LADY ROBERTS-MATAKANA COLLISION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14213, 14 May 1908, Page 2

LADY ROBERTS-MATA-KANA COLLISION

CHARGE OF MANSLAUGHTER. At tho Port Chalmers Polico Courl, before Mr H. Y. Widdowson, 8.M., yetslerday, another stage was reached in the sequel to tho tragedy that took place in the Lower Harbour 011 the 18th April last, when [ the Defence steamer Lady Roberts and the oil launch Matakana collided and four persons wero drowned. Joseph Coddoi, of Port ) Chalmers, fisherman, was charged with that on tho 18th April, in the Olago Harbour, f near Port Chalmers, he did commit man- . slaughter by rausing the death of Alexander Edgar M'Phce, Alfred M'Phee, Wilf liam Mathers, and liobert. Slater. 1 Mr J. I'. M. Eraser appeared for the prosecution, and the accused, was defended by Mr W. G. Hay [instructed by Mr S . Solomon, K.C.). ' Mr Eraser said the accused was charged f with having caused tho death of four persons in Otago Harbour. When a person • was so unfortunate as to "be dircctly or indirectly the cause of tho death of ono of his fellow creatures, the solo question for ' the jury was whether or not the negligcnco l of tho prisoner materially contribute! to the death of the deceased. Those whonavit gated well-known waterways which were much used by shipping must nofc navigate improperly either by too much speed or by negligent conduct. If they did so anil ) caused death they wore as much liable as thoso who caused death on a public lirnhr way either by furious driving or negligent conduct. That was, briefly, tho law on the , question of manslaughter. With respect io the present charge, it appeared that on the ) date mentioned the prisoner took in his launch a number of persons and luggago i from Port Chalmers to tho Heads. He had j no mate with him to assist, him in the j launch, which was operated by an oil engine. The boat was crowdod. It did not appear from the evidenoe that he took any intelligent part in the navigation of the boat. The tiller was taken at haphazard ' by two or three persons in succession. No I person was requested to 'keep a lookout, and i no lights were carried on the boat, though I. by law it should lmyo carried them. Tho • consequence was that some little distance i from ..Port Chalmers he met the Lady i Roberts, a steamer belonging to the Dot fence Department, coming, up the channel. • He was seen from tho Lady Roberts at a i considerable, distance. ' It was a clear, ■ moonlight night. i When first seen tho i accused was on the starboard side of tho i Lady Roberts, and his course would have I taken him clear of the steamer. Tho accused had no cognisance of the approaoh ' of the 6teamer until he was nearly abreast . of it, then being on her • starboard side, i Somebody called out and attracted his ati tention when lie was fiddling with the ! engine. He looked up and saw the steamer on his starboard side, and for some unoxplaincd reason he put his tiller hard to i port and jammed her right across the La.dy Roberts. It would appear from tho • evidence that ho was then somo 30ft or , 40ft off a line with tho Lady Roberts. He must havo been some distance, bccause it , was his counter that was struck by the steamer. So far as could bo judged by the evidence, the accused put his boat rip-lit under tho bow of the Lady Roberts. The consequence was that 6he was practically cut down and up6et, and four persons lost their lives. The Otago Harbour was a waterway used largely by''small and large vessels, and on this night the accused wa? aware of the fact that, tho tug and the Lady Roberts, if not other vessels, wero at the Heads and coming up. They were operating in a night attack on tho Heads.\ Nevertheless, the accused kept no lookout, with tho result that tho loss of life took place with which he was charged. Henry Cashman, master mariner, captain of the Lady Roberts, narrated tho facts loading up to tho collision. Mr Hav: In tho recent inquiry you heard Mr Birchall 6tnte- that when the out-pry arose tlio accused took tho tiller and sent tho boat to port?— Yes. You also saw the result of tho inquiry?— Yes. Considering the fact that, as Mr Birchall described it. this man in his oxcitcment jammed the tiler to port, and considering tho fact that/ the inquiry found that it was an error of judgment on his part, and that tho collision was solely duo to that fact, do you agreo with that conclusion?— Yes. I honestly with that. The error of judgment was that in the excitement of the moment lie put his helm to .port?—He did the wrong thing. lio should have kept his course?