INQUEST.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 1492, 3 July 1879, Page 2

INQUEST.

An inquest touching the death of James McKeown, a seaman, who was drowned m the Harbor on Saturday last by the capsizing of a boat, was held yrsterdry m the Melville Hotel, before R. Beetham, Esq., Corouer. and a jury compo-cd of the following gentlemen :— A. Hnrgreavea (foreman), W. Ackland, A.Lee, J. Griffin, J. Crawford, H. Evans, W. Beid, E. H. Povitt, W. L. Edwards, W. Evans, A. Levy, R. Cole, J. Drayton, W. Keece, Gk Filmer, J. Mcllwriek, and E. Boesej. Inspector Pender conducted the inquiry. After the jury had viewed the body the following evidence was taken: — Francis McKenzie : I am a laborer, ' residing at Timaru. The day before yesterday I was on the bench ne«r Woolleombe's Gully, when I saw a dead body floating m the surf — the same that the jury have jußt viewed. I took it. out. Two men belonging to the Beautiful Star have recognised it as that of James MoKeown. Frederick Jonea : I am the captain of the steamer Beautiful Star, which is now, and was jn the roadstead on Saturday, the 28th ult. On that day, at about two o'clock m the afternoon, 1 left the ship to come ushore on business connected with the steamer. I bad with me the deceased, Louis Yorkpvitch, and Henry McCarthy. The boat is a good one, seaworthy, and everything connected with her was right. McCarthy, YorioWteb, and the deceased were pulling and I was steering with an our. It was rainy. The wind had been from the north-east, but there was very little wind and not much sea on when we left the vessel. The surf boats had been coming to the steamer from Cain's service that uiorniiig. They stopped work it) g about 9 a.m. owing to the wind and sea. I saw no signal from the shore warning the boats to stop working. There was no signal flying at the flagstaff when I left the steamer, and up to the time of the accident I had not noticed any signal from the flagstaff. We came m the boat all right till entering the channel on a point m a line with the Breakwater, when I saw two or three heavy seas coming, and seeing that I could not make for the Breakwater I intended to beach the boat. The first eea caught her and capsized her, and we wero all thrown into the water. I got washed among the kelp, and on seeing the boat I swam to it, and clung to it. I saw the others and thought they were making all right for the Bhorc aa they were ahead of me. I got washed ashore, and asked the other two "Are you all right, boys ?" and they replied, " No," that James was gone. I did not see, him alive again, but I recognise the body now on view a* his. I do not think he could Bwim. He naught have been ab!« to swim a little. I suppose I have been trading to this port for the last six years, and have been m tho habit of coining ashore m one of the steamer's boats. I have landed that way iv much worse weatber. I think that if I had made for LeCren's service we would have got there all tight. To the Coroner : In my opinion tbere was no danger wheu we left the steamer. To tbe Foreman : The boat was a whaleboat, about 23 or 24 feet long. The boat was heading etraiglit for the shore when the sea capsized her. None of the men objected to go w ith me m the boat. Henry McCarthy : I am a seaman on board the Bteamer Beautiful Star. I have been at sea about bix or seven years, and have been about six months m the Beautiful Star. On Saturday last the Bteamer waß m tbe roadstead here, and on that day the captain, the deceased, Yorkovitob, and myself left the steamer m tho lifeboat for the shore at about 2 p.m. The surf-boats were not working then, and there was a heavy swell on. We came ' all right till we got to the end of the Breakwater, when a sea capsized us, and we were all thrown into the water. I swam to the Breakwater, and a young fellow threw me a rope and hauled me out. The captain got ashore. I saw McKeown holding on to an oar, and a sea washing over him, but I did not Bee him afterwards. I had been only once before on shore here. That morning I did not consider that it was particularly dangeroue. I thought it was possible to get a boat ashore that morning. We could not see whether it wae safe to land from where we were lying. No objection was raised by any of us to getting into tbe boat. It was the second mate who ordered us to get the boat over the Bide. To the Foreman : The men did not make any objections when coming close to the Breakwater, on account of the water. To the Coroner: Before we left the steamer I saw three balls bunging up, horizontally, on the flagstaff. Louis Yorkovitch s I am a seaman on board the steamer Beautiful Star, and have been with the steamer for seven months. I have been only once ashore here before Saturday last. When we were ordered into the boat no objection was raised by any of us. There was not a very heavy sea on. When we left Inoticed thr.ee ballß hanging up at the flagstaff. I did not know what those three balls meant. Tbe boat whb capsized, and McKeown was drowned. To the Foreman : There was too heavy a sen- on to go on Bhore m a boat. To the Coroner : We could not see whether the sea was too heavy till we got near the Breakwater. Alexander Mills : I am the Harbor Master at the port of Timaru. Last Saturday tho ateamor Beautiful Star was m the roadstead. The aarf-boata were working m the morning, but not later on m the day, because there was too much swell on, and it waa raining so that they could not discharge wheat. The sea was not what you may call rough. I had a signal up of three balls, which means "bar dangerous," becauae I aaw three ships coming m which had slipped their anchors. There is no bar at this port, but all the vessels understand it to mean " roadstead dangerous." I think tbe signals can be seen by the vessels when coming m. I did not intend the signal for any of the vessels then m the roadstead. Ono time I had a rule of my own make— not gazetted— a ball at the masthead, meaning that tbe sea was not fit for passenger* to be landed m whaleboata. The rule was understood between myself, the boatmen and the captuins of the steamers. Ido not mate use of it now because very few passengers now come by ships to Timaru. Any man can use hiß discretion now m taking a boat to shore. When I think the sea is dangerous, I wave them off, but tbere are no rules to bind them not to land boats. Captain Jonss is an experienced man, he has been trading to this port for many years. If I had been on the I steamer on Saturday last I would not have hesitated to come ashore m a whaleboat. I hnve come ashore m a whaleboat m much, worse weather. To the Foreman : I am not bound by any rules to wuru boatmen not to land passengers, but I do not see why euoh a signal should not

