THE WRECK OF THE BRUCE.

Evening Star, Issue 3949, 21 October 1875, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE BRUCE.

An inqu-ry into the cause of the wreck of ;h. : Union S Co ’a wag held in rho i deni Magistrate's Uourtlu...se to*«Ja,y before Air Bathgate, B i\l., nidrapt.au 1 hj .N'.iuti- •: al Assessor. Mr liaggiti appeared far the ; Customs .department, Mr Holmes tor the : owners of the Bruce, and Mr - tout watched the case on behalf of Capt.dn Jones, her ! master. ! M r Bathgate stated that the inquiry was | founded upon an application to 'lie (.resident I Magistrate by Mr HaikworMi, Principal (Jusi Officer at Dunedin, who averts that the 1 Biuce, whose offieial number i.s 08 084, and of j which Frederick Jones is maste.i, and the pm- | perty of the l uioii team -hipping Oompany j I .inured whde sailing from i imaru bourn) f-.r , Dunedin, \vas,_ on the l*lth of iOctober, wrecked ; and lost at Taiaroa Leads, on the c.»;.sr. of the ; said Province, and that tho cau-e ..f the said I ,03S was SO tar unknown to the informant Upon this application warrants to summon j witnesses had been granted. i Mr Uaggitt explained that the inquiry was I “ad” hi accord.i.ice with the ninth section of ; the Inquiry into Wrecks Act. So far as was kn wn at the pro-cut time was contained in , the application by the Commissioner of Customs just read, and there was no charge against ai/’, one of iscooduet. 4 he t ue subject of the ■ inouiry was to ascertain what the circumstances ‘trending the loss were. It migh in tho course of the inquiry be found that blame at- ; tached to omeb idy ; in die mean hue ho (.Mi ; Raggit ) wished it to ■ •; unde-do-al vh - >t no | charge was made against anyone : the object • n.uy was merely that the circumstances under . w -dch the loss of the vessel—an ewnt ve.y ‘ much to be regretted—might bo ascertained as s near aspens able. Tho first step their \V r ; ships would have to take would be to call on ! tne eiiipa officers for Lhciroeii.iixoat.es. la ' , y <>, 'dup : it wilt bo mc-oeury for tl # officers in charge at the tune to pi’oduce their certificates. These having been handed in, the following ev d- nee was given : Ftedeiivk Jones: I was mast r of the s.s. Bruce, ."ho was schooner rigged, and was nearly anew steamer. She was «• gaged in the : nnaiu and Lyttelton trade. She left Timaru on the evening of Friday, October 15. The weather xvtts tino at tiiis time, and the water smooth Urul-r similar circumstances to those under which the voyage was made, the passage from 1 imaru to tile Heads would he made in ten or eleven hours. The first mate’s watch—the fourth watch —commenced at about 10 45 [•, ;n , and conlinu-d up to the time of striking. Tim weather became hazy about 8 p.m,, and by tea there was a dense fog. At eleven o’clock the fog was so thick that wc could not see half the length of ’he vessel’s head. I was on deck at eleven o’cl , »ck, and remained there all u.giit The weather kept, the same up to the time the vessel struck. We saw no yesset', heaid no signals, and saw no lights up to the lime of the vessel sir,kin . In. would be about a qua;ter to three on the morning of the 16ax iiiot. W e had stopped the vessel at half-past two. Up to that time we hj ml maintained the same speed from the time of having Timaru. We had been going about half speed, carrying forty five pounds of steam. The reason we stopped at half-past two was to cast the lead. This was done by the first mate The soundings gave beiwen sixteen and seventeen fathoms, from which i judged we were about ten miles north of the Heads! ] told the mate 1; • steam on three miles, ami to lie shore till daylight, or until the firs) upperu ity oi the f. g lllmg We contu ued at a slacker s.-eed-ala.ur five mi.es an hum.- —the telegraphic order being conveyed to the engineroom by tho mate under my orders, about ten minutes and just before the steaimn S'itick, 1 saw a hill above us. ana iuune ,i, 1 1 1 • 1.. gate the o::;er “full sped astern” in. order was ati.um.le 1 to, out owing to th so all pressure on there was not time to a'ter t.ie couirfc of tho vessel and she struck It was the bow (hat first struck, about tin " ater line. She mu butt on to the rooks I gav.|the o dar “hill sored aMeni ”i..t-v’an iuimeduteiy uncut the m it .part or the hmv All the aftorpart was afloat, I did not Hd

