THE LOSS OF THE KETCH SARAH AND MARY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3882, 25 September 1880, Page 3

THE LOSS OF THE KETCH SARAH AND MARY.

The finding of the Court in this case waa given at the Magistrate's Court, Lyttelton, last night, by Mr Caleb Whitefoord, R.M., previous to his leaving by the steamer for Kaikoura. It wa9 as followß : — " That the loss or damage appears by the evidence to have been caused by the vessel parting her cable whilst anchored off Motuara Island,_ near the entrance to Queen Charlotte's Sound, and drifting ashore and subsequently taking fire. That with reference to the parting of the cable which occurred at a shackle, the evidence of Captain Dunsford, Lloyd's surveyor, is that the cable was of more than usual strength, and the evidence given has not satisfied mo that either the wind or sea ■was sufficiently strong to account for (he cable parting if it had been properly secured. According to the evidence of the master, the night was fine and calm, the wind being occasionally squally, but pot sufficiently so to cause any apprehension of danger or any precaution being taken. The fact elicited in the evidence that the crew, consisting of five men, with their effect* and soir.*> provisions, found no difficulty or danger in leaving the vessel shortly after she struck in a 13 foot boat, and rowing to a landing place about a mile and a half away, and after landing the effects one of the men, returning to Iho vessel, then running out a kedgp, and subsequently returning to the landing place, shows conclusively that there could not have been much se.i on. According to the master's evidence, he hud undertaken to keep the anchor watch on the night in question until midnight, which he did, according to his own account, by going to sleep in t lie cabin. He apparently thought it necessary to give the vessel some more chain about 10 o'clock, less than an hour before the vessel was wrecked, and then turned in again, and went to sleep, from which ho was aroused by one of the crew, who had discovered the vessel was drifting ashore. From his own evidonce alone on this point he was guilty of gross neglect in not keeping an anchor watch in an open anchorage. Ido not consider that any satisfactory evidence has been given to account for the origin of the fire, and I consider the whole of the evidence given by the master and mate to be thoroughly untrustworthy and unreliable." With reference to the costs of the enquiry, the Court ordered that the same, amounting to £35 19s, bo paid by the master of the vessel. The Magistrate stated that if ho had power to order the payment of solicit r's costs to Mr Nalder he would allow the full fee, as had it not been for the evidenco brought out in his cross-examination of the witnesses the Court might have experienced considerable difficulty in arriving at the truo facts of the case, und his services hud been of great assistance to the Court.