WRECK OF THE YACHT ARIADNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12036, 7 May 1901, Page 3 (Supplement)

WRECK OF THE YACHT ARIADNE.

» ■ ■ THE MAGISTERIAL INQUIRY. A magisterial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the loss of the yacht Ariadne (T. C. Kerry, owner), oft the. coast of New Zealr.nd, a few miles south of the Waitaki ltivcr, was held at Oamaru about the middle of last month. The collector of customs, the underwriters, and tho captain were represented by counsel. A great deal of public interest was manifested in the proceedings owing to tumours which were abroad. The vessel was insured for £20,0(10 (halt of which risk the owner said he held). When Mr Kerry, tho. owner, was in tho box, the captain's counsel objected to the underwriters' counsel putting questions not directly relevant to tho point as to what caused the ship to como ashore. The questions objeeted to were principally of a personal character, bearing on the past proceedings of the owner in tho Pacific Islands, and the circumstances under which he got the yacht from Lady Ingram at a figure very much below the alleged value of the ship. The underwriters' counsel argued that these questions led up to the issue, and the court permitted the questions to be put. Counsel for tho captain then objected to tho presence of counsel for the underwriters, 'who, it was held, had no locus standi, but the court held that tho objection was made 100 late. The first witness called'was the captain (Geo. Mumford), who said ho was a master mariner, and produced his certificate. He was engaged by Mr Kern*, the owner, at Sydney in February to take the yacht to Dinicdiu via Cool: Strait, that being the shortest route. Mr Kerry told hinii that the yacht would refit at l)unedin. The vessel was .well supplied with sails and was in first-class condition. He sailed from Sydney on February 25, and, with the exception of a day or two of calm, the weather was bad. Off Cape Farewell the foresail and mainsail carried away through bad slecrinp. Going through Cook Strait tho mainsail split again, and he called all hands on deck to assist in repairing it, hut they were 20 minutes turning out, and the sail was then unrepairable. He replaced it with a main-trysail, and when it carried away he substituted a big jib, ami came through the strait with it. He defended the practice of putting tho wheel in beckets. The vessel would run close to tho wind and keep her course belter that way thai: with somo of the men steering. To his knowledge some of the men could not steer at all. The ship never had more water in her than is usuailv found in ships. When the yacht, was- oft the Waitaki on Sunday, 24th March, the wind ciiuie strong from the S.S.E.—a head wind. At .'I o'clock in the afternoon, being three or four miles off tho beach, he wore and stood to tho eastward for three hours, running sto C knots. At 0 o'clock ho ordered the mate to steer by the wind, the course being S.W. by \ W. He wanted to get niider the lee of the land, ns he expected tlio wind from the westward. 71c could not then see the land, but reckoned it was ID miles away. At 7.50 he cast the lead, ell the watch being present. The mate gave the depth of water at 25 fathoms, and witness went down below to consult the chart. Tho mate, on bringing the line to the binnacle lamp, found that the depth was 15 falhoms. He could not see the land weather being hazy and the night dark. He thought if he could keen Koiv.g for Iwo and a-half hours from fi o'clock he would have any amount of room to wear ship. Ho picked up the Cape Wanbrow lijiht shortly before 8 o'clock. It could be seen ]i» miles away, lie iook a bearing off the light, and he and the mile went below to lay down the bearings on the thart. lie would then bo a mile ami aquarter oil shore, and two iui!"3 south of the Wnitaki, While, he was down below the boatswain called out: " Breakers ahead and on the l»e bow." Witness rushed on deck, and found ihe vessel in the breakers. He ovd.rcd the wheel hard up, but it wan too late, and the vessel struck. The breakers were heavy, and there was a heavy sea on. That he wa". so far out in his calculations must be due to e, strong current. While ho was ."oiiig out on the eastward tack the wind and current must have carried him more to leeward than he hod thought. He had had two charts on hoard, but the one he med had been burnt through the upsetting of a lamp at the time of the wreck. It was not a coastal chart, but a, general chart on n large scale of Xcw Zealand. He hove the log every two hours when he left Sydney; the yacht was well and properly manned, equipped, and provisioned, thoroughly see.worthy, and he had what he deemed sufficient instruments and charts lo navigate her to her destination.

