THE LATE BOAT ACCIDENT.

Western Star, Issue 31, 13 June 1874, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE LATE BOAT ACCIDENT.

At the inquestat Port Chalmerson the 2nd, on the bodies of Prank Cassells and A. Skene, who were drowned by the upsetting of a boat in the harbor on the 25th ult., the following evidence was given

John Strongbaoh, one of the survivors, said the boat capsized when opposite the black buoy, below Burke’s. An oar had been used to boom the sail out, and happened to carry away, and two others of them reached over to catch it, and the boat capsized. The sail'jibed at the time. The boat turned over several times. When she righted the first time Davis took a turn with the main sheet for some of them to hold on to. Cassells and Bkene clang to him when the boat capsized. They all went down together. The capsize wai purely accidental. He could not say who was in charge of the boat, or who was steering. Gottfried and another sailor verb aft. Did not think that the sheet was fast when the boat capsized. Had been out in a boat in worse weather than that on the day in question. Did not think that the boat would have capsized if the men had not tried to catch the oar. Ernest Gottfried, lighterman, steered the boat on the day in question. The sprit of the sail was taken down on the way, and an oar was used to boom the sail out. The oar broke just as the boat was near the black buoy, and two of the men tried to catch it. As they did so the sail jibed and the boat capsized. All hands clung to the boat, but she turned over several times, and they were as often washed off. Witness and Leuton then started to swim for the shore. Lenton swam up the harbor, against the wind and tide, and very shortly witness heard him scream, and saw him go down. Witness reached the shore. He only went in the boat to accommodate the others ; boat sailing was no pleasure to him. He believed if he had insisted on the sail being taken in the accident would have been avoided. He was nominally in charge of the boat, but then the owners of her were on board and it was difficult to have all done that he wanted. Some of them objected to taking the sail in, they thought the boat was going along so pleasantly, and asked witness what he was frightened at. He was of opinion that the sail jsnould not have been set. The sheet was not fact, but it had been knotted, and the knot, jammed in the cleat. All bands were sober ; there was n .thing m tbo way of liquor in the boat excepting a bottle of ginger wine. ia illiam MTntyre, who went to the rescue of the survivors, said on going to tho boat, he found that ihe main sheet was fast in the inner cleet. As stated in last night’s issue, a verdict of “accidentally drowned ’ was returned, tho jury adding a rider to the effect that they

thought it was an insane act to attempt to sail about on such a day as the 25th ult. Neither of the other two bodies had been recovered up to four o’clock this afternoon.