THE INQUIRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4077, 16 May 1881, Page 3

THE INQUIRY.

DUNEDIN, Mat 14. The inquiry was continued all day. The first witness was Antonio Miohalaieff, tho cook, who gave a statement of what took place on board after the boats left. It was a little fuller than his statement previously published, but differed littlo in the facts. William Hill, steerage passenger, who went in the second mate's boat to sea, eaid : The Becond mate said to mo tho first time we stood off from tho ship, when wo were about sixty yards off: "I think we had better stand out in the offing for a time, to save tho boat." At that time wo had juet seen the first mate lose his boat in the surf. I said to him : " Dear me ; what then are our hopos " (referring to the ship). The eecond mate said to me : "We must trust in Providence. I have no doubt we shall soon have help down, either from tho Bluff or Port Chalmers, and then if we save this boat wo shall have her to work with." Tho second mato was quito cool. He said aleo that if the sea moderated we should have her to work with. After keeping on and off three times, a heary sea sot in; then he pulled into the offing so as to clear the reefs. This witness addod : In my opiuion the first mate did not act with judgment in going so near tbe breakers witb hio boat. I have had ton years' experience iw. sea. I have beon 'in the P. and O. service and other services. It is 15 years sinco I left tho soa. When I formed thiß opinion I whs in tho second mato's boat, between the ship and tho shoro. Tho ship was about a mile from the shore. Tho Eecond mate's boat was aboufc halfway between tho ship and the shore, and tho first main's boat was about thirty or forty yards from tho shore. I saw the mate's boat among the breakers with the men in the boat. Without a doubt, to my mind, the mate backed his boat too close into the breakers. It was spoken of in our bout. I expressed my opinion to the tame effect as I havo now, bufc perhaps nofc co strongly. Tho second mate also expressed the opinion that the mate had gone too near. This opinion was expressed as the boat was turning over and over. I had asked tho captain if he would allow me to go on tho reef and try to effect a landing. I did not toll him I was a seaman. I can swim. He said : " Will you do so ?" I said I would and I would hold up my hat if it was prudent. He roplied : " Not only your hat but your hands." We watched' for a landing and saw we couldn't land. Tho eecond mate askod mo if I would land and I said " No." I asked the captain to send mo in tke second mate's boat, and arranged with him that if I could get a landing he should eend t'io ladies ilrnt. Mr Smith (counsel for tho first, and eecond mates) : I havo ono or two questions to ask. You say you noticed the capsizing of tho first mate's boat? Witness : I did. Mr Smith : Will you swear thut lhe second mato spoke ot tbat time ? Witnr?s : Yep, no often ns you wiah, eir. Air Smith : Can you my whether he had his face or his back to the boat. ? Witness : I called hi? attention to h" 1 ott and then he looked. Mr Smith : Why did you not tell us this beforo ? Witness : I did, sir. I said that I sang out that she was iv tho breakers. Mr Smith : You havo said it was a moment of great excitoment? Witness : I have. Mr Smith: Why? Witness : Tho loss of tho boat was the oause of the excitoment. Mr Smith : In what senso do you use tho word excitement ? Who was excited ? Witness, hesitating, Mr Simpson explained U Mm that he should understand that what

