THE TAINUI DISASTER

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 8, 4 October 1919, Page 10

THE TAINUI DISASTER

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST

LEAKING BENZINE CASES

By TelearaDti—l'reaa Association. Christchurch, October 3. •■v The., adjourned inquest into Hie circumstances connected with the Tainui <lis- •' aster at Gore Bay on September 16, when eight members of the crew lost their lives, was resinned to-day at I.yttelton Courthouse before- Mr. S. E. M'Carthy, Coroner. Mr. S. 6. Raymond, K.C., watched the proceedings oil behalf ot the Marine Department, Mr. G. H. Btichanan appeared for the New Zealand Refrigerating Co., Ltd., the owners of the . . vessel, and Chief Detective M'llvenev ; conducted the inquest on behalf of. the '• police.... ,James , Knowles Hughes, . waterside ...worker, gaid he was employed by the Railway Department in' loading the Tai? ■ Jiui on September 15. His work was to discharge the contents of trucks into the ship. The cargo consisted mostly of benzine and ploughs. The benzine' was in cases.. In all his experience as a wharf . lumper he had never seen cargo in such ■ a' had state a§ regards its leaking con- ' , tlition. Some of the cases were completely empty. Chief Detective M'llveney: Did you r.. notice. any. benzine on the wharf where it was put in the slings?—"lt was fairly wet. sill round where we were working." ' Who was in charge of the men working in the hold?—"A man named Nolan appeared to be in charge of the men working in the hold.. He is now in. the hospital. He had nothing to do with the placing of the cases in the slings. I was .tally clerk for the Railway in connection with the loading." ■ \ Were any of these cases rejected by Nolan?—"Yes,. and they were sent un on deck." On which part of the deck were t'"--placed?—"On both sides. They Ternain- , ed on deck and became part of tho deck ! cargo." Did yon nntice the condition'of (hose cases?—" Some of them wero still -leakinpr." Did you see any of the shin's officers there?—" Both the captnin and the mate ' wero there. One or other was nresent throughout the day." Did yon have a conversation with any officer?—" Yes. the mate." About what? —"The condition of the cargo. The chief officer save me instructions that under no conditions were any leaky oases to he put in the hatoh»s. Hr particularly stressed the. after hatch, captain had told the mate, to tell us this. To the best of our ability we tried tr, carrv out these instructions."

Witness continued that the' ploughs ■were placed near tho forward hatch. When loading,started a red flag was hoisted, and a'notice,board nut nn for- . biddine smoking or naked liehts 'iii or near the ship. On'v four lenkv c,T=es ■were rejected from the after hnlpV. No. 1 hatch was in a bad state right thrown. He could not give rh» numbers, biit about 1.5 per eent. of .the cargo in No. ■ " 1 hatch consisted of lenky cases. T'^ese cas<s were rejected' and sent on deck. ... Were am*'case sent np cborp?—"No; ■' all were left on the deck and went awa? ; with the ship " To Mr. Buchanan: He could not. say whether any cases had been '*• trucks before co'i? on the fninui. Te : had no responsibility to the Hai'wav Department in connection with the leaky cases.... ' Hnw'do'vou account for the diffr"-»nr- ,,-. the state.of the c.i=°= mif in '''/.th'p'lifter. hnMi and the forwpnl hatch? "''./.'/T3eci>n«!i! the mnioritv of the cases '..' ■were". picked out for rh» i-fte v ha'-'' I '. Onlv gond cases were nut in.the after hate l ', '"'be others went forward ef*fr- ' wtirds. Ten cases were rut in « <-ii-"» There was an pf about one leaky cs>« in' every sling." ':. _ When you iww-n li>"W o= n di" -nr :"■'' inform anybody of the fact?—"T l "- could see if themselves—the stuff was running out." Ynn-.DTu- fiuife that tk« pia l ''' gnveall-the in»tni' , ri' , "s b" possibly could imatt»r ?—'Tee." Iti'-Was'.for the stevedores who were '- ; fforing.'*o.-p«nd the leakv cases up on 1 When this. car?o .•>'! r>u hoo-d wos -.' ft receipt "iven to .*!"> Pii 1 ' r aT Deonrt"'.mpfit?—"Yes. for "<\ch truck, but '—' ; for the quantity. No reference was made ■• .to +h> eond'Hon." •'/•Thomas Faull pave similar evidence. In cross-examination he said Hint Mr. Newfield, tbe seaman's deleaafo. who was watching the loading operation* for a time, remarked on the leaky condition of ~.the cases.: In witness's opinion the state .''"of the'cargo was very bad. Charles- \skwell Benton, a wat»rsider. whose, evidence practically corroborated that of the previous witnesses, said that the forward hatch looked all right, but there was not sufficient ventilation, sm>--.-—lne that- benzine was beinc carried. He would have signed on the Tainui had.he been in need of a job. ■■•' '■■ '■ The Coroner: Supposing.there had been a leakage,- was there any. chance of the . benzine running to another part of the '6hip? ■~ .Witness: As far as I could se it would run under the stokehold.The .Coroner: The Teasou whv I ask the question is because the fireman on ........watch at the time the boat cautrht fire "Was the only one of tho five bodies re-, covered'whose face was singed. Theodore Neilson, who was working in No. 1 hatch, said that he had sent the leaky cases up on deck. Some were wet, but they might not have been leaking. 'After completing No. 1 hatch he went to the after hatch. Nolan gave them strict ■'•- instructions not to take any cases in /■-. that hold .'if they were- leaking. Ho ' thought the vessel_ was in a safe condition when the loading was completed and would have gone in the vessel himself .if he had wanted to on tho trip to Timam. Captain Wilcox, Assistant' Marine Superintendent, ordered" the after hatch to be "kept clear of benzine, and the vessel wont down to Timaru with thftt hold empty. , Andrew. Anderson, launch owner, said he saw a "shower of motor spirit or water -,- falling from a sling of cases being hoisted into the Tainui, and madei a remark that the boat would not get to its des- . tination. There -was always danger in carrying leaking tins as deck cargo in boats where there were coal fires. Alexander Kuus deposed thnt the cargo put ~into the Tainui was leaking more than he had seen in the case of other cargoes of motor spirits. About 75 case 3 which could not be stowed on deck had by the captain's orders been placed in No. 2 'hold. They were nearly all wet, but six were sent back to tho deck. ' In his opinion the bulkhead wns not much good. It had a lot of holes in it.- ■ The hold was not in a fit condition to take the last 75 cases. Williams, one of the Tainui's seamen, told him he did - not. think he would sleep at night— there wera too many fumes, and every. . thing stank of motor spirits. There was no danger from the deck cargo. ■ In reply to_ the Coroner, the witness said the fumes might escape through the holes in the bulkhead into" the bilge and then run along to the engine-room. . Herbert Fitzwater. formerly an officer in the Mararoa. stated that he saw the benzine being loaded into the Tainui, and in consequence of the leakage remarked that .he would be very sorrv to go to sea in such a boat, and that, if he had anv control over tho matter he Would shift the cargo. Other evidence as to the leaky nature of the cargo having been heard, the inquest was adjourned till Tuesday. The police have seven more witnesses to . call.