THE BURNING OF THE MONTMORENCY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 470, 15 April 1867, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BURNING OF THE MONTMORENCY.

inquiry was held in the Council Chamber, Napier, on Monday, Ist April, before J. Curling,; Esu.. R.M., into the cause of the burning of the, Montmorency, when the following evidence was Josiah Hudson Mackenzie deposed I was the master of the late ship Montmorency. I was ap. Minted master by the managing owner, Mr. John lUrodie, of Mark-lane, London. There other part owners ot the .-h’p. 1 on jthe 11th of December. I brought out 205 pasjsengets, most of whom were emigrants for New Zealand. I do not know exactly what the cargo of the Vessel was, as my copy of the manifest was burnt; The cargo principally Consisted of sait, !

oil, tar, drapery, spirits, ftrer and. ale, fencing wire, agricultural implements, tjirp.'atiue, ami hardware. Ido pot think there was any kerosine. on hoard, 'i'iie first mute superintended the lading of the vessel. I believe the vessel was insured, but I never had the policy. I believe it expired 30 days after arrival in port. We anchored in Napier roads on Sunday, the 31-th of March. I went on shore on Monday with a numbej- of emigrants. I went to the cilice of the agents, Messrs. Stuart aud Co., and reported my arrival. The clerk told me he could not make out the manifest that day, and 1 told him to do it as soon us possible. I then went and reported myself at the Custom House, and afterwards superintended the landing of the immigrants. At about sor 5.30 p.m. I returned to the vessel, and seat ail the pas-

sengers* bedding ashore. Tiieir luggage was also i brought uji from the lower bul-as no boats ji On Tuesday I canm ou shore again, and remained ’ till about sor 0 p.m. Ou Wednesday all the lug- : gage belonging to the passengers was sent ou shore. I went on shore about 11 a.m. I remained in Town till about 7 p.m. When I came to the Spit the boatmen told me it would take them three hours to pull out to the ship against the llood tide, and as I had a had cold 1 staid on shore. I went to bed about 10 o’clohk, at the Commercial Hotel, and was awakened by heurinr a horse galloping down the Spit at about I'J minutes past 12 o’clock. I heard people rushing up the stairs, who told me my ship was on lire. 1 went down to the harbor, where boats were pulling off. The pilot boat had just started, so the master of the Star of the South got me his boat, in which we pulled to the ship. When we arrived there I suppose it was about 10 minutes past 1. All the crew, with the exception of the first and second officers and the boatswain, who were leaving the ship, were in the boats, with as much lug. gage as they could save. The chief officer told me that nothing further could be dons to save the vessel. I asked if the harbor-master had been on board, and was toll that he had not. I then went on board to see if it was possible to unshackle the cable, but the ship was m a perfect blaze fore and aft, aud it was quite impossible to get to it, My object in trying to unshackle the chain was to let the ship drive on the beach, as I thought that there might then be some chance of saving her and her cargo. I came down from the vessel and told the crew to lie by the vessel and assist the pilot, if required, to unshackle the chain from thej Government buoy. This was accompli-hed about d a.ra. We hung by the ship till about 5.3* •, when we left with the pilot boat. She was by this time a complete wreck, and completely burnt to the water’s edge. I went off again at 7.30 a.m. and remained for two hours. The harbour-master was then trying to cut the cable, but he did not succeed while I was there. Oa shore I heard that the Deputy-Superintendent bad engaged the Star of the South to tow the vessel ou shore, clear ol her moorings. The steamer went oil about 11.*10, but got entangled with the nggtug of the ship, and came hack. Ou Tu.trvlay morning she towea; her off, but did not succeed in gctt.ug her on the beach. Tile next morning sue towed her ou the beach. She was then learning. I had never any] suspicion of lire on buird. The lire had or.gi-i nated in tiic lore-hoid. My seamen are stiff mi; the articles, and not paid off'. The crew were ;u the lower hold on Monday, "lieu the luggage T;ik■ ■ u out. It was not put luck, hat remained .u tee ’twc.M-favks till it was taken away. The oiiicvrs aad erew had gone into the ice,;, but m v.-r i.tie had beeii in the tower hold s.uec Monday except the ffr-t toil second mate, who went there to search for u missing box.

