THE WRECK OF THE LIZZIE BELL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 174, 6 August 1901, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE LIZZIE BELL.

The Court of Inquiry into.the wreck of the Lizzie Bell sat on Mendav to give judgment. Mr, R. L. Stanford d'livared the written findisg of the 'Jdiirt* Captains Hood and Adamson bainjj present: " After reviewing the evidence in detail, and mentioning that the vessel [ had not been swung to ascertain the deviation of her (bmpasses while Captain Bees had been master, the Court found that the captain was in error in the N.W. by N. course which be considered would take the ship ■light miles off the Brothers, as that course would bring him instead within one mlie of the Brother'. With regard to the look-out man (Glen) reporting to the mate what he considered to ba land on the, starboard beam, there was no evidence to show that further notice was taken of this by either the cap'a ; n or the second mate. The Court considered the look-out mm blamable in not giving metre distinct, warning, knowing that the ship was running into danger. Owing to the loss of all the shjpfa papers,* and of tbe men who had bean at the whee', the evidence before tbi 'Court was only a verbal statement from memory, given principally by the captain. The ves 'el was not; supplied with a standard compass easy of access, and in such a position that azimuths of land beat ings could be taken with freedom and accuracy. Tbe only deviation card for the pole compass was what the captain made in the ordinary coursa of navigation. Although the vessel had had a large quan 1 ity of iron aboard likely t■> influence the compasses, it appeared that .owing to cloudy and wet weather no solar observations bad b*en made, nor yet during the week tbe vessel lay in Wellington harbour at anchor, away from the wharf, any correction made by bearings of wall-defined objects, so that when tbe vassel left Wellington none on board had more than an approximate idea of tbe deviation on { the pole compass. Although Stephen Island was made buaring two points on the port bow or W.N.W, (her bead being N. W.), and passed on that cours* about 10 miles away, laßt seen bearing S.E. by E.— or through a a arc of 15 points—no bearings appear to have been taken in tbe interval to fix the position accurately, and the cap'ai'. stated it was impossible to lake a fourpoint bearing, steering tbe course h<> did. How this arises was not clear, □or yet is it evident how tbe bearing of the island S E. by E. could be got on the line of progress and at 25 miles off. At 8 p.m. ths course was altered to N.W. by W, On this course ard making goid progress rf 10 kno'sbyll p.m. the vessel should have been 30 miles S.S.W, ot the spot on which she struck shor'ly aftar 11 p.m. To ac-c->unt for this discrepancy of dis'aoce from the land a st ong current of over 10 knots an hoar seating N.N.E. is sat down but by careful perusii of the N.Z. Pilot 6-h Edition, 1891, we ran find no reference to any such extraordinary set in that direction. It would also appear that distancrs by patent log when bearings were taken and courses altered cannot be ascertained, so that any dis'ancos mentioned are only app-oxima'e. From' the absepes of all confirmatory evidence from the second mate and the man at the wheel we must reluctantly come to the conclusion that the vess-1 was not steered N.W. by W. as stated by the captain. From the time the light on Stephen Islmd was abeam at 5.30 p.m. till 11 p.m., tbe ship sa'liog vit the rate of 10 kno's pr hou - , put* her 50 milas pa-t the Is'atid < n course which he gave, and the ship is found 45 miles N.N.E. and at right angles to the course steered assuming that S.E. hy E. was the bearing taken. -Agnin accoivliog to t-i.s own couree, set by the captain he exp c ei to pass Cape Farewi ll 25 miles off, and his second mat" was looking f"r a 17 mil's range lij;ht when he would be 40 miles from it Frooa the evi'tenc ■ of the witnesses we find that had the lifeboat been properly fitted with lifo lines arouud the gunwale the probabil ty is that more liv«s might h»vA b-en saved, a'so the Court i? of opinion that had tho oars fitted with lanyards more lives migh> 1 have boon saved. We consider that the loss of the btrque L'zzia Bill was caused by the negligmit navigation of ihemas'er firs'ly, from taking his departure from Stephen Island and not verifying hit distance when abaam by 4 point bearing, which he could have obtained, as he was in visw of the Island from 3.30 p.m., steering a N.N.W. course during all the time.

Tbe decision of the Court is: That Hap'ain Rees' certificate bs suspended for 12 months, and that he pay towards the c«t i.f this inquiry tbe sum of £25. Mr Govew inquired what time wou'd be a'l »wsd Captain Reao' for paying the costs.

The Magistrate : What time does he want ?

Mr G^v.>tt: Would a fortnight be granted ?

The Magistrate: Yes, certainly, u fortnight will b-) given, Mr Goveit: Will the suspension "fleet the minor certificates held by Captain Rres ? The Magistrate: That is a question we havo had ucdtr consideration, though it has rut been men'iou«d. The Oou't coaMdera that question is more Cor the B\mvd of Trade than tbe Gout,

Subsequently the following addendum w>n ninde to the 'judgment of thCi,net "That subject to tho final decision of tho Board of Trade, Oaptaio Rees be granted a first unts's certificate."

A fine of £5 was ibfiicted on Csp'ain Grant, of the Takapuna, for disobeying the subphosaa issued by the C.urfc.