STUANDINO- OFTJ-IK JANE ANDKRSO\r.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 37, 2 January 1880, Page 2

STRANDING-OF THE JANE ANDERSON.

NAUTICAL ENQUIIIY. (Befoi-R ft. Ward, E<q., U M., r.ivl Captain 0. Batt, Nautical Assessor.) Tlie enquiry opened at 1 '.30 a. in. on Tuesday, 30th December. Simou launders, being sworn, deposed — I urn a master mariner ; 1 produce my certificate, dutod Aiv^ :l>>, 1872, also my pilot exemption certificate, which clears mo nl. all the principal ports in Ne'v Zenland ; this does not include Foxton, whore there is it all times a pilot. ; lam the master of the solioonor Jane Anderson, ami part owner of the s:iine ; she belongs to the port of DuneJin ; Keith Ramsay, another poison and myself arc the owners; my share is 22G4ths of ihe wholo; she is parlially insured ; at the time of the accident she was loaded with sleepers ; it occurred on Mon • dny, December 22 ; I think it was 10 a.m when we finished loading on that date ; about that time I met the pilot, and asked him if there was any show for ouv getting out this next tide ; he told me it would de[jond upon the sea going down, that there was plenty of water on the bar if the sea w s down ; I said " Under these circum-. stances I will employ the steamer Huia to low me out ; " I also saw the master of the steamer, and he fully corroborated Iho pilot's statement ; at 2.:J0 p.m., as near as 1 can remember, we were crossing the bar ; the vessel struck very hard, and finally was hard and fast aground ; the Captain of the steamer, to save himself, cut the rop*-, when i he. schooner slewed round with her head to eastward ; there was no wind at the time,so that I could do nothing with her, and she was left to the meroj' of the sen. ; wo were drawing 1 f'fc Gin aft, and Sft 2in forward ; she might have boon another inch forward: [ tooK a sounding and got between 7 and 8 feet of water on the bar between the seas ; had there been any wind, I believe I could have got the vessel off and into the river ; we hung on the bar about half an hour, and then she got on to the north spit ; we had no communication from the steamer, excepting that Capt Wills said ho would have to cut the rope; Capt. Wills was quite justified in cutting the rope; had he not dono so he would have gone athoro himself ; the pilot was ut his duty at the n.igstaff; I had told tin; pilot what water I was drawing ; I stopped by the vessel as long ns I thought prudent ; we then abandoned her : seas were breaking aboard of the schooner; we watched our opportunity and landed between the seas ; I came off to Foxton, and telegraphed to C.-iptain .Kendall next day; the pilot hud telegraphed tlie previous evening. By the Court— l did not watch the m_tualstaff; my duty was to follow the s'.cnnn.T; 1 believe the pilot said he had ! sounded the bar on the I'riday previous to ! the accident, and there was 10 feet of water •>n the bar; the. Huia came in on the Saturday before high wato;-, and had 9 f^et of water; it must have been the top ot' high water when 1 attempted to cross. By the Collector of Customs — The .lane Anderson "Wi's insured only partially; the insurance is in the National Co. for £SSO ; the cargo is fully insured in the same Company, to the be>t of my belief and knowledge ; the ye.--.si 1 is worth about £13')(); I bought into h-.-r four years n»o as worth £l'"> 00; I thought it was a smooth bar; when I went out . tho four brills wero up at the pilot station; that was an indication for the steam boat and n>o to go on : if the pilot had any doubt that there was sufticicut water he would have dropped one ball, and the steamer would then have kt I go my rope, and I would have anchored ; I liovo the lead over once after the vessel grounded, but took no soundings previously; the weather was lad during" the interval from the Friday, blowing a gain of wind from the \V. or N. \V. ; there had also been a heavy fall of rain and a strong fresh in . the river; i cannot say if the weather would silt up the bar, but I am disposed to think it would affect the bar; I took every precaution before going out, depending on the pilot ; I think it is impossible for the pilot, with his present appliances, to keep a correct account of tbe depth of water on the bar: I think there should be a suitable boat always at tlio heads, and the pilot should have power to employ hands after a gale, io go out and sound the bar; by this means <.•■ correct account of the bar could bs obtained : I think it is impossible for the pilot, ivith the dingy ho has, to take proper sounding on the bar. 'By the Court— The length of the towline would bo about GO fathoms ; it is an 8-iueh rope ; it is of Kaiar; I was steering the schooner, and followed the steamer. William Dublois Woodman, mate of the schooner (unoertificated), gave corroborative evidence to that of last witness j he also said — Wo saw the steamer strike mi the bur, but we were striking oui selves then, and could not turn round ; so far as I know every precaution was taken ; when Captain Wills called out he must cut thorope, our captain replied, " Ymi must pull us out, or take us back ;" the crew is G, all told ; we got the jibs and topsail out, as soon as we could, to try and cant her round, to come back ; she piyed round, but it was too late and she went ashore ; sho was driven on to the beach, by the sea ; as soon as we could we left her ; lam a stranger to the bar, having crossed it only once, in coming in ; I have been several years at sea. By the Collector— We left her as soon as we could, and took our clothes away; I do not know whether that is formally abandoning her. By the Court — It was about 7 o'clock when we left her ; the clock stopped, but we did not abandon that ; wo took it with us; wo stayed at the pilot station ; I have seen bars crossed, when a worse sea was on. Andrew Seabury, pilot at Manuwatu,deposed — 1 remember the duy of the accident, I saw Captain Saund«:ra about 9 o'clock that «ay ; lie merely asked me if 1 thought he would be able to get out next tide; I tuld him that there would bo «i chanco if the sea went down, there being plenty of water; Captain Wills was present and corroborated my statement, having com>j in two days before (Saturday) and found lflf i of water, an hour before high tide ; 1 'bought there was enough water on the bar for Capt. (Sauuders, and told him so ; I was at the station at the tune of the accident, and hoisted the sigual for the steamer an.l schooner to proceed to sea ; they went straight ahead ; I indicated the course they wero to steer ; they went ahead, but when the steamer struck the b;:r, she lost, s'eerage way ; the schooner followed tho steamer, but owing to the steamer not steering he was going on to the north spit, and dragg ing the schooner after him ; he then either let go or cut the towline, to save himself ; tbo steamer was then agiound for some 4or 5 minutes, until v sea lifted him off ; ho then " hammered" out and got away ; the schooner- was drifting in, and tho sea was heaving her towards the shore ; tho Captain set the head sails and topsails, to cant her round, but thcro was not sufficient wind to do it ; about 3 minutes elapsed between the time when she struck and the timo when she got to the beuch ; I knew what depth of water tho schoouor drew ; I told him he could loud to Bft Gin ; I felc confident ho could cross with that ; a heavy sea set in ou Saturday night, and a gale blow all Sunday and Sunday night ; I did not think it necessary to sound the bar before I let the vessel crosß, having Bounded three days previous, j

