LOSS OF THE DUNCAN CAMERON.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 12, 25 March 1867, Page 68

LOSS OF THE DUNCAN CAMERON.

■ -.i TO THE EDITOR OE THE TIME?. . sv; Mb. Editor,— Would you allow me, through the colunliis of your valuable little journal, to\ make a ■few reitiarks respecting the ' loss 'of .the Duncan CaMfran..,. I trust the importance off the 'subject my offering to intrude on your space. >■

■,.< I\ tterikt Sir,, few events have, been chronicled in the history of Napier, with feelings.;, of deeper sorrow and sadhessthan the 1 loss of tlie ill-fated vessel. ‘ Thc'loss df ihe ’ctdter' was mtich io be deplored, Init. of life much more so, in every point qf 'vigw ;, toe cutter cmiHe replaced, but not the poorfeUopis who fiends and rclatioMSj : and..wade.iacquamted ipithall the dread rciUties ; bPyondthe c '

But I have no wish whatever, to discuss either

of these subjects at presmijmy' object/if possible, is to turn the sad accident to profitable account, by using the painful lesson t<nigJ,it'Us,at n'beijignfto guide usdn the futurej-andthis, canoidydedone by at once mcficing. so much wanted, ffhal vast needed is proved beyond dispute, ip f he evidence of Captain Frost, of the 'schooner ‘Success, before the coroner at the inquest.

I metg here, remark,. Sir, that the enquiry was conducted i,t ike most praiseworthy manner } and from tlie questions asked, and ihe 'ordef 'rn \ohich they werepiit, clearly showed gn the part of the coroner, and tlie,copstapi, pepejftspn of the-same, question,. clearly, showedfhat'ji^jf.he cor oner)\was determined j if possible, to learn the facts connected vnthithe loss of life. > From the evidence elicited from, '. Captain 1 Frost {t would appear that considerable, delay was ioccastoned from, some .cause or' other, for bid.stated most distinctly that he woe informed try his steward, at 7.30 a.m., that the vessel was capsized,'-and at 8.65 a.m. he was asked by Hie 1 Assistant Bitot to go in the life-boat. Here _ we Have' ah interval of 1 hour and 25 minutes.—to do what f—-Cap-tain Cellem, in his evidence,says could be done fin a few minutes. ■ Captain . Frost further states::. —

“ That when he arrived at the boat-shed the boat was riot ready f notwithstanding I hour and- 555 minutes had elapsed, and gives it as his opifiion that the necessary gear was not there to get the boat ready far sea. . i ; ! What length of time Captain Frost remahied at the boat-shed before the signal was hoisted .on Barrack-hill'to denote the unfortunate sufferer* were washed off the cidter, does not appear. But one thing is certain from the evidence, that the boat was not ready when he arrived, nor during the time he stayed. He states that neither ggr,s nor rowlocks were lashed, and that the , steer-strap Was not fitted. For such, neglect , and slow movement* in getting the boat ready, surely some: one is. responsible. But, without placing any unfavourable construction on anything said by Captain Frost, I should like to bmo why any time was needed to provide any gear at the moment when the boat was wanted for service.

The storm had evidently been raging .about for a few days previous, which ought■ to. be, .the signal to-have everything ready in case of need; surely the boat has been long enough in the hands of .the Government, and under the charge of a man whose duty it was, in my humble opinion', to \ have had her ready fov any emergency. Captain Cellem:, in giving his evidence, does not in any way, improve matters, I think. He admits .that, on the 12 th instant, when he hoisted the Blue Feier, for the captain to keep to sea, his impression was, that' the position of the vessel would be a perilous' one, if the captain brought her up in the'roadstead. Now, with such an admission, was ii not, Mri 'Editor, clearly some one's duty to have seen the : lifeboat afloat; oars, rowlocks, anil everything else connected with her properly secured and all ready for action, without requiring, such an. unmerciful length of time to get her ready when wanted. Does not the neglect of so plain a duty deserve investigation.

One would think that commonpntdence'Would have dictated such a course to any man holding a responsible position. ■ The object of the present letter is. awt to, blame any one without giving him every facility to justify his conduct. 'I have no doubt much maybe said about the present life boat, “pro and con,' 1 ' but this can soon beset at rest, by following the course suggested by the Editor of the Herald. u Have the boat surveyed by competent men ; if they propronounce her unfitfor thepurposes. of, a-life-boat, let her be condemned at once, and another got in her place,—self pumping and self-righting if you like, — still, more than ihis % would be 'heeded, however essential these qualities may be. ' " ', Without nerve to brave the danger,' and determination to give promptitude to action, the > present boat is as good as any other. ; ,■(

I cannot close the present- letter without ; saying that 1 sincerely trust that further, inquiries into this melancholy loss qf life trill be-made by the proper authorities, and the result of their labor* will be beneficial to ike Fort of Napier. 1 ; " Yidi.

Dear Mr. Editor, —Will you allow me, through the medium, of your valuable-journal, to inquire of some one the reason our Deputy -is using his utmost toi fmerflaw. the labor market, by 'circulating to out settlers printed lulls', rioting he' can "supply them with men at ten shilings per week; with bbard. Has he received a commission from some Foor-Law Board, in or near Auckland, for, of draining their pauper overplus? Or is lie trying to overstock our labour markd,.so that in q jnonth or so we shall require tenders ffor pajper supply ? To me it seems one or the other ; perhaps I may say both. If so, it behoves us to enqiiire-into the • matter before it is. too late. : At the present time there is more labour in the market than we require, so that such a system as ihe one how imitse by our second in command, is deserving qf censure fom somequarter. \ -' ! Again, should'snchprinted letters'firid thefc way into any of the home.papers,it would'dotfaprovince harm. I fear already, some one. sent them to their, friends, if so; we . need .uatifixpect many emigrants this year from Britain,mit ' *' - --'NeOGAMIsT.

. Mr. Editor ydu; bri any’gentleman inform me, through t&medium.of your paper',~if the resolution which ri.a meeting field in the Council. months s agp, (atgwhich the Superintendent presided}, vis,, tofmm an Artillery Corps jnjNqpier tJ isjo! be '(wytei? or .abandoned 4hink.it.is quite-lwe thaiiiont fkpt: thotdd be

L'ii taken-totdrill' the wen who enrolled themselves'on .that occasionyaad get this corps intoworking order. ~: Napier>sonie time;‘a'nd r>K{ *Wsf fiiight to lie? doneiindhcithattCr. '’jPersonaUys\ twhowoiild .! : tfe.cprpsfp/ionfylrfe, T starfed,,,no ; doubt, there '• are jpknty of^others.£n ’^Napier,.whowould- come W forward too. , .Hoping . some, one, . will be kind ,enough to give me the, required information, . i ' , ‘ Big Gun-.Dmib..'