THE LATE COLLISION BETWEEN THE MURRAY AND HUNTRESS.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 202, 30 April 1867, Page 2

THE LATE COLLISION BETWEEN THE MURRAY AND HUNTRESS.

The West Coast Times of yesterday publishes the following letter from Captain Murphy of the Huntress relative to the collision between that vessel and the Murray, as a reply to the letter from the master of the latter steamer inserted in our last issue : — (To the Editor of the Went Coast Times.) Sir — As the letter of Captain Holmes, of the s.s. Murray (appearing in the Grey River Aryux of Saturday), in the matter of the collision between his vessel and the p.s. Huntress contains some gross mis-statements, I deem it my duty 'emphatically to deny the charges therein contained, and to give a plain" unvarnished- statement of the facts of the case, it appearing as if Captain Holmes is wishful of throwing tho blame of the collision on my shoulders. In the first place I wish to deny in the most positive manner ever having said " that I was sorry I did not cut him down to the water's edge," neither were those expressions (or anything like them) used on boaid my vessel in my hearing' ; and the fact of it being the Murray which ran into the Huntress, and not the Huntress into the Murray, will render it plain that no such terms were used. The causes of the collision are briefly these — The Murray was leaving Woodpecker Bay, whilst the Huntress was shaping her course for th.it place (the latter having the inshore passage, whilst the former had all the seaboard to herself), and both vessels were steering courses which, if continued, would have carried them clear of each other, the starboard or green light, and the masthead light of the Murray being theonly ones visible from the bridge of my vessel . On getting within hailing distance, the Murraj r suddenly put her holm hard-a-port, tbrowingher head right for our foi e-rigging ; and had I .also ported my helm at this time, the two vessels must inevitably have inn s6em and stem into eaeli other. To avoid this, I stopped my engines and starboarded my helm, but before I could reverse my enginas, the Murray struck us on the starboard bow, and swung right round alongside us, her port side to my starboard, both vessels laying with heads in the same direction to the S.E. The engines of the Murray were not stopped until after she struck us. When she was nearing us, she was never less than two points on our starboard bow, and it was only when she ported her helm that her port light was visible to us ; but too late to avoid collision. It was also evident that Captain Holmes has a very indistinct idea of the place his vessel struck us, as he states it to have been on our starboard sponson, whereas it was well forward on our starboard bow. After ascertaining thtft our damages were but slight, I lay by the Murray for threequarters of an hour, to see if they required assistance, and offered to accompany the vessel back either to Woodpecker Bay or the Grey, and only left her when Captain Holmes told me that, having watertight compartments, he could reach the Buller without assistance. I refrain from making any further remarks on the subject, as, on arrival at this port, I reported the collision to the proper authorities, and requested an enquiry. — I am, Sir, John M up.ruv, Master p.s. Huntress.