YESTERDAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 198, 22 August 1877, Page 2

YESTERDAY.

The following evidence waa taken after we went to press yesterday:— ,• . W. A. Whyte, a passenger: Shortly after 10 on the Monday night I had a dispute with the doctor with regard to the direction of the Spit. I placed my pocket compass on the chart and found we were steering south 1 Dr. Maunsell then went up and found that was the course. Price, who was at the wheel, said to me after the accident, « This is a bad job, Mr Whyte, but the course I was steering wag sure to take us on shore." Dr. Maunsell, having corroborated the evidence of the previous witness, said : I had been round the Spit before, and thought we were very close to the light. I told the captain when I had been round in steamers before we always gave it" ; a wide berth. I heard the captain say jokingly to Mr Baillie, • lhey have had a thanksgiving service below, but they are too soon, as I might beach her yet. Early on Tuesday morning the captain aaked me if I knew of any settlement to make for, and I pointed out Collingwood. At daylight the captain asked Mr Baillie if he could not remain on board with him, and he replied that he would if he wished it. I said I thought Mr Baillie was to go with us, whsn the captain said, " What in the name of fortune do you want; an officer ™? Doat you see land aII rollna * y° u? " When the last person was put into the cutter I said, " For God's sake don't put any more in, and he said, " Cast off." We were so tightly packed that we could scarcely move By Mr Pitt : When daylight broke 'i thought we could have rowed eveu against the wind to Massacre Bay. We did all we could to get back to the ship. Charles Gibbs Beckett : Mr Baillie was in his cabm when the ship struck. The cap«T' wa 3 g re a«y excited, exclaimed, My God, Baillie, what have you done ?" He then said to the passengers, «« You are all right, but I shall lose my certificate " , % **? Pitfc : WheQ the cutter left I hailed her to come back by the captain's orders. It would have been difficult for them to return. H. H. Hilliard, a passenger : I think ifc : would have been almost impossible for the boats to return to the ship when once they had left. I don't think they wanted to come back. Richard Gibbs corroborated the conversation reported by the second mate to have tßken place between them regarding the surf. & This concluded the evidence adduced bv Mr Adams. George McGregor, called by Mr Pitt: I was cook of the Queen Bee. About 4 a.m. on the Tuesday I heard the captain tell the steward to provision the boats well. A case of meat, some salmon, lobster, and bottled beer were got up, also some tins of biscuits. The captain was very angry at the boats leaving as he said he intended to put an officer in the cutter and to go in the lifeboat himself. Matthew Baillie, recalled: I never told the captain after the ship struck that ifc was his fault. I did not tell Mr Going we should not sea the red light. There was no disagreement between me and the captain as to the course. By the Court: I have no doubt about the bearings I took. The course the captain gave me, and was repeated by me to Mr Going and the man at the wheel was S S E iE. " * By Mr Adams: When Price was steering the course was altered to S.E. by S. He never had a S. £ E. course given him. By Mr Going: The course I gave you was S.S.E. £E. On going below I said, " Keep her as she is going." I did not tell you anything about the red light. The Court adjourned afc 10 o'clock last night until THIS DAY. The man who was on the lookout had been summoned from Richmond to give evidence but as he did nofc put in an appearance, Mr Pitt proceeded to address the Court.' ,He carefully went through the whole of the evidence, and stated that the captain and chief officer had had a long career at sea, during the whole of which they had never had fcheir certificates suspended or blemished ia any way whatever. The wreck was without doubt to be attributed to one of three causes, an error in the compass, an error in judgment, or to a faulty lookout, but of this latter there had been no evidence. That there was an error of judgment he was quite prepared to admit, the distance of the ship from the light being miscalculated, but the error was not a culpable one, and there was clear proof that every possible precaution had been taken. Mr Pitt having concluded after addressing the Court for two hours, Mr Adams state* that the lookout man had arrived from Richmond, where he had missed the train and he requested he might be put in the witness box. Charles M'Conochy : I went on the lookout at teu o'clock, and was there until the ship struck. I saw no breakers, but fancied I heard them. I have been eighteen months at sea. I was looking out forward with the glass when she struck. I cannot say whether I was lookiug to the lee or weather side. I was told by the second mate to keep a sharp lookout for vessels, and it was for them only that I was looking. Mr Going, the second mate, said .- I should like to address fche Court on a few points, as j I find myself in a most unfortunate position, being by myself against the other officers, I would wish to call attention to the captain's evidence, in which he stated that he gave his orders to the chief officer, thus showing that he (Mr Baillie) was in charge. There are many things I should have liked to note down, but I have not done so, and now I feel all at sea as to what I waut to say. I wish particularly to repeat that I did not consider myself the officer of the watch. By tlj e Court .- Did you not give orders to the lookout in the capacity of the officer of the watch ? Mr Going : I aid give him orders, but I should consider ifc to be my dufcy fco tell him to keep a sharp lookout whether I was in charge or not. I did all that an officer could |do under the circumstances. When I saw what appeared to me to be breakers ahead I

