WRECK OF THE LIZZIE BELL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 170, 1 August 1901, Page 2

WRECK OF THE LIZZIE BELL.

ENQUIRY. The Magisterial enquiry into the w reck of the Lizzie Bell off Oeo on tbe eight of tbe 24th instant was proceeded with at the Couttbouse oa Wednesday before Mr. R. L. .Stanford, S.M., assiated jjbv Captains Hoed (New Plymouth) and Adamson (AuekUnd). Mr. Kerr conducted the case on behalf of the Marina Dspartmeot, and Mr, Gevett, with whom was Mr. Grey (Mr. 0. Samuel), appeared -for Captain .lees and the chief mate (Mr. Barrow) )f th« ill-fated vesasl. The first wit--1 «'S called by Mr. Kerr was Captain Res*, who stated that he »as in command of the Lizzie Bell, obich sailed from Glasgow to Dunedin, md subsequently to Wellingion. All jlie crew were sobsr. He had heard ibat tbe owners were desirous of selling tbe ship for £7OOO, the reason ; ein£ that thay wauted to go in fer iti am vessels. Did not say that barquss vere going out of use—in fact the Hiilding of barques lately was rather >ruk. The vessel was not insured, to sir as witness know. Could not say ?hat were the signal letters iu be international code, but the apprentice ceuld give that inprmati«n. The Lizz'e Bell wai bound fom Wellington for Newcastle, N.S.W, nd left Wellington on July 24th. Sighteen hands were required to navijate the birque, and she had that mmber. He detailed the names', 'ijere were three officers, six apprentiqi, cook, and eight A.B's. There 1 we no passengers. Was quite s itis- . (jd with the crew. The officers were . >ily qualified. Six new hands were I tk«n on at Wellington v : z , Harding', 1 lien, Perry, F ederick on ami ' jaw land. Two i-f ths crew sailed I j'om Harding had sailed [ rith witness from Dunedin to Welr jngton. The men were from all aplear.mcs good seimei. The first an-1 1 fccand offi ers unilel with witn ssf.om jßlasg )W. After the vesstl lef . port it [pas imp issihle for the cie•» to g*t any alquor. Witness never indulged in .iquor him»elf. Had on board two J hronometew, a sextant, three ordinary . jbip's compasses, including a spare one. s pwo of i he comp isee l ! were kept an ' feck, the standard compass being in ti-e fore-p»rt of the mizzsn mast so as yto be il ar of all attraction of iron. s Th<y we<e last adjusted on shore in I Glasgow in Fabiuary. A captain never k.sis an opportunity of adjusting ' is compasses at sea. Witness last st d the compiasoa at sea while baUeen Dunedin and Wellington and fount them perf»ctly correct Had round the s'eeringcomp'ss was affected while on the voyage from Glasgow. It was not o*iog to the compass being it correct that the vessel was nearly jlost on the Ninety-Mile beach. It was a narrow shave. A gale of wind was blowing. Could not say who was responsible for the re in tha Dunlin paper that the near approach to being wrecked was due to an error iu the compass. Was towed out of Wellington at 11 ;.m. The wind was S.E. and fresh, vita moderate and flowing with the wind. N.W, On leaving Wellington Heads he set the course N.W. by N. (magnetic), so as to be eight miles off " The Brothers." About 3 o'clock he was abreast of The Brothers and made the course good. The weather was ton hick to sea the lighthouse, but the island could be seeo. He then Altered the course to N W. (magnetic) so as to bring him eight m'les off Stephen Is land. This course was