wharf. ;;Alt 10 o'clock on.the 2nd Aoril tee tide registered 3ffc lin cm. gauge. The Victoria wharf, bad'bsen there for ten or 12 years, and ships:,?iud steamers had been berthed regularly afc it during all, tha4 . tim«. Witcess had never before this collision hesrd it suggested that the Victoria wharf was an unsafe place to berth vessels, and, in hi.-; 1 opinion, it was not an unsafe plicoef,- .Witness j was not aware of any aceiiiaats hiving happened- i at the berths which the Canterbury and Lairs j occupied. The Agnes Lilian, wlisu run into by j tho Ohau, wss au the lower bsri.h (uesS the dock), i where the Euterpe ia noiv. When the Eaterps i was bsiug berthed it came on to' blow very h?.rd I aDd the line they had to the-whirE parted, aud i consequently the ship got out of position— getting pretty well aurosa the channal with her ateru to the eastward—and' drittad broadside j on up t'ua channel abreast of the Canterbury i bsfore tha tugs could straighten her ) np. Ths skip's hull was; i.ievbr ' within j w . feet,, otv; tlie <'antsrbiuy at. apy ; . tioai'.' i Witness saw the Wakatipu on tae 2nd April, i baiore the collision-. Witness wßS.iii Clyde] street, axul sha was about three lengths below j the sand pump. ' Witness saw her spaed and noticed that she was going fasb. ! "When sho got ! abreast of. tho sand pump her. engines ware j stopped, but she concinusd to go over the ground at the rate of four knoba, the wind and tida being favourable. After ,sho'was clear of the sand pump witness 'saw the engines go ahead again-r'wheihac-at full speed { or half speed he could nob-say,: bvib she was j going pretty fast over the ground. Witness \ would fay she was goih£ at '-"the/rate of. Cva i knots at least. He warched her olosely until | she got abreast o? the Liira. The disbauca • from the he*ds fco the Victoria wharf by tha ! cbanoel was 14 mile 3. The usual tims taken ! by steamers frotn Port Chalmers taDunediiV.j was from 50 to 60 minutes, when they were j ucdsr propac control and at their usual spaed, i If the Wakatipu came up from Port Chalmers i in half an hour,--witness would say she cams too I fast to bs under ' pivptr e-^ntro!. He | did not think ths pori.ioa of the j channel opposite the Victoria wharf, was j difficult to navigate with ordinary caution aud I skill. No complaint about this parb of the j channel had been made to him officially—he j hkd .-heard - casually of oaly oue complaint, as j iar as he could raoollecfc, aud in that case the 1 captain had nob-come at the proper time of tha \ tide. /Th»ib'w*s the case of the Tarawera, re- j ferred to by Captain IJleasin^. If the captain \ ,Vas exempt from! pilotage ho was the pixot of his own ship and must'use his judgment as fro the proper tiiiie to coma up, knowing his own 'ship and how'she?steeri, and what he can do witn her. If he hid any. doubt about the steerlag of; tha.ship; the proper course was to ,wait j far' the ikeS..quarter of~ the tide. If Captain j ■Smith was fwarsi ; of thejsbaering'/qualities of ; .thaWakabi]>u with the'wind on her quarter he j a'h'ouid &B.vt.\¥aited at Posb Chalmers for the j last quarter/of,.the flood; foe: the slack water, I but so far asl water in the channel was con- j cernad there was no occasion for him to wait. At 6 10 p.m. the inquiry /was furbher ad- | jouined until the 22nd ia«h at 2 p.m.;-'