LAW -REPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1598, 15 November 1912, Page 9

LAW -REPORTS.

ADMIRALTY COURT. . TOWIN/3 DISMASTED SHIP. SALVAGE CLAIM. i , A sitting of the Admiralty Court wa held in Wellington yesterday, to- conside a claim for salvage in connection wit! the towing of the disabled sailing vesso Wangauui on September 21 and 22 last The Chief Justico (Sir Robert Stout) pro sided, and with him as assessors \vev< Captain D. J." Watson and Captain R. J Gillespie.. There were two actions befon the Court, and both were taken touether The first case was that in which the own erg,-master, and crew of tho steamer Ara pawa proceeded against the ship Wanga nui, her cargo, and freight, to recove the sum of for salvage. In tin socond case the owners, master, and crov of the steamer Kapiti made a claim foi .£BOI for services rendered. Mr. E, K. Kirkcaldie appeared for tin claimants in both cases, while llr. C. B Alorison, K.C.. with Mr. W. H. D. Bell appeared for the owners of the Wangauui • Story of the Mishap. • Particulars of the mishap to the Wa nganui and the incidents relative to hei resouo-from her serious plight were out lined in Mr. Kirkcaldie's opening address At midday oh September 19 the Wanga' nui left Waiiganui for Sydney with .« cargo of white pine timber (vessel and carso valued for the purposes of the aotion .at'.£2760).. All went well until ■ a quarter to 2 o'clock on tho following morning (Friday), when disaster overtook the vessel and the masts went overboard, taking with them the gear, rigging, .and sails.. AU : that was left standing was the stump of the main-mast, the ttump oi the fore-mast, and the fore-yard. Counsel here - pointed out that a gruat deal would turn upon the possibility of getting a; sail upon this vessel. A square-sail was rigged upon tho fore-mast, and 'the vessel drifted down: before u northerly wind until she got within signalling distance of Stephen's Island. She made an unsuccessful effort to communicate ■■with the light-keeper- there, arid was also .unsuccessful, in an endeavour to speak to tho light-keeper a\ The Brothers .'early next day. : \ , • ■ ■ Towed Into Port. A north-westerly galo then carried the vessel oiit into the Straits, as she was entirely out of control'. At 8 o'clock on Saturday morning, September 21, the little steamer Kapiti (valued for tho purposes of this action at .£9000) left Wellington for Puponga in ballast. When the steamer was off-Sinclair Head, the engineer sighted the Wanganui, which was about six miles off, apparently-completely disabled. The Kapitj, being in ballast, was unable to render direct assistance, but Captain Sawyers went close enough to inform the.Wauganui that he would return to Wellington nnd' report. On the Kapiti's return to Wellington, the.ferry steamer Duchess went out; into the straits, but returned later without finding the Wanganui. .. The Arapiiwa (valued for the purpose of this action at and cargo at JJ5000) was dispatched soon after the Duchess,,and she picked up tho Wanganui at C.4S p.m. on Saturday and. towed her into Wellington, reaching port at 8 a.m. on Sunday. Offer of £300 Refused. M'ri Kirkcaldie' stressed the point that the vessel's position, when eho was picked up, was a precarioue one, as she was right out of,the. track, of the ferry steamers, and had not lieen sighted fcy the Pateena. and the Nikau from Nelson, or by, the Ripple, which arrived from the East.'_Coasf on Sunday , morning. Had the Kapiti >not chanced to'sec the Wanganui, the latter would -probably have ;been at the mercy of tho wind ami waves until 'doomsday,- as she could only riin before the wind, and was in pno of the worst localities possible. Negotiations hud been opensd up to settle the- question of .salvage, but .the parties" could "not -agreo .upon the matter, and, as' plaintiffs considered the amount tendered (.£300) was not sufficient, they decided to come to the Court; '■■ • '■■■• '•■ ■ ■■•• Evidence in support of the claim was then tendered by Captain Sawyers, master of the Kapiti- on September 21; Captain Thompson, master of the on September 21; Captain Cambridge, master of the Duchess; Captain Hay, master of the Nikau; Captain. Cozens; Captain Attwood; W. H. G. Bennett, man-aging-director of the Patea Shipping Co.; J. Griffiths, Harbour Board employee; and the Rev. D. C. Bates, Government Meteorologist. , . ■ ■ • • ' • As Viewed by the Defendants. . Mr. Bell, who opened the case for the defendants, declared that Mr. Kirkcaldie's opening was, according to the ovidenco for the defence, not quito accurate, and for that reason oouusel. would have to go over parts of it again. After tho accident tli6 master of the Waiig.inui did not take any steps towards getting the ship undei way, but stopped until & p.m.,' when he could ascertain his position. Evidence for tho defence'would show: (1)' That the Wanganud steered very well Tinder the'sail, whiich they were able to rig on tho way down the straits; (2) :ho weather had moderated a great deal >y. the time she was picked up, and she had come through the vworst of it; (3) there was no leakage, the ship teing perfectly water-tight; (i) there was on board the full complement of anchors and some 200 fathoms of caUo; (5) there was food on board for three months, and water sufficient for a long time;. (6) she had epa-ro gear; a complete spare suit of. tails, and other material. Counsel, eubmitted that there would not have been the slightest difficulty in jury rigging .this vessel in fair weather, and meanwhile there would not have btfen tho remotest chanco of her being driven ashore anywhere. In fact, she could have gone through the'straits several times, and -with a southerly wind she niight even have made Wellington. The master of the'Wanganui was absolutely confident about the safety of his ship, and- when picked up was lying in a good position, with all liis men halo and hearty. "Moreover, distress signals . had never been hoisted. . . , '■ A Peace Offering. After going into further details about the condition of the ship, counsel suggested that ■ the'master had submitted to being taken in tow by the Arapawa on account of the fact-that 'tho company owning the latter vessel had a tegular contract for'-towing Mr. Hatriok's sailing vessels. Although during, the r.egotiationa the sum of ' JE3OO had been .offered, it : wns'--submitted that that ram represented a great deal more than the towwas worth!. Mr. Hatrick had made the offer to buy peace. In siimm'irising the matter, counsel contended that, the risk of life had been nil; risk of loss cf the property of the ship had been nil, and risk of the value of the ship was tl'erefore immaterial; risk of the loss of the salving ship woe nil, and. risk of the cargo of the sailing ship was therefore nil. The only material point, it was contended, was the loss of time in salving the'ship, end they were quito willing to pay an adequate amount in respect of that, regardless of whether it was called salvage or. towing. Evidence for the defence was then tendered' by Captain Berquist, master of tho Wanganui; Noil Garrett, mate of tho Wnngnnui, and others'. Hearing of evidence was not concluded at 5 p.m., and the case was therefore adjourned until this morning.