THE SURAT INQUIRY.

Evening Star, Issue 3395, 8 January 1874, Page 2

THE SURAT INQUIRY.

The official inquiry jintpithe wreck'df- the', ship ourat-was'cqminemjed-m the old! City , ihiß'*m6rniWg;! before Messrs R.M., qu4 Jas. Fulton, KAI., with Captain Thqmsoh ap! nautical assessor. Mr Haggitt conducted for the Customs, authorities ; and -Mr Htout watched'the proceedings on behalf of Captain Johnson. I he application for an inquiry by Mr Hill, the chief officer of Customs, at this point having been read, v . Mr hxxiODE said : 1 now call upon the eaptam of the Surat to produce and deposit his certihcato^ of, competency, in the hands of this Court. We also require tho certificates of pqp two Plates. 'Mr : The captain has not brought it,- but-ho will bring it. There has, however, jbeen no notice given tp ,him. to that effect. Mr Strode : There is no occasion for (notice. There,io a provision in the Act. ; Mr STotjx -'Not excepting’ the Captain has (been called upon. Mr Strode ; It is always done in those ,We cannot proceed without it. ' ! d'l ,('.V,- y'C-U, ] Mr Stout s The words of the statute are ; , Ho shall bo liable, bofora justices or magiatrates, to be called uppn.’’ r lb is notimpera- . 1 may say that t/ appear l for Captain Johnson, and have to ask tlut all witnesses who have been summoned By the Collector of Customs to attend thisfinquiry may be ordered out of Court. Mr Haggitt : Before : tho witnesses leave, I have to ask,that two of them should come forward for Foreshawe (the chief officer) and Edward Hamilton (the second-mate). ■ t '• ?) ;; r. /; ) [lhe first and s-cond mates then stepped forward andffiahded m their certificates.] Captain Johnson was then called and answered tk? prescribed ‘‘questions as follows’! My' name is Edward Joseph Johnson,' that of my ship the &tirat.' She was registered at Liverpool, and het: official number iff 43,ff/9.'. The ship’s age was nearly eleven years, and she was classed air Liverpool, Lloyd’s, at twelve years. She was ship-rigged, built of irpn; heb i*egsstpred r “ tonnage 'Hrt» 999, 84-10!) tons.; ’• The nufiiber of the crew off the articles *was ; thirty.aevett, the doctor >;and myself included. l • The Humber at the'time cas h^ fc .V : Vaff thirty-ff ve;' two bfeing ferck.' ( ! 1 have a master’s certificate of petency ; the first: mate has the samc -aud the second mate a second mate’s certificate of competency. The original number of passengers was 271 souls, but only 270 when the vessel was lost, an infaat havingidied on the passage. We left Gravesend —speaking from memory at nine; o’,clock pn the morning of September 28. The date and hour of tho casualty was the 31st of ; December, between a quarter and five minutes to ten at.night. I lie weather at the time was dark aud thexlaud: covered with haze. The direction of the wind was about,W. j ; with a fri-sh breeze. The exact spot of the' casualtywwa r Chasland’s .Vliatake. The ship ! touched on .ChasJand’s,,Mistake t came off and was a total loss at Gatlin's River. The 1 f,¥nL Val m®J vas , between . L15,000s The value . of the cargo. ( or the* (amount; the ship wap injured for i do not know. The vessel was not supplied with regular charts for the coast of -New -Zealand....Dog; Island light house is distinctly marked,.upon; the chart, and the rock on - which, ship struck is also distinctly marked, but on a very small k-.alc. It is an Admii alty chart. We had three compasses-one in the cabin and two on deck. The standard compass was, placed on' the platform on skids between the twp Ihe 'boats* and between the..main and' mizeh masts, pThe ship,was las^t.swung at .Green-' hithe, on September 27. The cargo dief mot affect the compasses. She had six boats; but I do not think that number was sufficient to • cariry nearly ■ 300 .people.She