Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, 24th MAECH, 1874.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 2388, 24 March 1874, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle, AND PATEA AND RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. TUESDAY, 24th MAECH, 1874.

A strange anomaly in the law relating to merchant shipping has been disclosed by the findings of the Courts of Inquiry into the stranding of the barque ♦ Auazi,' at Auckland, and the loss of the 'Cyrus '. and ' Wellington, 1 near Port Nicholson Heads, respectively. The circumstances of the former affair are of a remarkable nature, and certainly not at all creditable to the master of the. ship. The barque * Anazi ' was on a voyage from London to Auckland, with a general cargo valued! at £47,000, and a few passengers, on bjoard. The voyage was prosperous so far as weather was concerned, but in other respects it "was an unpleasant one. Provisions ran short, and this naturally caused a good deal of discom-, fort ; and the steward, who seems to have beeu blamed by the captain for the deficiency, took the complaints so much to heart, while he was also suffering from bodily disease, that he committed suicide by drowning himself. However, on Wednesday, the 28th February, the North Cape was sighted, and on the following Saturday afternoon, the ship passed the Tiritiri lighthouse, with a leading wind for Auckland harbour. A few hours later she was hove to, waiting for a pilot. Gradually' she drifted towards the land, and at midnight went on shore at Donald McKay's Bay, when but a few miles from her destined port, escaping destruction by a miracle. She stuck fast on a sandy beach, but had she been a couple of cable lengths to the north, or a little farther to the south, she would have run upon a jagged reef and must inevitably have gone to pieces. But how, it will naturally be asked, with a lair wind and so\ind ship, did Captain Hoi den manage to run his vessel ashore in this manner 1 The explanation is simple enough, and unfortunately it is one which applies to many shipwrecks. Captain Holden, it was proved in evidence, was drunk at the time the catas-t-ophe occurred, and when the vessel struck, instead of exertiug himself to save the lives of the passengers, he was to be seen chasing his second mate round the deck with tiue object of striking him. A day or two afterwards, the ship was floated off without material damage, or loss of life ;, but that was a. fortunate accident, and in no way improves the master's case. Yet he has altogether escaped punishment because no serious damage was occasioned to the vessel. The Marine Court of inquiry found him guilty of stranding his ship through negligence while under the influence of liquor, but inasmuch as the .vessel did uot sustain serious injury, it held that the law did not empower the cancelling or suspension of his certificate. For the same reason, while it censured the fir.st, and second, mates, it declined to infli&t^ any penalty upon them. . J;' "% A different . measure has been mejbeici? out to the masters of the ' Cyrus '-• and • Wellington.' On the night of thjgit misfortune, both captains were perfectly, sober, and when the moment of peril cjame showed themselves cool and courageous^ and used their utmost exertions to save> the human lives under their charge* Yet the certificate of each has been suspended, that of Captain Andrews, of the ' Cyrus,' for twelve months, and Captain Hill's for six, but the Court, in view of the mitigating circumstances of the case, has granted each an interim mate's certificate: The fault laid by the Court upon Captain Andrews' shoulders isthus : — On the night of the hurricane, alight was seen from the vessel, which he took to be Mana light, and shaped his course accordingly, but it turned out to be Pencarrdw liead light, and the ship was wrecked closed by. The Court was of opinion that Captain Andrews neglected to observe the bearing of the light after firt>t sighting it, for had he done ko, he must soon have come to the conclusion that it was not Mana light for which he was steering. There was, however, evidence to show that an unusual current prevailed in that part of jbhe Straits navigated by the two vessels, and' as Mr Crawford remarked, " if this were the case, it would tend somewhat ".o mitigate the blame attached, to the master of the ' Cyrus.' "- Captain Hill did not make the .-ame mistake about the light as the master of the ' Cyrus,' but the Court considered that he neglected to take p'oper steps to ascertain his distance from it, or to note its change of bearing after being sighted. This, in the Court's opinion, was rather an error in judgment than culpable negligence, and considering, also, that Captain Hill appeared tohave done his duty to the best of his ability, and was almost constantly at his post, it only suspended his certificate for six months. The Court was probably right in punishing these gentlemen, although it is quite possible that had they lost their ships before the crusade against bad seamanship began, they might have got off with a mild reprimand, but surely, if they deserved to have their certificates suspended, the master of the 'Anazi' equally merited that penalty, if not a severer one. It is an obvious defect in the law that the worst offence should be treated the most lightly, for, certainly, if there is. one case of shipwreck more than another wherein the master of the vessel

ought to be pjunished for his misconduct, it is where, ? with, a caini sea and fair breeze in <his favor, he, from negligence occasioned by; excessive drinking, lets his vessel drift out of her course and run ashore. lf> by a lucky accident, she escapes without serious harm, th&t is not a plea which he ought to be allowed to put forward, in his defence, or which should weigh with a Court of Enquiry in giving its judgment upon his conduct. — ♦ 1- , , The Education Board had done a wise thing in determining to throw open its meetings to Press reporters. They ought never to have been closed to the Pre»s. The Board is a public body, and deals with public monies, just like a Borough Council, and its proceedings ought to have equal publicity in the newspapers. In Otago the Education Act expi-essly provides that the. ineetiuss of the Educa* tion Board "of that Province shall be open to reporters, and it was an oversight that a similar provision was not inserted in the Wellington Act. Probably the framers of the Act never contemplated that the Board would so far depart from precedent as to take advantage of the omission, and only permit the publication of such reports of its transactions as it saw fit. This foolish action has done the Board an immense deal of harm. We firmly believe that nothing whatever has occurred or been said at any of its meet' ings which might not have been published with credit to itself and without detriment to the working of the Act, but the mystery in which the Board has chosen to enshroud itself has been largely used by its enemies to raise suspicions of unfairness and incompetence, which could not have been done had the ordinary course in these matters been followed, i However, better late than never, the Board has at last done its duty, and will acquire popularity thereby.