•g."" "'■*"M^M^WMMWM>MM»» a iiBBM| > iii M nil bo had said had a serious bearing upon& certain individuals, and he should be very careful to answer Mr Smith correctly. Mr Smith: Who displayed the excitement ? Witness : I don't know. Perhaps I may take ifc to bo myßelf, and say that it waß I who was excited. I felt excited when I saw the boat capsizing. I don't know how the other people felt. Mr Smith : Now can you lake upon your* self to say positively thut anyone spoke beside yourself ? Witness ; I have told you that others spoke. Examination continued by tbe Court : In my opinion, a small steamer could have lived between tho ship and fche shore up to fcwo o'clock-— that is, so far as tho state of the sea was concerned. I should have no doubt about a vessel drawing 6ft of water. I would not say sho could have lain there without risk. There would have been a great rink. By Mr Smith : I remember that when the second mate's boat came from the reef, after taking Maher off, she was nearly capsized. If" she had not righted before tho next breaker she would in all probability havo capsized. I consider the second mate handled his boat particularly well under tho ciroumstances. I know that although a boat may be handled with the greatest skill Bhe may be capsized. I haye been in a worse Bea in a boat than I was in fchat day. One occasion I remember was when I was in the north of England, off Sunderland, when I was in a collier. Guslave Tellien, George Robins, Thomas Davis, John Cbatterton, Henry Heely, Jokel Nicholson, and Frank Bohl we'/o eaoh called, and asked whether they had any statement whioh they wished to make or anything special to speak of. They all replied in the negative, and were not sworn. Lewie Matheson, master of the schooner Pioneer, deposed : I was lying with my vessel at Fortrose jetty at the time of the wreck. I heard about it at a quarter or twenty minutes past 9 on Friday morning from Charles Gibb. Fortrose is between eight and nine miles from the scene of the wreck. When I heard the news I borrowed a horse and reached the beach about 11 o'clock. I saw the steamer, which was lying bow on to fche beaoh. The sea seemed to break over tho stern and sweep along fche deck forward. A heavy ground swell was coming into the beach. From the beach we did not see the water breaking over her until about 12. At that time a boat might havo got near enough to the ship to embark passengers from the yard-arm. A small steamer could nofc have lain with safety nearer than threo quarters of a mile. The ship did nofc seem to be in danger. There was a light wind from the B.K. The swell was heavier tban usual. Ifc had heen heavy all the week. I do not think boats could go near enough to sling people after twelve. I question whether a boat could have got within half-a-mile of her with safety after twelve o'clock. I do not think the southerly swell runing would make such differecce to a steamer travelling ten knots an hour. I question whether the Kakanui could have done very much f^ood if she had arrived before dark. I think a light on Waipapa or Slope Point would hay- saved the ship. Slope Point would be >he best. Ido not think a line could have been floated to the Tararua from another v< s.-el. I bave been 18 years on the coast. John Spence, surveyor, fctated thafc the wreck was a distance of 38 chains from the nearest part of the beach. James Mills, Managing Director of the Union Steamship Company deposed : There has been no change in the equipment of the Tararua since the issue of the seagoing certificate produced by the Marine Engineer in December, 1880. I produce a hat of the crew as accurately as I can, which gives the number at 40. There was one man who shipped on the day the vessel sailed ; his name is not known. I also produce a list of tho passengers, compiled from the ship's papers up to the time of her arrival afc Porfc Chalmers wifch fche addition of those booked here ; also an additional list made up from telegrams addressed to ourselves and in the newspapers. The total number of those in the first catalogue, namely those who were on board the ship when she came into porfc were 63 men, 9 women, aad 10 children. There booked at Port ,v -aimers 23 men, 2 women, and 4 >---tldren, and the crew was made up >v 39 ©nen and 1 woman. This brine ; be. total up to 151. Twenty were Bayed. T'ii* Tararua was equipped up fco statutory > ■ quirements. I cannot say of my own knowledge whether she had life belts j fche had six life buoys. Several of the steamers are provided with life belts. We took over the Tararua about two years and four months ago. She was furnished with new engines and boilers, a new upper deck, nnd was thoroughly overhauled in 187t>. She was an exceptionally strong ship. Captain Garrard had been in our employment since 1876. He joined in May, 1876, as second officer of the Hawea. In July, 1877, he wa9 first oflicer of the Wanaka. In September, 1878, he was master of the Ladybird, in June, 1879, master of the Albion and in Maroh, 1881, he joined tho Tararua. He was bur junior master in 1879, and I am not aware of any alteration having fcaken place. The Oompany had a high opinion of his . ability and attention to business. The chief mate held that position in M'Meckan and Blackwood's employment previous ti. >'ov., 1878, when he entered our service, in hich he remained aB chief mate. He bad be. >i iv the Albion until March, 1881. Until rec< <ly Captain Garrard held a high opinion of i lie chief officer, but lately he had changed his opinion. On Mr Denniston proceeding to ask the witness if thi* had been brought before bim officially, Mr Smith objected. Mr Simpson said lie thought it would be better fco admit the evidence for tbe mate's sake, because it might explain the automaton character of the mato in this ship. He could not think of a first; officer reducod fco a mere automaton at he was in this case. After argument, tho evidence was admitted by the Bench, and the witness continued : I received a telegram from Captain Garrard aB he waß coming down the coast, asking for a change of chief officer on arrival at Porfc Chalmers. When the ship arrived I had a conversation with Captain Garrard, the result of which was that it was agreed that if he wished it tho change could bo mado at once, but as our spare chief officer was not on the spot we preferred to postpone the change until Captain Garrard's return from Molbourne. He was satisfied with that arrangement. Apart from the merits of the case, we would mako the change at the request of a master. We would not have a master and mate on such terms. Tho Tararua was valued on hor policy at £18,000, and was insured for £14,000. I produco the ordinary instruct;ons to officers. We do not keep an official record of the courses. I hand in a rough estimate of the cargo. The first intimation wo hod of tbo mishap to the Tararua was by 0 telegram from Wyndham, dated April 29, entered there at 12.15 p.m., and placed in my hands about 12.45 p.m. The first intimation we had that tho Tararua was in dagger was from tho second mate who. boardod the Hawea, and told mo that he wire afraid she had not lasted during tho nighfc. By Mr Smith : Personally I know nothing ugainst tho chief officer Mr Lindsay. By Mr Denniston : I always understood that tho standard compass of the Tararua was absolutely correct. By the Court : I had nofc fche slightest idea of whafc steamer or steamers were in Invercargill. From the reassuring nature of the telegrams it never occurred to mo to think of what vessels wero there or wero available. By Captain Thomson : Tho Governmont send vessels very promptly to the assistance of any boats in trouble in tho neighbourhood of Woliington. Ifc never occurred to the Oompany that ifc was tho duty of the Government to do bo. That did not prevent the Company from sending assistance earlier. Nothing could have been done beyond what was dono, even if the telegrams 'hud been of an alarming oharaoter, as the Kakanui could nofc have left Invercargill until tho tide served. I aefcod under fche advice of our Marino Superintendent, whoi went witli me in tho Hawea. The othor ovidonce tnkon up to the adjournment comprised thafc of captains, who knew the coast, and spoke as to tho dangers along it. At the conclusion of tho inquiry, previous to tho rising of tho Oourt, a question was raised as to whother at the close of the evidence tho lawyers would be permitted to address the Court. A doubt was expressed on the point, as there was no oharge to whioh | thoy could address themselves. Tho Oourt j agreed to consider whother it should, witli a view of giving tho lawyers the p . ..-go asked, formulate a charge, or who ■- as i things now Btand the lawyers may mak - their 1 speeches to urgo the Court to restore ths> rtifica <*n ■ ihe inquiry was adjourned tall Tueeday.