— Yes. Witnes continued, in reply to Mr Hay: Tho collision occurred, as far as I could judge, in mid-fhannel. In our examiantion for an exemption cTirtifioato we arc informed that \ve get the best water 400 ft from the black' buoy and beacon. Article 18 of the collision regulations contains tho general rule of the road to apply to boats of the clay of the steamer. Article 25 applied to the navigation of narrow chan- ; r.ele. That article stated: "In narrow channels every steam vessel shall, when it is safo and practicable, keep to that side of the fairway or mid-channel which lies, on the starboard side of such vessel." When'l say that "narrow channels" mean ' such channels as have buoys on both sides I can give no authority for the statement : apart from my personal experience in navigating harbours. I thought particularly of ■ arliclo 25 that night, I had all the rules in my mind. I complied with article 25 i as much as with any ot.her. If I put the engines astern and turn the helm hard ! astarboard the boat whilo still making headway will answer her helm if sufiioient , time is given. I heard Coddoi state at the • inquiry that the boat wqs broken com- i pletely in two when the collision occurred. I do not. suppose I could contradict him ; on that point, I suggest that the explanation of the position where tho engine was i found is that-the whole boat drifted for ' some time and then the stern broke away, i If tho Matakana had a hole knocked in - her sho would not sink directly, although j she carried an engine. I should bo surprised to learn that the weight of tho >' cngino is ulx>ut 9cwt". * On resuming, after lunch, Mr Fraser put ' in, for reference purposes, tho Standard ] engine catalogue, showing the weight of ! different, engines. The approximate weight j of a four horse-power engine was shown as ' I.ooolb. i Mr Hay said that at tho magisterial in- t qiiiry tho weight of a four horse-power I engine was said to be 6001b. 1 To Mr Fraser witness said: I meant to < eay by my previous statement that with I tho engines astern and the helm hard ovor i the holm would not act until the steamer f had lost lior headway. She might cant slightly before sho went astern. She would have answered her helm more quickly if sho had not gone astern. If I had nut. my helm hard aport. three-fourths of those in tho boat would have been killed, and if , I had put tho holm hard .'«tajboard it J would not have averted tho collision but k would have' struek the boat with more ( forco, and consequently there would have been more damage. Mr Frasor 6»id that if necessary he would ' get a model of the steamer made, which would simplify tho matter considerably. ) By Mr Hay: If I had put the helm hard j a-starboard ar.d tho engines full speed ahead my boat would havo answered her 1 holm very slightly in 40 yards. Tho Mata- J kana oamo straight down, and oroeeod my ( <;3urse almost at right, angles. After the , change of courso by tho Matakana was first j noticeable about, four or five seconds would j elapse before she collided with the Lady j Roberts. f Evidence was also given by Captain ] Gard'ner, Now Zealand Royal Artillery, c who was on the bridge of the Lady Roberts t when the collision took place; Richard j Morgan, engineer on tho I.ady Roberts; r James Daley (Torpedo Corps), who was at the wheel of the Lady Roberts when the t collision occurred; and John Glengarry 1 (fisherman), and Francis Kecnan (fisher- n man), who picked up tho broken boat, a The evidence of theso witnesses was on the £ lines of that given at the magisterial in- r qiiiry. \ James -Martin (Torpedo Corps) waa 1 called, but was not in attendance. n Maitland Hector Peters, trumpeter, Port >' Chalmers Navais, eaid that whon the Mata- c kana was 10 or 15 yards from the Lady Roborts lie called out to the aocuscd, who, c ho thought, was at the tiller, " Shove her to )>ort," The next- thing he saw was that ? the oil-launch was going to starboard. He jumped into the water before tho collision took place. Tho Matakana carried no lights. When ho was at tho tiller he kept Jj a lookout, but there wasno one told off to i keep a lookout. Anyone on board could t see all round. He heard the accused tell Mr Birchall what courso to take. j Ernest H. Birchall (a member, of tho Dunedin Navais), who was on the oil- j launoh, also gave evidoncc. He said it 0 was the ordinary practice for the steers- a man in a boat of the Matakana class to i keep a lookout. At ail times whon going t, down tho harbour Coddoi was within a fi yard or six feot of the tiller. He gave ]i several directions to witness as to the course, a "he Matakana would have cleared the v steamer by 40ft if Coddoi had not taken h the tiller from witness. t, Mr Fraser asked for a remand. He had a further evidence io offer that was not o available that day. Ho suggested that the ; (1 cast) BUb'ht bo continued Tuesday, h

Mr Hay: Do yon wish to put. in the evidence of Coddoi? .Mr Fraser: Yes, and call another witness or two. The .Magistrate asked if Mr Hay intended to call evidence. Mr Hay said that if Coddoi's statement, was put in it explained tho whole position from his side. Tho accused was remanded to appear at Dunodiji on Tuesday next. Bail was allowed as previously—two sureties ot £50 and accused in £100.