THE ELINGAMITE ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11480, 13 January 1903, Page 6

THE ELINGAMITE ENQUIRY.

' COUNSELS' ADDRESSES. L (PRESS ASSOCIATION- TELEGBAiI.; AUCKLAND, January 12. | When the magisterial inouiry into the wreck of the Ellngumite waa resumed this , morning, after an adjournment extending > over the holidays, the addies>es of counsel • were commenced. Mr A. J. Tole, who i» appearing for the Collector of Customs, in indicating 1 hi. , p'-'intd lie inU-nded to bring out, sub-mitu-d that the wreck was the result of '.•are less navigation by Captain Attwood l up U> the time of the wreck, and that carelessness mi e 'ht be reflected on the officers. So proper lookout was lcept, the • log wa« defective, and the reckoning theieioiv inaccurate. 'Ihere waa neglect !n mkiiiff soundings, nor were proper precautioriw adopted. When the circum- ■ statices of the position of the steamer were considered, the speed of the steamer should have bten reduced und should have been stopped till the position 'was asceruiiiub!?. The appliances in life-sav-:ng were, he a!f> cunttiided, insufficient, and the boaUt inefficiently ni£iia,ged. A :esponsibility also rested with llu tngineloom. The nuestion was whether on the din-f or on all, as there was not a prompt olxilieiK,..' to th., orders. On the who-le tiTiuu:stai;c.s thv-re wud no reason why the tihi[> should not have gone astern. I'oumel appearing lor the captain and ongiu<.-t:\s exn:essed dissatisfaction with the (."ruwn in not traversing the .evidence, inli.jatiivj: th*.' portions which, it waa sUteJ, iiiiplicattid individual officers. .\n application was made by Mr Cotter, who appealed for the engineers, for the di.-iiiissal of Scott, the third engineer, from the .proceedings, on the ground that there was no evidence against him. The application w;,s dfcclaud by the Bench, the ii.ai;i.<rr:tie .stating that a. judgment would l>e iiiven as a whole, when the interests of t-Veiy oilicer would be considered. Mr (/ampbc:!!, in concluding his address, extoiltd the courageous conduct of Captain Attuood, and said a review of the evidence showed that there were no grounds for assuming there had been any negligent or wrongful act on the part of the captain, whose conduct was, on the contrary, deserving of the highest coirimeridat'.iiii. Mr Martin, in his address, submitted that the first and second officers did their duty right through. 'Ihey w>re not on duty at the time of the wreck, but came on deck and assisted with the boats. It had not been shown that the absence of compasses in the boats contributed to the loss of life. Mr Haselden said if the boats had compasses thpy could have shaped a course for the land, ard Xo. 4 boat would in all probability have been saved. Mr Martin said no one seemed to know where they were, or'in what direction the land lay. The Court adjourned till to-morrow.