was very weH>ifound, in, sails,,, rigging; fi &c. The three large anchors* would he about 32cwt, with three hundred fathoms of chain cable and ninety-one of mooring chain • could not say thp, thickness of either. The’ draft of water was 17ft Sin on the keel* ,on leaving -London. Oho yessel lightened 18in during the voyage. She* had water! tight, compartments, one fore and, pne aft • they were small, but on examination after she struck, they contained no water although water was in tht/ hold: The cargo was a total loss. She had no deck load, nor was she overladen’. Thcweight of the cargo on leaving London was ahopt 950 tons. The second bfficerwas in bbai-gg When she struck Dog Island.bora, W. .by N., distant 20 miles, at 8 p.m. SAw ’no htber landmark afberwar.d,s? -The weather dark and cloudvi.' When tne vessel struck, the course. N.F, by E -. Aftor'she" struck, her head was to,wards E.S.E. ‘'..The'.Vbw'ners Si-6 '.sHalcroffs andf Idighen, 5, Quay, tivtei-pool.’•' ( S r aw Stewart’ii Islafia Decbtnbe? 31, hetv*beiL24nd ’ ao’clpck f p. m., distant about ‘ sixteen milks. The wiffd’ was favorable,- W.NV’W.J’W the ifarf was' Abt'excebt^ffg royals. The VesaPl per hodf;. Ido the bearihgs pU! ,the land, as the; log was,lost-~I r think' if it .Bore neaHy'N.W. on rightirig it' ship’s chart wakprbdticed.'lt wah'U’ cbW bf-‘ tHbrA Chart, puhlished’Ht th&Hydro-’ graphic Office. Manch 3, 1856, under superiffpt - and' ; additions, add' correcribn's July• 1865.~ The ‘ chibf-‘"bffice^ i saw 'the 4 op tfie'shfith rock's abotifcT ! ,£9 ,p.m ; , and rdporWa it fa me* 1 The hVoken water wMpff the S, Txai/lipcM, the Vessel 1 * steering KS by the chatl' THe next land , se§n s•# coast of ‘wHch sighted/ 1 recognige Bruce’s, reef’per any point hf the island ekpept its Sputbern bpp. WheP about Bruy's reef the wzfid haulbd&pre to tljb'N.,'! and, vessel .was, liauled iip' another point ■ tp the pqrtH.‘ That about '5 p. m. The •swiß. i waß.:camhd 'ite 'before. As the .wind ‘seemed. Veering mbre : to the" nbfth-' ward,. >1 gave, instructions ffbin! tifne tb' time to the. mah at 'thp/'whbel 1 to luff (I beflfjj-, bn, ’ the alteration caused in; the' reVsers ‘cofirse I pn deck Until Enahuke 1 Island was signed. , Could npthdy whSf time that was. The yespol was .still ’ kept edging*’to the nprthWard- The distaticff/frbm the island, w%s twelve tp foiirteeA miles. .Until sight! % Dog Island Light tlib steering was N7E qnd’gradualiy.wka chknged to N.N.E; Hip.* to 7;30,. Dbg Island was theh W. |hy ■distance about .twenty 1 miles. ’The lighthouse was, burning/., The tlien altered tpN. E. by E.|.E. ’ NbchangP'tvasinAde .in'ljie sails/ The wind was abaft the’behm aHout I jipint .to 'hlbfvving moderately fresip Her' wbuld'hverage more' than ninpjkhojis, an hour. Nothing; happened! up to . ;8;p, Bd; i , af which h.ohr f the r post lion was marked ’On' W‘ ; Vej»~ nearly losing the light. The cross 1 in pencil , off fclppe Point, 42, mark' the spot/iW'tilaiiilAhd ' twelve miles distant; ‘ hilt it was dark' And Mzy, ! so ( thht' pb landmark could be seen. Tbe' churse was hot stored until a ininutp before the vessel, struck, between and five minuteWto ten o’clock. I formerly bbUeved it;'was on Cliaffland’s'Mistake/' The distance ,on the:, chart from the'Vessers petition; at; 8,,p.m ! and Chasland’s Mistake was. abouft ;t.«3entyone miles. Was in the saloon when the vessel struck. Left the deck fob the last time, before the shock about 9.20. Was sitting at' theVabih'iahle when I felti.’thkyessel bump slightly, and Lrappndeek. X ran on tof the poop. She' struok three times afterwards, the last of which was heavy. She struck

