COKONEK'S INQUEST. \ . ~a~

Manawatu Herald, 10 December 1878, Page 2

COKONEK'S INQUEST. \ . ~a~

A Coroner's inquest was held on j Friday laßt, at Howe's Foxton Hotel, before J. F. Uockatrow, Esq., District Coroner, touching the death of Peter Petersen, who was drowned at the Hydrabad on Tuesday last. A, jury, consisting of Messrs Liddell, Davidson, Jonson, Barry, Robinson, Coley, Osborne, Howe, M'Fidyen, Welsh, Brennan, and Kussell, was sworn in. Mr Russell was chosen foreman. Thomas Bowe, a defaulting juror, was fined 10s. The jury having viewed the body, Wm. Page, a sailor working at the Hydrabad, being sworn, deposed — On Tuesday last, at half-past 12, we were at dinner on the ship, and I heard cries; I went on deck, and heru'd the cry, " A nan overboard !" wj all rushed out ; I saw a boat swamped ; it belonged to the Forest Queen ; three men were in tho water, striking for the beach ; the pilot (Mr Gibb3) was standing in the boat : the boat was level with the water ; Gibbs was calling out for help ; we ran to launch our boat from the shore; it was about 20 minutes before we got our bo.it afloat; the captain of the Forest Queen swam in, and assisted us to launch the boit ; he said, " For God's sake, boys, let us' try and save those unfortunates j two of them can't swim ;" we got our boat out, and they picked up one man ; Gibbs j drifted ashore in tho boat ; 1 was not in the boat, as I had gone on the ship for some oars to man the boat ; when , I stood on the forecastle, I saw Petersen holding one hand up above the water ;he did not call out ; he then disappeared ; T identify the body as that of Petersen. By Coroner — Our boats are all on shore ; the boat we used will carry five tons ; she Ls a heavy boat, and we were only a handful of men ; the Foivst Queen was three-quarters of a mile out; the Glenelg steamer was half a ruilo away ; the deceased belonged to the Forest Queen ; so did j the bo-it used ; they were passing from the Forest Queen to the Hydrabad ; the surf was not heavy at the time •he accident happened ; tin*. tiJe was flowing ; when I saw him hold up his hand, ho was about 40 yards from the ship ; a lifebuoy was about 10 feet from him when he w?nt down. By Foreman — A signal ilag was hoisted for the boat to come in from the Forest Queen within hailing distance ; it was quite safe to do so ; thete was no o her boat on the Forest Queen ; a boat was lowered fiom the | Ulenelg, and it was pulled to the j Forest Queen ; this was a quarter of ! an hour afcer the men were all ashore I who fell in the water; no boat was lowered from the Glenelg while the men were in the water ; the boat was about midway between us and the Glenelg ; if a boat had been sent from the stoamer it would have reached the men before we did ; I saw two men on the Glenelg when we first heard the cries ; we did all we could to save life. John P. Ella, a sailor workiug at the Hydrabad, corroborated the evidence of previous witness ; heard a cry of !< Jjoat capsized ! " I run aft, and saw the mate of the ship and .^r ltoss throwing over lifebuoys to four men in tho water; when wo saw they could not reach the lifebuoys weut ashore and launched our own boat, which took us about 15 or 20 minutes ; we picked up one man ; Petersen had sunk before the boat started ; when the lifebuoys were thrown out he was nearest to them ; I have known him for about two years ; I knew him as Peter Peters ; he was about 28 years old ; he was a Swede ; I believe he was about four years in the colony ; he was not married ; he was sober and steady ; the boat was signalled to wait until high^water , the mate (Mr List) told me that was the signal I saw hoisted on the Hydrabad : it would take about 15 minutes to low from the Hydrabad to the ship; no one on the Hydrabad knew the boat had left the Forest Queen ; the Gleuelg was at anchor half a mile out ; no boat came from the Glenelg to the assistance of the men in the water ; I do not know why they did not help ; Pilot Gibbs told ma he saw them all on the bridge, when he was ia the boat after the accident. By the Coroner — Tho Forest Queen's boat is about 14 feet long, and it was not safe to attempt tho surf in it ; a surf or whaleboat could have gone safely ; wo towed the men and oheir boat out to the steamer, and as wo came back our boat swamped, through not being steered correctly ; it was about three hours before high water when they came off from the Forest Queen ; tae mate told me the signal flying was, " Wait tor high water ;" the captain of the Forest Queen and the pilot told me that signal was flying ; they were attempting the surf in the same boat about a fortnight ago, but Air Koss waved them back, owing to the danger. This concluded the evidence. *■ The Oorouer summed up the evidence, and requested the jury to consider their verdict. The following verdict was returned : " That the deceased Peter Peterseu was drowned near the ship Hydrabad on the liorowhemia Jieach on Tuesday, December 3, 1878, by the swamping or upsetting of a boat ; but no evidence is before the jury to show how such boat was swamped or cap> sized. The jury request the Coroner to ask the Government to have fur- ,

ther enquiries made why the Glonelg did not put off a boat to assist the men in the water ; and also why the captain of the Forest Queen took his boat off three hours before high water in the face of the signal to wait." Rider : — " The jury are also of opinion that a boat should always be in readiness for instant launching from the Hydrabad."