STORM AT SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1920, Page 5

STORM AT SEA.

ECHO IN COURT CASE CLAIM FOR £ll9l 18s 3d. FIXING BLAME FOR DAMAGE. In connection with the claim of Newton King, of New Plymouth, merchant, against the ship C. S. Holmes, for £ll9l 18s Id, in respect of cargo allegedly damaged during the voyage from San i' raneisco to New Plymouth, evidence was taken by Mr. T. A. B. Bailey, S.M on commission, at the New Plymouth Court on Saturday mo'rning, "of the three officers of the vessel. Another case was adjourned to allow the evidence to be heard, as it was stated that the schooner, which was ready to sail and was due at Papeete on August 20, had orders to proceed immediately, and the officers were desirous of .getting away. Mr. C. H. Weston, who appeared for the master, had previously explained that oven with favorable weather Captain Anderson was doubtful if the vessel would reach its destination by tile date mentioned; if she, was late the charterers would lose a very valuable cargo ol copra. 6 The Court decided, in view of the circumstances, to take the evidence. , ,^ r ' -?• Quilliam appeared for plaintiff. The claim at the outset of the proceedings was' for .£SOO, but it had been increased at a later stage by £3Ol JBs Id. The cargo which was the subject of the dispute was motor spirit contained in tins. The first mate, Napoleon K. Hale, said he joined the vessel at San Francisco on 28th April, by which time most of the cargo was on board. They were commencing to load the 'tween* decks. This was between the original deck and the roof of the "house'' which was built on to the deck of the ship to give more caigo accommodation. There were four pipes on the main doc];" leading down into t.lie bilge to carry away any surplus water. Producing the deck log witness said they left -San Francisco on May 1, On 29th Slay there calm weathet: and a heavy choppy sea.jithe. vessel rolling considerably. In the afternoon the mainsail was carried awav, and the heavy weather continued till the morniiiff of the 30th, when the vesesl was rolling' with tlio poop rail under water. A heavy sea in a calm was more dangeroils to the vessel than if thev had anv wind, because the vessel was helpless. On June S, at 11 a.m., the ring in the clew of the foresails was carried away by the vess.el rolling in no wind; there whs a dead calm. At I o'clock they : lowered all sails, and the ve?osl continned to roll with the poop rail under water. Thra continued till the next morning, when witness discovered water in tlie 'tween decks. After working for ten hours shifting cases and drums on deck they succeeded in haling out most of the water, but were unable to get to th/> scuppers to clear them-. The goods which they shifted were not cargo, being the ship's own petrol supplies and other stores. The calm continued till 4 a.m. on the 10th, when they set all lower sails. They had, therefore, no sails up all day on the oth. They kept baling tlie water at intervals of four hours till 4 o'clock on June 11th. There had been the most extraordinary heavy seas and calm that he had encountered. A gale was experienced on Ifitli June, and on the 17th the vessel was also rolling Continually, filling the well deck. On one occasion it wa3 almost impossible for a man to stop between docks and bale out, because of the fumes from the benzine. This was not because of leakage, ns there was none then, as far as they knew, but there was ceiiain accumulation of fumes, and this Was accentuated by the hatchet having been battened down for forty-eight hours. - The first time they actually detected the leakage of benzine was on the morning of the 26th Juno, when they noticed considerable water and benzine 'tween decks. At 8 a.m. the next day mora leakage was discovered, and it was baled out. After this they discovered no more water or benzine. They reached New Plymouth on 7th July. Assuming that the ship was staunch ot> commencing the voyage, the only incident that in his opinion would cause a leak in the house was the weather from the 7th June onwards, which might cause the vessel, to strata. The fact that no more benzine was found he attributed to the smooth weather afterwards experienced. He had learned that the leaks in the tins were so small that the petrol would not come out, unless moved, as the contents were retained by a vacuum. When unloading, however, the leak would start. The storage and dnnnaging of the vessel in connection with the loading was good. To Mr. Quilliam: Ho did not think the damage to the cargo was very considerable. Tlio total number of cases loaded into the vessel was 50,401. Of this 19,474 cases were put on to the wharf. On board 052 cases were broken and, put into drums, thus saving 2800 gallons J American). This was the first time he had been with a bad cargo, but thought it could havo been worse. There was a total of 371 cases absolutely lost aboard the ship. Some of the cargo was rejected at the wharf by the railway authorities. Nels F. Anderson, master of the schoonerfv said that before leaving San Francisco the ship was overhauled in dry dock, witness personally overseeing tlio work. The ship was surveyed as to h6r seaworthiness and also as to the loading. After his experience of wooden ships lie thought that the Holmes was the tightest he had been in. He considered the leakage was due to the heavy rolling between the 7th and oth June- This was an exceptional roll, as never before had they occasion to lower their sails in a dead calm. In his opinion the ship was seaworthy when she left San Francisco. To Mr. Quilliam; He considered "the scupper drains quite efficient. There had lieen three cargoes since they were put in, but not benzine. lie presumed the benzine had dissolved the pitch, and the latter had accumulated rubbish and clogged the scuppers. Fred Forslund, boatswain, said he had been at sea for fourteen years, but had never previously known an occasion when sails had to be lowered in a calm. This concluded the evidence.