also made good. Was abreast of that islaod at 5.30. Up to that time the com passe* proved true. At 8 p.m he altered the course to N.W. hy W. (magnetic), so as to go about 25 miles north of Farewell S'pit-, and that course was kept t.ll the vessel -tiuek.. His paten", log only showed 43 miles from S'ephen Island, where it was set. When he took the bearing of that island at 5 o'clock it was abeam, but at 8 p.m. the islaod was out of sight. He expeoted >to be off the Farewell light about 11 p.m. Could not bf vxpec'ed to sight the ligV>t 25 miles oft' Us it was o-ly aa 11-mile light, i When the course was altered at 8 " i| ;j.m. Frederickson was at the .vheel, and received witness order as to Alteration ol course. Witness did no' a eave the deck from the time the vassal yjeft Wellington. The s-icond officer -jvas on deck at 8 o'clock. Wi'ness him- ' elf was also on duty, aad in charge of he vessel. Personally (aw that the course was being kfpt. With new lands he was naturally mora than tsually anxious, and he continually ob-i'l-vtd both compos-es. below ivury hour to mark off the c urse on he ship's chart, Tne 1 ok-out man at [ ! o'clock was apprentice Chappell, who vent off duty at 10 o'clock, being re- ' )laced by Glen (onn o r the survivors) [ Jlen bad been at his post abiut, an . lour and a half before the vfssil struck. ' Aether Glen nor Chappell made any F 'aport of sighting land, si far as wit--1 less knew. The second officii 1 did no" | tfeport to witness tbat tha look-ou' ' tiao, G'en, had reported having se«n ijnd. Overheard Oh'pp 1 and Glen ' alking about what was supposed to [ taye bien seen. Did not gather from . yhat he heard th«t Glen hid repot tid • the second-officer " land ahead." leard the two men discussing the natter on <!<• k while witless was bebiv. Imrnt Jiately r.in up atjd found ■ Jlnd ahead. Wit,nes4 put tha he'm rtnvn, and the ve-sel struck. It »'a« he fecond-icate who said to the look- ■ Jit man that what, the latter to«jk f r Ind was only a c|oud. was no iheugu either in the fjroo or dji-entioi j'F the wind after th"sh}plefn Wellingbn. The vessel hnd 600 tons < f f arth At 9 p.m. whnefs initructad 'he second offy* r to go to the fore V plallant yard to look out and he reported Jo could s e no'hitig. At 10 p.m. thiVas repeated with the same result. Xhout 10.40 the officer was again s -nt up, witness saying to him '* You mns' *e something this tira l !." Wi'ness "xpected that the man would eithn»e a light, rr land in admiralty Bay, tiin land thera being rather high. The Magistrate her# poured out to witness that he had coafu-ed Admiralty Biy wifh Blind Bay. Witness consideiei there might be >tn indi aught at the point. Tie night was fairly clear, Frena Stephen Islnnd tcf Farewell Spit would be about 50 milng. The vessel was going at »bout 10 knots. Did not kcow tte di-tu C" from < it.h. r St pheri I-hnd or Fawvvt]! S t it to O.'O. j The Mauistrate : The distance from S.ripheii Island to Oao is 67 miles, exactly the same dis ance as betwesr Stephen Isliind and Farewell Spi f . Witness: Did not see Mt. Kgmont. ,Th« vf ssol struck midships on » lvef. When the vtss tl s'rurk witDe>s 1 put the helm tosporf. The roaingal-J lant sail was hauled down. H i called all hands on deck to get the lifeho.it ready as tha ship was bump'ns; very heavily, enaugh to throw them off the.r feet. Expocied the masts and yards