Joshua Lewis Fawkes deposed:—l am first' male of the late ship Mimtiß'wncy. 1 ‘v.« ini charge of file vessel on V\ .•dn<*s.i:iy eveturr, the j J7lh. 1 set the usual anchor wa’ch from S, u'ehnik till •> the neat luortiinjr. man I Acs 1 an hour. Tin.* last time [ came on the pee,,. ahoul lO.efj p.im I came Up to see who hah the j watch, aiul dul not s«s anjt.iiu* unusual. 1 told j |the iuau who leal the watch to Keep U.e lamp Well |trimmed, ami to call me at 5.20 a.m. 1 thru 'went to bed. I was aroused from si -p hy the irep a : ed'try of fire. 1 arose, and honed :l was ja’iuut ID minutes before 12. I was met on the ipoop hy some of the crew, who told me the lire was 1". the fore hold. I w-ut forward and f..n;m liens' volumes of black smoke rising from the fere hatchwav. I ordered the pumps to he rigged, and the lio-e to he passed down the fore hatchway. I went down the hatchway with (he saiimaker and 1 oat swain, and lifted part of the lower fore hatch i , for the purpose of passing the water down. As soon as it was raised the llames hurst forth with violence, and the d'ek h-emac unite hot. The smoke was so sutlocating that w- had to get on deck as (juickly as possible. 1 ordered tur hatch to be closed again, to prevent tie- air getting down, and ordered one part of the crew to clear away tiie boats, and the otoer part to get the hose passed down the main hatch. I then tired olf signal rockets and burnt blue lights, to get assistance from the shore, but we got no answer, although we tired three sets. Vfe made another attempt with the hose down the uima hatchway, hut tumid the smoke so suffocating that we could not stand, land were obliged to give up the attempt. Ry jtlris time nearly the whole fore part of the vessel was in flames, the spare spars on deck having l. ken fire, and I ordered the main hatch to he put on > jLgain, and got the boats oh the skids, lay tnc , time the boats were out the fire was aft the mainmast, and the main rigging was on fire. 1 fired off another set of rockets, hut without any aimwci - i m the, shore. This might have been about 1 |o’clock. I ordered part'of the crew into tin L j 1 oats, and the other part to save what persona - nggage they could. I ordered the c. a'. it tr i .cuido the "ship if possible, for the purpose o savin r what remained of the. ship and cargo. Tm fire, had cnight aft the poop hy this time. I or. I dered all the crew into the boats, and fired anolhm 5 set of rockets, without any answer. I then thnw “ the powder magazine overboard. The lire had h.i 5 tliis time reached as tar as the emptain s cabin, j s then left (he ship myseif. Toe carpenter at B tempted to scuttle the ship forward, under tin bows, but found he could not do so, owing to tin r swell. At this lime I became aware of the bar

bor master being alongside. I then climbed toe the bows with the second mate to see if we couii get a purchase for lifting the chain at the buoy and hist at that moment the captain came aboar-

to see if there was any chance of unshackling the chain, but nothing could be done, the ship being on fire from stem to stern. I superintended the Hading of the vessel in England, and know whore ! and how the cargo was stowed. In the fore hold, i where the fire, originated, there were casks of Stockholm tar, coal tar, oil, turpentine, pitch, resin, 201) or :iM boxes of candles, 10 or 12 casks * of cook's slush, and about fitly boxes of pipes. ■ Nearly all the cargo there was inflammable. The i spirits were not k- pt in the fore hold. The fore ; hatch was on when 1 went to bed. 1 do not think i any one was (hen on the deck but the watch and - the Cnstom-ho ise officer. There was no commit- »’ with the fore hold sxesut b v th 6 liQtchJ way. I know of nothing beiow that could have s originated the fire by spontaneous combusdoa, ;,|and if a match had been dropped it would hsva

fallen on iron tanks and gone out. , I.have.no m* picicm that; the fire was the act of anybody; eitjior carelessly or wilfully.

Charles Broiler" second .mate, said that he had to sdd to tiic previous stiitsmcnts.

\V iiiia.rn lienrj rordham deposed:—l am tidewaiter. I was on hoard the Montmorency off Wednesday night, having gone on,board oa M<alay morning. At 11 o’clock I went to Led.. Tiiare was then no person on deck but the man on watch. 1 turned in, and remained reading a short time. I blew out tire light, and was ceariy aphieg when I heard a man at the companion-way shout “ Mr. Fawkes, the ship is on fire! ” I called out to him to rig the pumps, and went to Mr. Fawkes’* cabin, and roused him. I went ou deck, and, ipiiud all the officers ami men there. Wcvrent to tho.fore hatch and lilted it. The chief male,,boat* swain, and sailraakcr went bmovv and lifted tha lower' hatch, which I know was padlocked. Tha smoke then came out. in dense volumes. I have nothing to add to the evidence of the captain and mate.

J. L. Fawkes, recalled, deposed;—The lower hatch was not locked when we opened it. I locked it in the morning, but opened it m the afternoon to look for a-missing bos, and I do not think 1 locked it after. The second mate was with, me at the time, and we saw no sighs of fire. We did not smoke.

James Parker, third. mate, Charles Prince, boatswain, James Anderson, carpenter, Timothy. Ryan and William Beaumont, able seamen, corroborated the previous evident;.

The Court came to the conclusion that there was no evidence to show how, or in. what manner, the fire originated.