her grating over the bottom before sbo f.truek, I gave the mate orders to get out the k**d'»e :o‘ once, and took the e»d myself. i found sh was fast imme da. Ely before the fore rigging io took >h> ,u ten -illumes to g-u the hedge out We tailed to uii.vs l.ei. The tide bad full. 11 slightly since we stmor. s'b.e kedge did not bohl. i h-j bn: tom w>b of send and water. While they wore hcavi-ig on- 'hr- hedge I to'o ho ;-a seii 'ers not to «1 cm them* Iv sI c nil : iml them ail ami .hoped to get the stcamei ■lf We got. the hoars out ready for nt. one r e> cy that mi im • ecu . The right bower w m . iso got out, with the uitem iou <>f running i astern. Fin Hug th.n the ve-s I was listing too much, I hemi mined to hoi t the piis-s.-ii ers, md I did nt run o.;t the bower. By the ime that I had la-de ! ihem the ves-fl hid listed over, so that I could not get out the hower. All that was actually dom* was to get out the hedge and revei so Hie engi. es. She lisred over with her deck to the sea Them was some Ht’.le cargo in the forward hold In i the , osili >n the vessel \v a thenjiu it was use'e-s, in my opinio", to lighten her. It was about \ 3.30 a m when I enmuiemc- d. to get the b»wei : out, .0.1 1 • 1 between 0 ami 7 o’clock* hen I aham : dimed it as ho-eles-,. About an hour and a. I halt after site struck she commenced to m -M- ---• wd.r ami a<- she listed o*- *-r sh ' fide- 1 , the f"e coinpar'meids. i’he other c->mpat"u,Tils fi led tiiruugh ho de- k— through he hatches T.me was only a ground swell m at this t-ime. and it brought the fittings out of the cabin, atm also j ortions of the caigo. The only thing then done was to pick up the float -,ge I his wumd he between s.-mu and eight o clots;. !n the me -ut ; m • the , ilot boat had lieen down, and Pilot Kelly had der pat,. bed a boat to that ' 'halm is. I sent a ine>.rage that the Bmc was aslmre, ami listing on her beam ends. b.o far as lay in my power, T had m> hopes then i lie G.-elo g arrived at about nine o'cock I'ho-e on board having lo ked at the B ure, ~l:o Geelong r turned to I’urt Chalmers, 1 uoing in her. Wo i .mimed again in about an hour, ,tud found the vessel breaking up. Afte. consultation between air Mills and the insu ranee agents, the vessel was abandoned to the latter. No Jives w,re lost. After leaving Timarn, I steer*d east three miles lay tin* ship s c impass-s to cl ar me of the i’imaru l.’e-ef My coins ■ then was H. \ E., for forty eightmiles. Wt: rhoui-.i then have been abreast •>- amaru. The next course was S, b> W. tins corse wrp steered up t -the tim ■ of the striking. f.’i.r ng the ft thro- miles ; hc rate o. s !»,>d w:..- ainmt five to-ms an hour, during t i: e s. C"i.d course about nir,e or ten n,i:es, and do i g : e lema-ndvr of tin dis me - up t.w withm to-, minutes of the time -mw struck w- omtirne I ar, the same rate, 'film patent «g «-a ;finuvi> overboard wnen we shitted ourco *so .niisi.de Tirnam. It was thrown overboard b> : : e s, e )Uf t mate, it being part of bis duly. I-'.; was hauled in abreast; of Gain iru, and ■.in. t-<‘ ond mate repo, ted the distance we had run. The log was og.Hu bauied in when w-. * f.->;»}>«'(.! «t. 230 0.m.. fc’, ; r t ; r.m by the fi’e-' mao. de reported the re-cut to mo At that tame we had rrn eight,y-live miles. I imagined ■ hai we were at this time about ten miles north of the He ids, or six miles south of yha-a Point. The soundings perfectly agreed with ray assumed position. I now believe 'hat I must have 'wen three miles north of the ! leula when I took soun Hng->. The only olbv place on t’ne coast which would give that iepili was ten miles north of tin Heads, wlie. e I Had believed we were. Patent logs are not always to be depended upon. There is a current in the direction which we steered—it sets to (lie northward. With a southerly wind i 1 v/oiiid be .-t ong and wouM m,..ke a difference in tile log of lima te to twenty rules. The miid on the night- iu question was light N.i.. Such a wind vouid give a differ nee of ten milts. There was a lookout named Carpenter, but I do not know where he was when the ve-=ei s’ruck. I d,id uot look out for I’aaroa lighthouse ;it was no use my doing so. Owing t..e dense fog mi erne ou board sow tht light ’ at morning. The ve-sel must have gone a quarter of a mile to the eastward of where we wer-.' steering. That is not in my opinion a i im or:a t deviation. I calculat d that aft. r luumiig the tiir. o ' dcs I woui-1 he wi bin live toegiit inies of the land. [ -Voncas m irked u[>on the charts the place w here he supposed the ship to bo when he gave the order to go three miles ahead, the spot, where the vessel was now lying, also the place whore he now believed the vessel actually was when he gave that order ] I consider that my

c<"vipas • s wn-e i- ght. 1 attiibule iio blame to 'hem. Korn my s ’iind-ng.-, tim log, and the t!■' ll .• 1 |i:rl 1). Oil ‘••.iiuii I - I thought I eoulJ s-ib-ty pr-'cee'l tm-p- wives furr-*mr. By Ur St, ut. : the light o.i aiaroa He ,»la is a re.i light, an.l that is not so easily i-evu in a fog as a white light. By the B aeh : The whistle was not sounded ■hatuigh! I i.ave b'en plying mi ilie coast of ■ w Zedaml since 186 aor 18(16, eighteen months of which I have been a captain. No Casualty • ver hj pjn ned to a vessel before while I have been in eh nge. The Bruce is the fi at steamer I commanded. ihe master, first ma'e, and engineer hold certificates of compe eney Will,am Conuack, ciiief officer of the Bruc ■, stated chat he was relived bv the second mace about 5.43 pm. on the 16-h hist. At 7 o'clock, before he “ turned in,” the night clear, with a fog rising Tom the N. When ho case on deck a.ain, at 10 45 p.m., there was a very thick iog. The toms ' ho received from the officer bo relieved was in. by W, 'J hero should then have bv. n three seamen on the deck • one at the wheel, one ar the look-out, and one about the drek, ready for a call. The captain told witness when ther wan eighy on the log to call him. He only looked once; there w< re then eighty-five miles on the log. When he was toll by the captain to go three miles further aft‘T the sounding hj id b en taken he rave the or !>r ‘‘easy,” and about three minutes before the vessel stuck hegi.-c the order “ fad speed ahead.” About, t,w.> minu’es before (he vcs-el struck he gave f'.-d ,s to reverse the en ones i his was because he saw the loom of fh • Jar, 1 and thought that he beard the wash of fl s -e.r. Ho had previously been ou the I .-nfc-, uc for the laud or anything else he could htm, [heft sit f iug ]