On the second day of the inquiry the owner of the yacht, Thomas Caradoc Kerry, was examined. Witness'said lie bought the yacht from Lady Ingrain, but declined to say at what price. Subsequently lie said that the price was ftOOOgs, hut it was more a gift than a purchase. He spent a great deal of money on the yacht, which was built in 1671, of oik, tea!;, ami white elm, and was copper fastened throughout. The vessel, which sailed from Cherbourg to Burban, South Africa, then to Sydney, via Thursday Island, was insured at Lloyd's, London, for £20,000 (half of which he held himself), in April of last year. The crew ho had on board wero discharged at Sydney, as they were nearly ail foreigners, deep-sea seamen, and not fit for n yacht. He also discharged the captain, who belonged to the Royal Navy Reserve. Witness said that he discharged 'him because he put the yacht ashore at Thursday Inland. Witness could not «o lo New Zealand in the yacht as he hod a court case pending in Sydney, but he ordered the captain to go to Port Chalmers liy the quickest route., and wait there till his (the owner's) arrival. He subsequently cabled to him to proceed to Auckland, put the vessel in the dry dock, and get ready to go to England. These instructions were subsequently embodied in a letter he wrotr to the captain, and addressed to him at Dunedin, The owner was then examined by counsel for the underwriters, Mr Newton. Objection was tnken by the captain's counsel to the line of cross-examination. Mr Newton said that what his Worship was doing was holding an inquiry into a marine casualty. Any ovideuce that would help his Worship in coining to a conclusion should be admitted. It was suggested that this vessel was purposely put on to the beach. His Worship: You suggest that? Mr Newton:: I do not burl: it. I say it is suggested that the vessel was purposely put ashore. In answer to further question?, witness said he shinned as an ordinarv seaman on a vessel in 183.1, but it was with'the object of Retting to Leper Island. The vessel did not carry passengers, and he bad to sign as a seaman. He was at a place called Taranibn, about G3 miles from Noumea, when a little vessel called tin Harold went ashore. He was not in charge. She was valued about JJl.iO. and was not insured. After protesting against this line oi questioning, declaring that the inqniiy was not a uiarino inquiry, hut an inquiry of Lloyd's, witness said he was chnrgetj on the occasion of the wreck of the Harold with stealing sovereigns, but the man who made the charge— one Asl'.cr, a Jew—made the same chargo against everybody on the island, including the missionary. Tho marked sovereigns found on him were paid to him by Asher in the presence of several people, and they were returned lo witness by tho French authorities alter he was searchrd. Asher used to mark all his money, and it went all over town. Witness declined to say if a company had been formed on tho strength of gold produced by witness, which ho said was found in New Guinea, and which was afterwards said to have been bought by him from a jeweller's assistant in Sydney. Afterwords witness declared that there was no foundation for these suggestions. Witness sued a newspaper proprietor for £1303 damages for the publication of lihcilous statements in conineotion with the wrecl: of the Harold, hut bigot an apology from the people who wrote it- - namely, Asher and his cousin. The lead in the yacht was valued at ivjOil. From tho evidence given by the members of the crew, it appeared that some of them thought they had a grievance because of the cooking of the locd. One, named Percy Attwood, made al gallons concerning the captain and the mate being on certain occasions under the influence of liquor; hut this war. emphatically contradicted by other members oi the crew. The Magistrate at the close of the evidence said that the case before him was tin information in which the captain was charged with careless navigation. In the course of the case there had been very voluminous evidence, not on that point, but rather tending to show that there was a design on the purl of the captain. The suspic.on had ari?eu from remarks made by the crew, and fo on, and he could no! slat? that the cvidenc before him would warrant bin. in sayin? that there was anything of the kind. If Mr Illusion (counsel for the captain and owner) was going to address liiin on that point, he need not tioi.b!?. He did not think there was anvthing at all of that kind. The expert evidence which was called went to show that the place where the Ariadne was wrecked was a particularly dangerous part of the coast. In certain weathers a very strong current set in coastwv.rds, and there was nothing in the chart or in the pilot guides to acquaint mariners of these dangers. The greater part of the voluminous evideuco that has been brought forward at this inquiry has reference to the charge which, though it was not stated in the application made by the collector of customs on which this inquiiy was instituted, was indicated by the nature and trend of tin examination of the witnesses— namely, that the ship was designedly stranded. This charge, it is to be presumed, was based upon statements of certain of the crew. As I mentioned at the conclusion of the evidence brought forward by the collector of customs, this charge has not been substantiated; indeed, there is no evidence worthy of the name to support