amidships. I immediately ordered the helm hard up, to turn the vessel’s head from I the shore. The second officer had got the helm hard up he'ore giving the order. The man at the helm gave the ,usual answer * har , d it W’ The jround to the southward am eastiyWrd ; sail! was taken off her, and the f; yards were i trimmed. The vessel nevet, ? bub went over the roclc did? strike again. The biimping-of' the v^el 1 caused me to give the order “hard up,”' as the vessel could only strike on the port aide, at there was no land on the other. I could see the land close to when I went on to the poop : about half to a quarter of a mile away.- .The night was .dark a_t the time the vessel touched. It was 'immediately" after a rain shower. I do not think the moon had risen. When the vessel struck, the. second mate had charge, of the .deck. His watch comprised,,.twelve men besides himself. I do not bt“ miy own knowledge know that a look-out was kept. I had no ..pay-, officerspin ]that occasion, although; general instructions were: giyeh to jthena to, give reports,pf rProceedingSf I T ‘ gave 1 >a special order, to the second officer to *keep ] j j S oo< i look-oat that night., The.first thing ’ iWg strikingf’wis to send ' i _ ca rpantar to; sound the putiipS, and the third iriite was directed' to stand by with',a watch in his hand to note the water irikAe - m a given time.The-, Vessel made no water j within an hourand 10 minuter after she struck, j At.theeridof that, time 4in.-"of .water reported. Iron vessels generally contain ; about; 2in. . The pumps were got ready, but . would not draw with so little water as that. I During the time stated .the yardft, had beep i trimmed and the canvas reduced. That was done in twenty minutes. The vessel’s head, was put, to .the southward and eastwardj; with the ' ivihjd at N, Wl ‘ : .The vess|l ' under three lower topsails, .add stobd on that course for tbree-iiharterhbf ah binding she was making no wa er, in.order* ullay the irritation of the passengers ship l was hove-tb. The passen'gers were frightened,' rushed into the saloony apd filled it immediately after the ship struck. Wlhetf thoi .carpenter reported r that -no >vater was copaing; got,.them calmed ,dowri,snd, Wde*. beingf reatoted, they ; to n their quarters. The ship washo ve-to. before that. Another:: object;;of iny, heaving-to was to for :,4ay,break. l saw-where they were going the-passengors wpuM have more confidence, I ;did mtt es: the. .at v ’t|iq $ ih4 r - Had never: been ,on, the icoast hpfbre. i Believe the chief officer had; at least,' I think t have; hbard him .say ’s6. T»ut : T Aid nSt rely, .upon my knowledge;' Whsiri' bed wlibn the ■vestel struck:' n I 'relied ktfodri ledge derived from examinatibtt' -of the chart. ;The - sonpdings. .are ■ shown - r fpr i . twepty-fiyh; miles ; bfc.the" ooait. I hauled the vessel the • norfch\fjarcC expeering to get^Md'KK^iadsV i ray ouiy _obj t ct. 7 Those winds, Tyould have I pspn \yinds for me, whereas by keeping along the coikt I expected 1 to* carry,; the 1 •W. wind with me and make a quicker ~po yoii ( think ; that- 'wasißufficient .justification for you cothihg 'into soundings on, a coast Which you did riot know except by your chart?'‘Yea, of cbiirse: Weremainei hove-to about two arid • adialf or three hours.' After 11 p.m. she comvmenced: to mahe wftter, but I continued > hoye-to. . Prom 11 ;>to 12 was expended in v >erideavoring to - . get the ' starboard -pump to' wofk ' Only , one pump .was going. Ido not know what was wrong starboard pump; the.only reason 1 is that it must havh been choked in some way! when .the Vessel struck. v The starboard puirip would' not work.' Tt vVas last w«rked, ? pj:evioußlv' on the voyage faki Hamburg to Loridon', in August.' Thepumps' were .sounded daily, but there were never ,than.two inches of water. TtTswell to mention that the pumps'were all properly fitted before the ship was allowed to leiv* London.