tylrlst tlio IJuia had soundedjon .Saturday ; both those soundings were before tho storm; too bin- was workable for any purpose when tho vessels cro.-sed ; my appliance* enable me to as -ertain the depth, of water in fine weather ; to do it in weather lice that on the Monday morning would re-' quire a life-boat, and 10 or 12 men ; I had not the slightest doubt in my mind when I hoisted the signal to take the bar ; I attach no blame to either of tho cantuius ; Captain Wills did ail h<>. could ; there are two boats at the heads— ono 10 feet, the other 18 feet, over nil; I generally use (ho 10 feet boat, because there are only two of us ; at one time thero were two besides myself, but recently one man wis taken uwuy: I havo authority to etnploj ono nun, il' necessary, to take soundings ; only o i one occasion before has tho bar silted up when a westerly g-iile was blowing, viz., that when tho Pelican went ashore; the bar silts up more in iine weather than in rough. I'y the collector — I think the steamer struck the ground first and lost steerage way ; the vessels appeared to be about 30 or 40 fathoms apart; 1 am of opinion that the captain of the Huia had no other course open tn him but to go ahead ; it would be quite possible for both vessels to be on the b;\v nt same time ; I am disposed to think that was the case ; even if I hs\d had a largo boat, I would not have considered it nec-oesa.y to sound tho bar on the Monday j I felt peifectly sure there was sufficient water ; as a rule, a gale and a fresh together tend to scour out the bar ; avery smooth sea and a freshet tend to silt up the bar. Captain Bendall. Marino Surveyor, deposed — I have examined the schooner Jsno Anderson, and find she is severely strained ; I havo extricated the schooner from the strand, after discharging about two-thirds of her cargo ; she is making at present, while lying in the river, about 0 inchos of water iv 24 hours ; she is capable of pro ceeding to Wellington, where I should recommend her to lift taken for a thorough overhaul. After consideration, His Worship delivered the following judgment, in which Captain Batt, Assessor, concurred : — That owing to the r'>ugh weather on the preceding day and night, the wind blowing a gale from W.N.W., the bar had silled up: that the pilot (Andrew* Sea bury) had not, through stii'sis of wrather, taken the precaution t>> ascertain this fact, for to know what depth of water was actually on the bir ; that under I he circumstances it would have b.?en better to have detained the vessels until Iv knew the real state of the bar; Unit no blame is attributable to the eipUiin of the s.s. Huia, or to Captain Saunders, of the .schooner Jane Andei son ; that they acted solely under the pilot's in.stri'ctums ; that Ciptain iSaiciders' oi'i'tifiuut&s bo therefore returned to him.