went to the compass to see that the right course was being steered, and found that she waa half a point to tho good. I wish tho Court to consider whether my subsequent proceedings were not such as to show that I waa fit for the position I held. The Court: Wo have no evidence of your subsequent proceedings, but you can make any statement you wish with regard to them. Mr Going: After the vessel struck I went to get the boats out. There was a good deal of confusion at the time, and I did all I could to keep things square and myself cool.. I got the lifeboat out and passed her over the side. I then got the cutter slung and had her put over the side, and ordered the oars to be put ia the boats. I was told by the chief officer to go forward to clear the gun away and fire her, which I did ten or twelve times. I then came aft, beiog very tired, and was gettiug some coffee when I was ordered away in the boat for assistance. I went in her and I believe did the best a man could do. Afterwards I did all ia my power to save those who were adrift. I arrived in the Lady Barkly with the passengers taken on board fram the Merlin, aud a few hours after started away iu her to the Croixelles, and tried hard to persuade the captain to go further as I thought the boats would be somewhere near Durville's or • Stephen's Island, and then when Mr Gully asked me to go ia the Aurora I consented at once on condition thafc he would go round the Islands, and he said he would be guided by my instructions. I don't know whether it's auy gooi for me to tell all this, but I want to show that I did not spare myself in look- , ing after those who were missing. ; The Court: You are quite right in making . your statement. You were one of the responsible officers of. the ship, and should the .Court, after going through the evidence, consider you in any way to blame for the wreck, it will doubtless take into consideration your after efforts to save life, in mitigation of sentence. Mr Going: I don't know that there is anything more I can say. I cau't keep up the run of a story like a lawyer, and if I have omitted anything I hope you will excuse it. Mr Acton Adams having addressed the Courton behalf of the Crown an adjournment was made until 4 o'clock, when judgment was deliveredas follows: — That nothing of any importance appears to have occurred on the voyage to Neison until after passing Cape Farewell, except that the compasses did not work well. It seems that no azimuths or amplitudes were taken to ascertain the error. On Monday, tho 6th August, the vessel opened Cape' Farewell Sandspit Light, about eight o'clock p.m.. aud from this up to ten o'clock the courses appear to have been from N.E. by E. toS.E.<byE. The wind at the time was fair, about West, the vessel was going about seven knots with all square sails set and the night /airly clear. The loom of the land over tho Spifc could be seen, but the Spit itself and the surf could not be seen, although the latter was heard all the way along. There is a discrepancy in the evidence as to the courses steered from ten to eleven, but it seems most likely the vessel had made more southing than the captain and chief mate thought, bringing the vessel closer in shore than was estimated. At 11 o'clock the bearing of the light was taken by the chief officer and master, aud. it was estimated to bear W. by S. seven miles, but it is now evideut that the vessel could not have been in that position. The captain then put the ship on a S.S.E. course. The evidence differs as to ' the course given, but I think the weight of testimony, proves it was S.S.E., and not as the captain and mate say, S.S.E. £ E. Had the lead been cast at this time it would have been found that the ship was not in the position assigned by the master and mate. But as a matter of fact the lead from first to last was not cast at all. And lam of opinion that it was an extraordinary neglect of duty to neglect taking soundings to verify the ship's position when sailing round a spit with a compass which was believed to be unreliable, and on which the master ought not to have exclusively depended. The vessel was kept upon the S.S.E. course until grounding at about half -past 11 fco a quarter to 12;p.m. Before grounding surf, had been seen ou the starboard bow iu the distance by a man aloft (this was about ten minutes before she struck), who also came down and saw it from the deck, but did not report ifc. It was also seen some minutes by the second mate and one of the saloon passengers from the poop. All these witnesses estimated ifc to be from fonr to five miles away, but it is evidenfcfthey must have misjudged the distance, as there could not have been any surr four miles beyond the Spit. Had the helm been put hard up when these breakers were firsfc seen possibly the vessel would have been saved. E\ ery effort appears to have been made to get the vessel off, without success, as within a short time she filled with water. : The only bearing taken was afc eleven o'clock before changing to the last course. Had the bearings of the light been taken at 8 o'clock on first observing it, and again 'on entering the red hght, the error in the compass pn the points the ship was heading at both those times might have been discovered. The explanation offered that the compass was always wrong on a S.S.E. course was a strong reason why the captain should have remained on deck and not have placed implicit reliance on a compass he believed to be unreliable. Tho master is primarily responsible for the loss of the ship. Ifc is clear he was in ignorance of his true position, and he did not use proper and sufficient means to ascertain his whereabouts. In this he was guilty of grave default. ... The chief mate acted throughout in concert with the master, assisted in the navigation of the ship. Ths captain appeared to [depend upon him a good deal on account' of his previous knowledge of the locality. He erred as much as the captain in judgment, but of course technically the whole responsibility rests upon the master. The look-out was not, in my opinion, well kept, and it was the duty of the officer of the watch to see to this. In the loading of the boats I think the master erred in judgment in nofc so disposing the, passengers in each as to avoid the necessity of transhipping from one boat to another. A full complement of oars ought also to have been put in each boat in the first iustance. Otherwise, as I believe he contemplated the return of the boats to fche ship, I do nofc attach any special blame to' him. But in this, as in some other matters, the master appears to have infceuded to do' what was right, but, apparently indecision of character, caused his good intentions to remain unfulfilled. : The -Nautical Assessor fully concurs in the foregoing decision. And having decided that the ship was lost through the default of the master, John Sayes Davis, I decide tosuspend his certificate for three years, and as I am further of opinion that there was default contributing to the loss on the part of the second mate, • Johu Ernest Going, I decide to suspend his certificate for six months. The chief mate although in as grave error as the captain wa3 not responsible, and I have therefore no power to punish him. Mr Adams applied for costs ngainsfc.the . Captain, but the Court thought it better to adjourn the question until to-morrow morning at 1 1 o'clock.