- i started the fire engine ’tween decks to .work, and, had the engine suction pipe cut and put below. JGct >mp - steam* and found /it vwonld not pump. We then had i.ohty; the port pump and the fire engine] at: work.—-From the- time, of' svater in the port pump, did you work it continuously? . No„ )ve,-had- tq stop it.,in order to endeavor tp .get the starboatd «ne ..to ytork., There is a J crank that works 'found and round with two “When working at the one you cannot get the other of the crank turning, round,, so .that a good deal of time was thus lost.'* Then again in trying jjo.start. the starboard pump we poured as much water down it as was Taken t out'>of -the port one.-.t;Arirhour-jafter water, was discovered to be making, tho porfc pump was going continuously? ’ The fire <!n ; ;ine had bceri hf Work half an hour before *bhis. ■ .It.iSjWovked by.hand, by .four or five men. I can’t say how many gallons pet hour it throws, but it would help consider*ably in keeping a vessel clear."! lhe‘ passengers and crew worked the pumps. There were about fifty more men'about them than was’ , 1 as.- is i usually the case". 5 Mjw many‘as could hold the - ropes d d so. .'The '.mbnhvotked at the pumps by turns, , until the tfenaimi'6n r Jaf; 1., The vesael'hiade more water than the pumps hould heave: Prom the putnpsibeing started _it gradually increased, till it got to over £ a foot an hour brer tjhe pumps. It, was repprted frbm time to titae—About every haff-hour —what r watet slib ing, but l db not feoolleot to what Extent It iiicteased bach half-hour. At 6 a.nt it ’was on' the pumps at: overfia t fo„t Uf at the time we beached hec she was increasing 15 inches an h6ur;mi6fe -Than-the pumps. There was nearly lO feet of water in the hold when we beached her;— Your vessel was an iron one, and for ip mjnutes after striking qn therock sho;d\d ribtiehkany; . [.ryant you to say whether yen can Recount in' ,any way 'for the, vessel' only four Inches in . that hour and, ten mtrihtes ?—j Except that' thd ship shaMhg’ lobt'bnid the rivets, 1 land that thby dropped out afterwards ? ] .that Is the only thing; ThereVias -no more motion of the vbyel thiin is usual with ships at seq, but very/littjq would cause the rivets .to- drop out,' Another'thinglib' that there were four inches of cement on her bottom, which would.keep her. from making' water for .some time., ;,i. hoyer different account of the . quantity of water in the ship when I beaohedi her. I never said six feet. I hove-to three-quarters of an.; hour .from the vessel striking,,. and remairied hove-to till a jfittle after. ", My object" as I before said, was to allay the irritation ot the ’ passengers, and wait till daybreak.' There show of daylight in;thc sky when! bore away. Daylight was j ust breaking. { -J ; was in, ilo, better: position tp vsee where we were ithen thanjJ. an hour previously , ® kad drifted a little off the land. The irritation of the-> passengers hddi beori' alloyed, two, hours before this. After the'* "fa fat tfepbtitiori *thby- got'very 'quiet.: 11 khew the land was on; the port hand, and Was outside. .. Thedei knowing you had thelandhri your port side," ‘nqthiug jtq, seaward- of. you, that theirrita-' tion of your passengers had been allayedi and having a fair wind, as yofi afamit; how . was it -that you, ; not immediately jaway fop.,,your port ?—lt was 7 an error of judgment, ,bn my .' part, which , T havei regretted ever since. 1 thought* the pqssimgers wou|d keep quieter if, I k eD t: within sight of Iqn.d;., Within 1 , hßw. mkuv houra sail of Otago Headß /? \vei'e •* ?—lthat breese had kept up, bqtitdrew*wfty*fr*-

