MERCER

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 335, 4 December 1917, Page 2

MERCER

(Bee alio page 4.) LAUNCH FATALITY

THE ADJOURNED INQUEST.

The adjourned inquest on the body of Mr James Gardiner, who was drowned in the Waikato River on November 16th through a mishap to the Waikato Shipping Company's oil launch Sylvia, was held yesterday in the Mercer Courthouse by the District Coroner (Mr C. Roadley). Sergt Cowan, of Pukekohe, conducted the investigations for the police and Mr A. E. Skelton represented the Shipping Company. Constable Horan, of Mercer, was the first witness and gave the following evidence, viz.: On Friday, the 16th November, I was a passenger on the launch Sylvia bound for Churchill. The boat had a heavy loid on and in my opinion she was loaded top heavy. There were on board two boatmen and eight passengers When we were about two miles from Mercer the boat capsized, throwing all the deck cargo overboard and to the best of my belief five men also went overboard. I was thrown over the lower side ol the boat along with two lady passengers and a child. The side of the boat was down under the water and we were all in the water but not clear of the boat. I hung on to the passengers and also on to the boat until after a while the boat righted sufficiently to enable me to pull the others on board. Before the boat went over the deceased was sitting on a sack of potatoes on the corner of the counter grating. When the boat righted all the cargo had gone off the counter grating and the whole of the deck cargo had slipped into the water. When the boat heeled over the side was right under water, I recovered the body on Novembei 20th about fifteen chains below the scene of the accident. It was entangled in the branches of the willows on the surface of the water, By Mr Bkelton: I formed the opinion that the boat was top heavj before it started from the wharf but I aid not think there was danger ol her going over. By the Coroner: I have often travelled by the boat since I have been residing at Mercer. I have seen her carry just as heavy a load before and stacked much the same way as this but I have not seen hei roll so heavily before. 1 made nc complaint to the skipper of the boat, because it did not come within mj province to do so. The boat did noi strike anything but she was clow into the willows. There was a crosi current shooting out from thf willows. There is always a considerable current shooting out froa the willows at this particular spo' and upon this morning it forced the head of the boat outward from th< shore. When the current caugh the boat it heeled over immediately The man in charge of the launch wai Claude Bilderbeck. I have ofter travelled with him before anc always found him careful and reliable. Patrick Sellars, the overseer of th< Waikato River Board, deposed; ] remember the date that deceased was drowned from the launch | Sylvia. I saw the boat when th« loading was finished as she lay a< the wharf at Mercer. From mj | observations on that occasion" th< appearance of the boat conveyed to me that she was slightiy in a crank] condition on account, in oiy opinion of the top heaviness of the cargo John Thomas Gillibrand, of Mer cer, on being sworn, said: I am I manager for the United Timbei Company. I was a passenger by th< launch Sylvia on the 16th Novembei J last. When the launch was nearly clear of Sweeney's island and wbei we were within fourteen feet of th< j willow bank the boat swerved. Ii : my opinion a bit of suction, on the t port bilge, caused the boat to hea | over and the cargo to slip from thi deck, afcer which the boat cam* back to a safa condition. After th< partial healing over of the boat I sav two passengers in the water and on< climbing back into the boat. By Sergt. Cowan : Before the boa left Mercer I saw how she was load ed. Most of the cargo wasstowe< on the deck. There were a fev empty cream cans and the chaf cargo stowed below the deck. Thj first thing 1 noticed after the acci dent was that and th< deck hand were in the water. ] could not see any trace of the deceased. My position on the boai was well forward and I was sitting there so that I could walk along hei bottom when she went over. Mj reason for having this impression ir my mind was because I considered she was unsafely loaded, although J did not consider her overloaded. 1 consider she was unsafely loaded because three-quarters of the cargo wai above the water line. * By Mr Skelton : When the launcl righted herself all that was left ol : the cargo was the chaff and the empty cans, which were stowed below the deck line. The launchef always carry deck cargo. In mi opinion if the cargo had been stowed within the boat instead of on th< deck and on the house top sh< would have carried it right enough I heard the skipper protesting at receiving more cargo before the meal arrived. The skipper protested tc the tally clerk. The tally clerk*! j reply was that the skipper wai always growling more or less. I had often passed the spot where the ! accident happened before. There ii a little eddy there. By the Coroier: At the othei spots on the river where the current was equally as strong there wai ample space to safely navigate the boat and that was why the othei places passed before arriving at the scene of the accident did not imprest me as being dangerous to the navigation of the boat. Claude Bilderbeck deposed: I aa a holder of a river certificate whicl entitles me to ply upon any navigabh river in New Zealand. I was ii charge of the launch Sylvia on the 16th of November last. I remembei receiving the cargo for the boat thai morning. It was about four tons in weight. I did not raise any objection as to the loading of the boat on that morning. I remarked thai there was a big load which would prevent me returning in time to convey the passengers wishing to catch the express. The major portion of the space in the hold was