for quad rental deviation, aad had ' would come down every minute. The ' boit «as lowered and all hands got liar. Had a coil of Sin. Manila ropo in the boat, one end of which was- made fast to the ' lower end of the mizzea-mast. He slacked the boat the fu'l length of the line wi-h tha intention of lying there till day-light, as they were protected, being uudT the vessel's lea. ' Vhout half an hour after gfttinginto the boat the miin-mast went over, and [then tbe foremast. Very soon after the vessel's back was broken altogether. Witness thought it safer to put out to set th&m to get amongst the wreckage with the boat, as when the ship's back broke there was no shatter. Whsn about half a mils from the vessel, the "bo»t cap ized. They managed to get on the bottom of the boat, and after a few minutes it was righted, bat they lostthe oars and the balers. Simmons, a coloured man, swam out and recovered two of the oats with which they pulled for the shore, but the boat again capsized. They managed to get ber clsar again, and aftT a few minutes succeeded in righting her. This timothrse or four men were misting, and the oars were gone. They got into the boat, and it drifted to the shore, which was reached between three and four a.m. There were only five of them left: witn<ss, Barrow, Harding, Glen and Tickell. They laid on the sand till daylight, when they found their way up the cliff. This was all witness remsmbered. He was picked up unconscious, and carried into Captain Good's hou«e where he was attended t). There were nine hands, including hiruielf, on deck at the time the vessel struck. It was the starboard w ttofe. The lifeboat was quite new, and had ull life-smng appa a us abiard. Nothing mors coul 1 have been done than was done to stve life. Tie ba que should have bee a about half way between Oeo and ind Farewell Spit. The reason for setting that: a urse was that according to the N w Zealand Pilot it was a very u ml thing for vesse's coming down Cook Strait, in a south-east wind aft»r opening Farewell Spit to have the wind north-wts f , and have to run te Cloudy Bay for shelter. He was steering for a fair way. The tide was ebbing and was about an hour from low water. Could not explain how it was the vessel was so far out of her course when she struck. ■ Previous to leaving Wellington, he consulted Captain Johnson, harbourmaster, and was advised not to leave that day. Mr. Kerr: The look-out man named Glen has state ! that 20 minutes before the vessel struck he sang out "land ahead." Witness: I never heard him, Did not hear the second officer call out that there was land ahead. T o Captain Ho d: Had no reason to find fault with any of the men for steering wrongly. The error between thi storing and gnide com pass sh was abiut 2| points, the latter being magnetic. Tha deviation was N.N.W, Had no opportunity of taking an azimuth or amplitide. To Captain Adamson: Was with the vo3£>el at Glasgow. Everything was surveyed and passed by the Board of Trade b 'fore leaving Glasgow. The standard compa;s was on a pole on the the fore part of tha mizzenmaet ma&t, about 15 fret from the deok. There was a ladder to get > o it so that observations could easily be taken. Did not know the name of the maker of the standard compa°s, but " Dobie " was the last adjustor. It was marked in degrees. He took an azimuth by the shadow of the central needle Burwood and Davis' table? were used to fini the error of this compass. Could only take an azimuth of tbe sun. The mast was of wood. Could not see accurately from thi deok tbe correctness of the course as indicate 1 by the standard compass. This compass worked very freely. Always kept the course by the standard compas*, but gave the officers their ordars by th* -teering compips. The officers knew ' he course taken by the standard compass. The voBs u l was north-west by north of Stephen Islind when ten miles off. CouLl the light then perfectly clearly. Htd no opportunity that afternoon of taking an az'muth or amplitude. Between The Brothers and Stephen lelaud he did not find any undue influence by currents or tid&s. Remarked to the mate that the log was fifteen miles out between The Brothers and Stephen Island. Attributed the reason to stiffoets ef working. Tha fifteen miles was less than should have been registered. Could not say whether the discrepancy arose through a contrary current. Did net think such was the case. Four of tbe apprentices woi|ld ha out of their time in two or three months. There were three boats, namely, lifeboat, pinnace, and gig, The lifeboat was fitted with air-tight tanks, and had six oars wfth rowlooks. The oirs had no lanyards on them. - Had not heard that the Bo u d of Trade required lanyards to be affixed to the oars. Had no life-lines outsidp. Besides the oars the boat carried two balers, a breaker of water, an anchor, a 15-fathom pninter, and a rudder. Had lanyards been attached to tha oars the latter would not have been lost. After the vessel struck, witness gave each man a lifebelt. The land appeared to be two or three miles distant. Was on deck a few minutes before the ship struck. The horizon was hazy, and witmss had not seen land. He did not expect to see land on the starboard side. Neither the look out man nor the second mate reported to witness that land was visible, The fecund was not assisting witI ness to prick off the chart, Pulled out to sea to try a' d get shelter round the point, He had a separate fheet c'lart of Zealand waters, and he curried the pattern < dition of the Now Zealand Pilot, Had s'nfl ed the tidf 3 and currents b fore leaving We'lington. Had no idea bow far the ship was carried out of the intermediate course before she struck. It was unaccountable how the ship should have been carried 26 miles to the north-east of hercourss. The Court adjourned for luaohfon. On resuming at 2 p.m. Captain was examined by the Court and datiiled the experience of the ahip when she Wis nearly ashore on the Ninety j Mile beach, Canterbury, when she was i blown there and th*n out to sea by a I heavy gale, 1 Further questioned by Captain | Adamsoo, the witii 'Fs said tbe vessel > was r,oi "swung" in Glasgow. The 1 '"inpnss was tiken "shore, but he did not know what was done to it. He hud taken azimuth* on the voyage f'om Glasgow to Duned'n, and from Dutiedm to Wellington. On the course rtecrel ' 11 the Straits he found four or sv« degrees of deviation north-easterly, and comet magnetic on nor'-westerly and sou'-westerlj cour ies. He had deviation cards made out fo' the course on which he was steering. The steering compass was an ordinary steel compass, in the binnacle, two feet beiore the wheel. It was only fitted