it. The Ariadne was lying up in Sydney Harbour after s voyage from England aiid other ports, when in February last it was proposed by her owner, Mr T. C. Kerry, to fit her out for a trip to Dunedin, and thence olsewhere to ports not determined on. It is in evidence that seamen wero scarce in Sydney, and what must he characterised as a scratch crew was obtained, and to them were added three guests of the owner who signed articles as ordinary seamen at the nominal rate of Is per month. Of thoso signing articles five did not join; the balance —making, with the cantain (Mr George Mumford), 12 in all—sailed with the yacht on the 2olh February from Sydney. The captain was the only certificated officer on board. The mate, who joined as A.8., was a seaman with a Seaman's Union certificate as mate, from Swansea, but he had no knowledge, of navigation, and could not even understand a chart. The boatswain, an intelligent A.ll, acted as officer and had charge of a watch. Early in the voyage, when first on the coast of New Zealand, it is plain that there was little discipline, and on one occasion when in Cook Strait, when tho mainsail was split and carried away, if was with difficulty that the captain could get some of the hands of the watch below to assist even at such a critical moment. There were complaints from some of the malcontents as to the food, not as to quality but the cooking, but it seems to me that this was a mere pretext for discontent. These nutters were not of any service to the investigation, and I only refer to them because they ahoy.- that the master must have known be had amongst his crew untrustworthy and unreliable men, and that very great caution bad to be e::erciscd. The only portion of the voyage with which the I court has really to do is that off the mouth of the Waitnki River, and on the 21th March. At fi p.m., the captain states, the yacht was I about three miles off the mouth (about oast) of the river Waitaki, the wind being S.S.lv, a : strong breeze, and at that timo the vessel was | laid to the eastward, and she stood out to the offing until G p.m. At that hour, or about ihrc" , minutes before it, before the watch was changed, the captain wore tho ship and stood S.AV. towards tho shore. The wind was blowing half | a gale and the sea was heavy, and the captain knew he bad to contend with a current. The night is described as being dark, and by sonic to be hazy; but this latter i:i improbable, as the captain states lie saw the light at Cape Wanbrow .it. 7.57. The onlv point the captain can he sure of and can sneak of with any exactitude is that east of the V.'aitaki. three or four miles from shore, which he left at :i p.m. Then the captain saw the shore and stood out. The point at which he next wore ship and stood in he assumes lo bo about 17 or 18 miles' from shore. When he did so he must surelv have known the distance to bo purely ft matter ol conjecture, and how much depended unon this calculation. Prudence should have stigge.-tcd his going about during that watch before ho left the deck to lay off his position, after sighting Cape Wanbrow light. ][ 0 mijlit have wore his ship and taken another tack; lie could as well have marked off his position then in safely. Instead of this he left the deck in charge of the male, who, though perhaps an able seaman, is evidently nut vcrv intelligent. This officer made things worse when relieved by tho boatswain and the starboard watch at 8 p.m. by giving him the depth of water as 25 fathoms instead oi 13 fathoms. With the crew he had, and knowing himself to be (lie only qualified mariner on board, 1 think tiiat, sailing as he was on a dark night straight on to what was nearly a lee shore, with an uncertain knowledge of his exact position, ho should have excreted more caution, lie had been running two hours by the wind, from an uncertain point as to distunce, with a heavy sea behind him, with a knowledge of the cuirent—for that he admits, for he allowed for it oi: the outward board; and I think more pains should be expected from » master under the circumstances. Putting aside the evidence of some of tho seamen, who swore thrv could sec the land, the time ho had been standing on I that tack, admitting he was on':;; going the 51 or 0 knots slated, be had nothing to°lose uv wearing his ship a mile or two sooner. I am of opinion that in neglecting to do this before the change of watches the captain was uevi;'gent of his owner's interest and his manife't duty. And I find lliat the said George Mumford, the master of the vessel, was guilty ot a grave error oi judgment when navigating this ship on the 21th March; and I do ibterniiuo that his cettilieate oi lomueieiicy under the Board of Tiade, dated 17th February, IKifl, be suspended for three month--, and that he do pay the 'mil of £15 l.'is towards tin; co.-lj of these proceedings. In reply to a question, his Worsliin was informed that the total coils of the case v,o:iid amount to FXi. A CRKA.T .MEDICINE. " I have used Chamberlain's Colic, Cholera, ami DiaiThuu Remedy, and find it lo lie ;i great medicine," says Mi K. fi. Philips, of l'oleau, Ark. "It cured me of bloody flux. I niiinot speak too highly <,f it. ' This remedy always v.iiu the good opinion, if not praise, of llm-o who it. ; o il. Tho quick cures which it effects even in the most severe cases makes it a favourite everywhere. For sale by all dealers; pvic;, Is 0.1 tin.l ci.