Practically filled with chaff. The balance of the cargo was distributed •over the for'ard and the after deck of the boat. I atn responsible for potting the cargo on the boat. I -satisfied myself the cargo was quite 'safely distributed. I have been navigating constantly on the «river lor two years v lam well acquainted with the currents of the river and the sand banks as they exist from time to time and also the eddies. IkJiowthe particular point where the accident happened. It is not dangerous when the river is up but when the river is falling it is shallow and causes a stronger current and a strong eddy underneath the surface By Bergt. Cowan: I had only taken charge of the Sylvia on the day of the accident on account of the captain's illness, but I had previously been in charge of her. I have carried more cargo upon the Sylvia upon former occasions. By Mr Skelton: I have taken other boats with the same weight of chaff in their hold past this particu Jar spot without accident. Upcn those occasiana I had cargo packed upon tile deck equal to the cargo of fied with the trim of the boat on that morning. The behaviour of the boat between Mercer and the particular spot was quite natural and only t on one occasion she rolled a little. That was caused by the sudden reversal of the helm to counteract the run of the boat. On arriving at the spot where the accident happened the boat took a run out to port, causing her to turn over. I was standing on the port side and was practically the first one to go in George Alfred Gregory, a farmer residing at deposed: I was a passener by the Sylvia. I noticed the cargo on the boat and I thought moßt of it whs stowed on top. I came to the conclusion that she was top

heavy on account of my thirty years' experience on , the Waikato river. I noticed she rolled about more than I would have liked to have loaded a boat to sit on the water as she was. In my offtnion there was not enough heavy cargo in the bottom of the boat On approaching Sweeney's island the boat hee'ed ovtr and I attempted to dive out of the boat but got jammed between the cream cans and the edge of the boat. I noticed a quantity of cargo and two persons floating in the water. Bildtrbeck was one. I did not recognise the second person. When I looked agaiii the latter had disappeared. Thomas Edward Hughes, a farmer, residing at Te Puke farm, upon being swr ra, said : I was a passenger by the launch Sylvia. I aid not notice anything about the loading of the boat until we got out into the stream. It then stru,k me that she was rolling rather dangerously to the usual way she travels. I came to the conclusion that the rolling of the boat was caused bv the cargo stowed ou the deck. I noticed the boat after crossing the river give three. big rolls and then she capsized. Harold Meyer, deck hand on the Sylvia;' deposed : 1 was present on the mornirg of the 16th when the boat was loaded. In my opinion the boat was loaded safely. When we reached Bweeney's Island the current swung the boat, causing it to last and the cargo slid off into the water Harry Carter, tally clerk, employed by the Waikato Shipping Company, said : The loading on the Sylvia on November 16th consisted of about four tons The launch has often before gone away with good top loads as upon this occasion. I have often seen the boat go away in the same condition. Arthur L Stevenson manager of the Waikato % Shipping Company, deposed : I hold a certificate of of survey from the Marine Department for the launch Sylvia which permits the launch to carry ten passengers. The boat is in good order and condition and was passed by the Survey of Shipa this year. coboneh's verdict. The Coroner returned a verdict of Accidental Death but suggested that the Shipping Company should exercise greater care in the loading 4 of its boats. In the course of his summing up the Coroner remarked that the deceased was silting in an elevat -d position among the cargo at the after end of the boat and had he been with the other passengers in the cockpit he in all probability would not have fallen into the water As the deceased had volunta ily selected the unprotected position no other person could be blamed for his mishap.