WHARF ACCIDENTS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1340, 30 May 1918, Page 3

WHARF ACCIDENTS.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY. £YTTELTON SITTINGS CONCLUDED The Commission which is inquiring Into accidents on the waterfront, especially in relation to ships discharging gear, and over which the Hon. T. M. Wilford (Minister of Marine) presided, concluded its Lyttelton sittings yesterdav afternoon. The other members of the Commission are:—Mr J. Marchbanks, engineer to the Wellin<rtou Harbour Board (representing Harbour Boards); Captain McArthur, of Wellington (representing the shipping companies) and Messrs J. Roberts and L. Glover, also of Wellington (representing the Watersiders' Federation). , Further evidence was called on Dehalf of the employers, as follows: — Captain Hugh Munro, manager of the Canterbury Steamship Company, had 41 years' erperience of the port. His instructions to his officers were to lceep the gear in first-class order. When chute loading could be used, it. was. When ordinary care was used, that was not detrimental to bag cargoes. Heavy goods were not chuted. He would be very pleased to have his men report, defects. The deck inspection by the Government officers was most searching, and thorough. Hatch nets would be quite unnecessary so far as their ships were concerned. To his knowledge, their winches did not become unchecked while working. Once the railwayman had complained that the slings were being made up too big. Wanganui men had objected to the company's use of a wire snofezer with a hook. He considered the single gear speed of the Calm's winches a safe one. The overhead gear of their vessels was inspected almost every trip. All overhead gear should not need a monthly overhaul, as it should run longer than that. He considered it necessary to have hatchmen at all hatches when the ship was working general cargo. Captain Frank Horn, Marine Superintendent for the U.S.S. CO., had been 20 years at sea. When he was chief mate, he used always to have his cargo gear examined twice in the five weeks of the inter-colonial trip. He thought the present method of inspection quite good. When a workman reported a defect in gear, it was at once rectified.. Instructions from headquarters were that no defective gear was to be used on any ship. At times the foremen had complained of winches, but not often. The chief seat of the trouble was in the clutch, due, he thought, mostly to old nge. The engineers had instructions to look to winches between ports. On the bigger boats there was a winch engineer. On some of their boats the winch brakes were effective. The Harbour Board had promised to supply means of taking an electric lead aboard boats for lighting purposes. That would be a big improvement. He could not recall any accidents, but he had had frequent complaints of men being under the influence of drink. He had sent men ashore because of that, and the other workmen had not resented it.

Chas. George ' Neale, mate of a Huddart-Parker intercolonial boat, said that all their running gear was overhauled every three Weeks. The standing gear wa3 overhauled eveiy three months. That Was the practice on all the company's boats. His vessel worked cargo a't night by arc. lamps hung above the hatches, fere and aft. Captain Walter Scott, wharfinger for the U.S.S. Co., said that he would recommend the use of electric lighting if it were available for working ships" at the wharf. \

Mr C. J. R. Williams, secretary and engineer to. the Lyttelton Harbour Board, favoured the Marine Department having control over all gear. The board had had no great demand for lighting clusters, but was endeavouring to supply them where wanted, so far as the difficulty of procuring littings permitted. Until that day, witness had not known that there were running into Lyttelton boats without their own electric light. Now that he knew that he would push forward the work of making current available for working ships at the wharves. The board had authorised the use of electric capstaus, but the war had held them up. However, the board would not operate them. He considered it absurd that the powers of the Government inspecting officer should be restricted to ships' gear. Thoy should cover that on hulks and wharves as well. There was no first aid team in the board's employ. Mr P. E. Bean, stationmaster at Lyttelton, said he had not heard of accidents through working two trucks from the one hatch. He put in a list of railwayman's wharf accidents at Lyttelton for 12 months past. There were 14 in all, but only one from timber. He did not consider that the use- of electric capstans on the wharf would bo any improvement over the use of ships' gear. His men had complained of big slings, and he had once bad to tell the shipping company that the railway would not accept the big olings. Neil D. Hood, Inspector of Machinery and Surveyor of Ships at Lyttelton, eaid that he surveyed the winches. These were usually taken asunder at the annual survey. He had received no reports of defects between his annual surveys. He did not consider Government inspection necessary more frequently thau annually, as the engineers had the gear constantly under observation. He inspected everything in connection with hulks annually, and considered no more frequent inspection necessary. There were six hulks in Lyttelton. He had not found any defects in the running gear nor the winches at his last inspection. He did not inspect the Kailway Department's cargo .gear. They had their own officer. It was difficult for him to understand why winches should jump out of gear. If winch parts were found worn at the annual overhaul, they were either repaired or renewed. Winches "would be in very bad repair to require lashing in gear. In that state they should be condemned. " Captain 11. W. T. Wilcox, AssistantSuperintendent of Marine for Lyttelton, stated that all the cargo gear was sent on deck and passed through his hands at the annual overhaul. As time went by, some parts required renewing, and this was seen to before the gear was reassembled. On most days, he visited every ship in the harbour 'to satisfy himself that the gear was in good order. When complaints reached him, lie at Once investigated and ordered the remedying of defects. He considered a swinging derrick preferable to two derricks and the one winch. This concluded, the evidence. FUTURE MOVEMENTS. Before the Commission rose, the chairman announced that, after consulting with members and considering

public engagements, he found it quite impossible to accede to requests that the Commission should visit Bluff, Gisborne, or Wangauui. Those three ports would have to be cut out, and it was considered by the Commission that the whole question which was to be dealt with at those ports—especially Gisborue and Wangauui—could be dealt with by the Commission going to Napier where first hand evidence could be obtained of the use of lighters.—The Commission accordingly adjourned till 10 a.m. ■ next Tuesday morning at Napier. A definite date for the visit to Port Chalmers and Dunedin has not yet been fixed, as the Minister has to make Commission business fit in with his Cabinet engagements.