CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 46, 22 February 1878, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

QUEEN BEE WRECK ENQUIRY.

To the Editor of the 'Evening Mail.'

Sir— lt will be remembered that after the Court of Enquiry held at Nelson in August last re wreck of the Queen Bee had suspended the certificate of the master (Captain J. S. Davies) for three years, he made application to his Excellency the Governor for a partial remission of the period of suspension, and for the is3ue in the interim of a New Zealand certificate of competency as master or mate. His Excellency declined to accede to the application, and confirmed the sentence of the Court of Enquiry. Acting under my advice, Captain Davies appealed to the Board of Trade in the matter, forwarding a copy of the memorial which had been signed in his favor in Nelson, and at the same time requested the Government to forward to the Board of Trade the evidence taken upon the enquiry. The result, I am glad to learn by a letter received this mail, is that the Board of Trade have reduced the term of suspension to one year, and in the meantime have granted Captain Davies a first mate's certificate 6t competency. I enclose a copy of the letter from the Board of Trade, with a request that you will be kind enough to publish it.— lam, &c, Albert Pitt. Nelson, Feb. 21, 1878. Board of Trade, Whitehall Gardens, December 21, 1877. Inquiries. Sib,— l am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th October last, asking for the return of your master's certificate, which was suspended by the Court of Inquiry which inquired into the cause of the wreck of the Queen Bee, and transmitting a copy of a memorial which you have addressed to the Governor of New Zealand on the subject. In reply, I am to inform you that, after a careful consideration of your case, the Board of Trade have decided to grant you a first mate's certificate of competency, which accompanies this letter, and to return your master's certificate at the expiration of a year from the date of the finding of the Court, Tiz., 22nd August, 1877.

I am, Sir Your Obedient Servant, Thomas Gray,