THE SURAT AFFAIR.

Evening Star, Issue 3408, 23 January 1874, Page 3

THE SURAT AFFAIR.

' shipmasters sympathise WITH captain Johnson. ' ' , A meeting of masters of ships now in port waa held on board the Warrior Queen, last Mighty to take into consideration the case of Capt. Johnson, of the ship Surat. There were present—Captain Wilson, of the War- • nor Queen ; Cfaplain Aerr, of the DunfiJlan j Captain Mordue, pi the Elizabeth Graham • Captain Mitchell,,of the Jessie Headman* Captain Anderson; ] of the Agnes Muir • Captain Atkin, of the Columbus; Captain . Bae, of the Caller-On y, Captain Peregoy, of the Cesarewitoh Captain Oraib, of the Farningham; and Captain Bussell, Wool Inspector. Captain Clark (of Clark and Sons, Port Chalmers), presided.,, :v , .... ‘ T|ie following ‘resolutions were carried That the Meeting being of opinion that the cancelling of Captain Johnson’s certificate by the Colonial Board' of Inquiry was excessive punishment, a petition praying for a jhjtigatwivqf the sentence : should be prepaired apd forwarded to the Board of Trade na England.• ‘ ; , ’ “ That in consideration of the .evidence adduced by the master/ relative to the extreme uncertainty of securing oomfeet of the tides and currents on the New jZealand coast, the loss of the Surat was, in place,, to be mainly attributed , to m Aviation , of her ; compasses and to the

“ That in the opinion of this meeting the punishment already meted out to Captairi Johnson of the Suriit waaextrctnely in excess of his deserts,” /’ M That a committee, consisting.of Captains Kerr, Wilson, Russell, Mitchell, and the movpr, be Appointed to prepare a petition and obtain signatures to it.” In the discussion that took place, the opinion was generally expressed that the cai oellatibn of Captain Johnson’s certificate was, under the circumstances, an excessive punishment. It was pointed out that no master’s certificate bad been 'cancelled, although some serious cases of shipwreck and loss of life had occurred. In the Atlantic’s case, where there was great loss of life, the master’s certificate was’ only suspended for two years ; and in the case of the City of Washington, the suspension was only for a year. Another debated point was the probable catlses which led to the Surat’s first taking the ground, and the meeting was unanimous in condemning the compasses, and also the strength and set of the tides. Compasses in iron ships were most treacherous. Captain ‘Rab, of the Caller Ou, explained how the barque Star of the East was lost on the : coast of Japan, her. working compass being out seven points; and if it had not been for the help of one of Aitken’s detectors, she . would not have got along at, all, so ex* cessively uncertain was the deviation. s Captain Queen) menboded the ship Otago, which had only jusfc left the port homeward .bound. •’ Her Captriiti,,Stuart, had tpid him (the speaker) during ope of -hia latter voyages outward btitiridi'he was steering a.cpurse along JpM after..p i assing : .Fov e aux^Mait. The weather was misty, arid,knowing fipw compares .socta.sed,.; he . kept-a particularly bright look-out, arid the weather suddenly clearing ahead, found that he was standing, dfad qnfor Chasland’s Mistake. He had only just time - to haul Ijia wind and avoid the danger,, and.jjbg he, Teas, steering what he beliey'eAtp be a poiirsri ■ tie tidb Was Verystrong on t"-e S.fe. coast, arid often Bet /yos?elg oat,,of their courses-m a most exi l naT, X'manner. On one occasion; when he "wia iri command of the hrig, Thomat Henry,.she t was standing off tfie land ori riAE; 4 S. course, and yet she was set back on the land and to the north at the, rate of 34 miles an hour by the tide catching her on the starboard bow.; \ ; , Captain' KERR'fDunfillari): said, three year* , f®», ;ho ‘ WM. in: c6tnmiari,q' rif the iron ship • Crusader, bound to Canterbury,' rind when witli,, but ,-ript in sight of the New Zealand coast, the steering compass suddenly commenced to revolve, arid made six or seven revolutions before it settled down Sqme, atmospheric . magnetic influence no doub.t/caused the fluctuation. Again, during bis late-'passage out in the D.unflllan, she.being then .off % Cape, iri ’thick, dirty weathfer, she riiade two arid a| jiaff degrees more‘ s’orithing than' theridurso Steered 'by Compass gave Her. Tpe'. thick weather had ' prevented observations' bejng taken, but the' pi st that Was takeri prjoved the compass’ to be but no five points. Also, as the ship approached the coast of Nety “Zealand, the compasses became exceedingly unreliable, and the variation ex-‘ cessive.h.«» ;

Captain ANPKR&ok (Agnes Muir) observed' that outward-bound ships running’dd wn their had very often no opportunity of ascertaining the deviation of any other course' thai the one they may have been steering for some timeand then, when the land,’ say. Stewart’s Island, was made, a sudden; change of course to, the northward' followed* before perhaps it was possible to ascertainthe deviation of the ■ new course steered. ■ Heoce;a shipmaster might very easily be out bis' reckoning, Without any serious blame! being attached to him. In answer, to the' ,suggestion that the meeting should give a substantial; expression of its sympathy with! Captain' Johnson* a subscription list Was opened,, aid L 52 collected almost immediately.