bo enforced. Ido not think that at any port the Harbor Masters are bounl ta make bucli signals to boits. At Lyttelton the boatmen can charge double or treble fare for landing passengers m rough weather. Thia was all the evidence and the Coroner addressed the jury as follows:— There can, I suppose, be little doubt as to the first portion of the enquiry —the cause of the death of the deceased James McKeown — who appears to have been drowned while coming ashore from the steamer Beautiful Star, m company with Captain Jones und two seamen. There is evidence of that. Well now, with reference to the question of the propriety or •therwise of leaving the Beautiful Star and coming ashore, the law m the matter I shall shortly describe to you m the following words : Of course iv considering the cause of death and the responsibility of persons who may be charged m consequence thereof ; there are two Borta of responsibility — the first of which is here out of the question altogether, and the second also teems to be out of the question herr — murder and manslaughter. Very well, with reference to the latter charge, manslaughter, I may very shortly describe the law to be this, that if a persion, while m the commission of an illegal act-, causes the death of another man, then the jury would be justified m bringing m. a verdict of manslaughter. Now, ia this case, any such consideration will most probably not enter at all. The only reason I have for mentioning this, is that, whether the jury think themselves justified m bringing m such a verdict or not, they may add a rider pointing out what m their opinion would bp the proper precautions to be taken for the prevention of such accidents m future. It seems, so far as this matter is concerned, — ' from the evidence of Captain Mills, the Harbor Master— that there are no .signals ■which could possibly have guided Captain Jones m noting whether or not tho saa near the shore was too dangerous to land a boat. As a matter of fact, we have his opinion that the sea was safe for the landing oi a bout, and he says that he has frequently landed and gone off m much worse seas. Captain Jones, m the exercise of his own discretion,— a discretion which, m the absence of any definite rules m the shape of signals, he wbb perfectly justified m using — appears to have come to the same conclusion. The three balls hoisted on the flagstaff, Captain Mills says, did not refer to the boats landing, and not even to the vessels that were at anchor m the Harbor. He says that he used theae three balls, with a view of warning the three vessels who had slipped their anchors on v previous day not to come to an anchorage, aB he thought rough weather was coming on. I do not pretend, of course, as you may be aware, to have much knowledge of nautical matters at all j but, at the same time, it appears to me', looking at the subject m «n ordinary common sense view, that the whole question tor you to decide (outside of the actual causo of the death of the man) is whether you are satisfied that all reasonable precautions were used by Captain Jones, when he was m the exercise of the discretion of a skilled mariner, which he seems to be, m putting off his boat and going ashore under the circumstances. To enable you to come to a conclusion as to that, and which it is entirely m your province to do, you have the evidence of Captiin Mills, and also that of the two seamen who, besides the deceased, accompanied Captain Jones m the boat, and who say that no objection was made on their part to going ashore, and that they did not consider the sea so rough as to make it necessary for them to raise any objection ; therefore, I think you will come to the conclusion that as far as Captain Jone3 is concerned all reasonable precautions were us?d. However, there is another question for you to consider, and that is for you to fay -whether you consider there is any necessity for a signal, warning boats not to lmd when the Harboi" Masttr thinks it unsafe. At present the only signal at all indicating that it is dangerous to laud means " bar dangerous," while there ia no bar at the port of Timaru, but possibly such' a signal may be deemed sufficient, but if it had been considered all-sufficient m this case some notice would have been taken of it. You may consider whether that comes within your province or not, and if you think that it does, you are justified m adding that opinion to your verdict as a rider ; but outside the question of the cause of death, the principal matter you have to- deal with and consider -would be whether Captain Jones was or waa not justified, m the exercise of his discretion as a Bkilled mariner, m getting these men to run a risk of their lives, and I think you can scarcely arrive at the conclusion that he was not justified. The other question for you to decide is, whether he did or did not a- e even the ordinary skill of a man cognisant of this coast, and if you think the latter, it is competent for you to go no f urt her than to express that opinion. It is not competent for yeu to bring a more eerious charge against him. If you decline to exercise your discretion m the way of expressing an opinion on any of the two points I have indicated to you, it will be your duty simply to retnrn a verdict of accidental death. After a consultation of about ten minutes, the iury brought m the following verdict : — " The jury find that the deceased, James McKeown, was accidentally drowned by the upsetting of a boat m the Timaru roadstead c«i the 28th of June ; and the jurors are further of opinion that the Harbor Master should be empowered to hoist signals, warning boats not to land when he considers it unsafe to do so."