wUerltlbe ufo&btfter w.t-7 &Jfi my in s®s|s|to there.’ aaybhl bfc# uAfedfoat you SKJS Jfesaqe nearer long after that was it that you determined m your own mini that the water-was saining dangerously oa your ship?-Between 4 and o ° dock in the morning I became sab!?a®.lblut the pumps would not be able to keep the vessel afloat:“ then' heading for the tworqyAbout four miles off, well towards the »ha‘- with th® N.W. As the day advanced the wind was more tbfoe Wr, for me, butT dot r betl»p v 'sofithe- ship would sail with tho wind abeam. 1 -As the jwmd gbt lighter I mado mdrS.aaUrr Alf il a; “‘ .thu AVailable kail-thit)%oul4. "* d J od^BeaayiweSgeLQriptft^dgtT as l to the fame, but as Sar te myihidinnentT' allows meji ibctween forer and fourTa bfo,r tobrhmg l siw, a steadier-passing betobbuffil ( vesSbl ■ and the Ihndll foe %as tWOrmSlst) bread jdayrf) I ‘ Codld bflciii6 f *J® iMM mer ? ”- I , did signal a Aofi'l A Bl^ &nal ' dld ytm oftsign, unioTr down. - fourth? imate w J?“ .a gnu on board?— j two, and ammunition, iA <1 diaflAtfl; Ilfrs a gun. At tho time Mid faUt think the cfol !nk? d o u Vr “ lt i i Sv t ? ,y ; t^ ned oat he, and i thought 1 OoM g&t orf^itlTbdt l the* disjtV£ i*?M of, the steamer. . Why adont half 1 tvbGldrnot> Have hbisted/fhe i endign bh'Jmy oWn'<account.>v ‘ XOae" constable I > bhhg ;|na,sehder^wfe hoisting thp 1 waa o^ittle.^iW ed fc ß olng done « and ordered it to be hanlbd (downl ' Coming back Vmbke, and told him foattLdUo itbSSt < 68 af^ r ward> X ordere i the fotiMh to it. •' I had 40ft to walk,, add mhV.Tincke'tftf fooWp Whv was irkffeV iihl'bhSiMoW yW ordcreii it up .reason was I did not •^isn^thbjpassengers ;to :t*ker<ehargp of - e .T e ® .ts that a reason foridunsting it a .o«M. to. be'na approval of the fl ct i of ‘the passbhgigrh. .iilf; I -had Jffi v; —* the pHsfiehgblr»: without taking it dowh abd futlfimhi'ft up by one bf my oWn crewj, it would We caused qorpe disturbance on bbaVd; I which was, likely fr-ppt .that d thoujght: the steamer. tWm necessary. I had a fine the time the steamer passed,, and I don’t think if she had turna round' foe could have caught ns to. What infdSrmatibn did you tgopiT betiveon the steamer pasaiuz and four o* five o’clock to y6u to comefo tho 'coficlusibfffort jnV; ( v ®te at the;:latter jhourih greater danger fe?n e6 *^?«Ster , « retort faster' Upon the pumps. “Betweentour hbdflwthe water was gairiing bn- thc'bumbß : at "thd r rete of about seven ihcheS ah' hbUr ; Wilioim h*fore it gained at. the. rate bf six infoes. = It .. A :,4ww.'..towards Jack’s Inland, tbattheji-atei' gamed on mo very fast, and as it rose the vessel bfebamv Ttmctrmorc"tmhandy and unwieldy; Did that difference of an mch of water in thp.hour. cause, ytmfo S‘t® r .yppr opinion of, you* uitiniatechaneoM arriving at your port ?-It dijl 'm, W the •A®? fc m*> the watef gailifed-ai°«r eloven mches.idid and then I'iah ifito WcTa Bay and anchored; Wereyou asked byWy. S?*® ..*?< ;td‘ fattract■.■vitfaa attention of' the, steamer t^'Np^lxiiot>:i»y anyone. By no one. Mot by any ofithe .S e !Ku ? "'?°B y any » to « y 'ko9wle4gb. Did not the doctor ask you to foe best of my knowledge.; WhAtSizcd gum was it?r-A, BJx-pounder. But you .afterwards sqnt a boat off' to ths, steamer' ?-r-f dikmbt > ™y. second officer/, wcm off iu. * Wit. Old he go by your orders *—fbe liokts tfoto hanging to the ship by a painter; i been let go astern. There lyere three:boats, and the sedond mate went bff in -one of .against my orders,, Did ifcpccur to ynu ta B Wy dafck’i Bky; oM m that suggested or forced upoa yeti ?1-I doomed for “y self v Mr- Dance Booth, a A, cafab to me And fold,- Awmi , tai ®>' do , P afc ' ua ; bn land isbfhewhere?T I •repliled, ‘That is' 1 the Only thing',Leanolb® now if I (have e into this bay (>r ,,W]e anchored in Jack’s iiav? fathoms.; In Jack's under the-.second, third,,and fduirfo%W®S The fiwimate.waij'drank in bedT: theSfc ? were, isober. ‘‘;' :' '-ds 'ttoffe feittibg.l ; ' !,r vein