a very lwge deviation upon some paints; and Done upon others. On the New Xsaland coasts he found the greatest deviation on the sou'westerly courses. Upon a northerly i course he -would not consult his standard compass so oftea as his compass. He tooli his cross-bearings by the standard compass, in the usual way. He could not, however, take a bearing at night within two degrees of correct magnetic. Witness had been about twenty years in iron vessels. He had been in the habit of using Bur- , wood's and Davis's tables.

To Captain Hood: The courses steered after leaving Cape Terawhiti were N.W,, N.W. by N., and N.W. by W. With the wind aB it was the ship would not not make much leeway. This made the vessel &b?ut five points out of her couse. There was nothing in the ballast which could have affected ship's compass. Its-examined by Mr Kerr: If hen he came on deck after hearing his officers and crew discussing the question of land* in sight, he c uld not believe it was land—he thought it a cloud. He soon realised it was land, and orde ed the helm down, but before the ship | could come round she bumped on the I rocks.

Mr. Kerr: Viewed in the light of subsequent events, was there anything to lead you to suppose that the man-at-the-wheel bad made an error in steering, er by yours jlf in setting the course.

Wjtnees: It would be impossible for him to discovar any error in the compasses duriog a few eeure of the night. It was prssible if the ship had beeo "swung"in Glasgow, it would ha.o made some material difference, but he did not think it would. To Mr. Gftvett: Witness had been out te New Zealand about ten yean ago, putting in at Lyttelton. He had consulted the New Zeihnd chart, and taken the advics of Oaptain Johnston before starting. After leaving Stephen Island he considered the tide was dead ahead. He did not think this fact would tend to make the patent leg show rather mere than lees distance made. The bell was struck regularly. Witness would steer the s ime course again under the circumstances. He did his best, and except that the cornpiss may have been in error or a strong current in exist sice, he could not account for the ship getting where she was. Witness's chart showed a current of from one to five knot*, n -r'-?ast to I sou'-west, and this was what h* fear d might set him on to Oape. Farewell. The secord mate had come out wi h witness from Glasgow, and was a trust worthy man. The same course of adjusting the compasses is f llowed in Glasgow and Liverpool. Witness could net have done any more than he did to test his compasses. If compasses go wrong at sea out of sight of land, he eouH not check an error un'il hi could take an observation. When ths vessel struck he got a cinpl i of rookets, but thoy could notbi lif. Looking bick on the occurrence had he kriora what he did now, he would have hung to the wre?k till daylight, and he believed he would have saved every mm. O herwise ho could not think of anything different that he would h«ve done. He had be»n in sailing vessels all his life, and in the service of Iredale and Porter for the past 18 years. John Gl«nn, A.8., a native of Gotland, said he had be?n at s~a seven ysars, and joined the Lizzie Bell at Wellington. None of the crew were drunk either »t Wellington or on the voyage. Witness turned to at 6a m. on the 24th, and was on duty till 2 p.m., being then off till 4 p.m. About 6.30 he saw a light, which h* heard called Stephen Island by Hardin?. Witness did not know what tno vessel's course wis. The vessel had f<we-top-sail, mam-top-aallant-sail, foresail, and fore-top mast s'ay-siil se*-. Witness wa« on duty, but did uot heir any conversation between the captain and second mite between 8 p.m. and the time the ship struck Saw the captain occasionally on the poop Tho sscond mate was in charge between 8 and 10 p.m. Part'and was at the wheel from 10 p.m. and witness was «n the lookout on the forecastle h«ad. Whi'e witness was »h">re— about 11.5 p.m., the second officer came up and looked around. Witness told him, pointing off the starhoa'd bow, that he " thought that was land." The effiopr replied, "No, I don't think it is." He then went away aft. Did not tea him again. After the mate went witness more convinced it was lind; but did not report it becausa ha had already done so. From 20 to 30 minutes after witness spoke to the second officer the ship struck and beotme a wreck, Everything possible was done after she went on the rocks.

To Captain Adamson: He had. only thought it was land to starboard two or three minutes before the second mate came along. It was difficult to b<* sure whether it was a cloud or land. When the land commenced to loom up it was on the star-beard beam, and was thus paral'el to the ships cours?. Th* port side was the weather side, bu v witness could not say on which side < f the wheel the steersman was. Wheu the was put down he not'ed no alteration in the appearance of the larfd. The vessel wns going btfore the wiad. Hud theve been a ligSt near it could have sem. There was no sign of the sea breaking on the beach.

To Captain Hiod: Did not. report the land again after speaking to th - second mite, because lw waanofc pnrp of it. The weather waa haay, but witness thought the loom of land three miles off might have been seen. The Court, at 5 p.m., adjourned till 9.30 to morrow (Friday) morning.