The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-20
TILE PILOT INVESTIGATION.
TESTIMONY or CAPT. KING, VINO
FOUND SEVENTEEN FEET or
WATER IN THE yETTsEs.

Ana That was when Hls ship went
| Aground nrawins Nineteen rect
Elessn Inches Aft.
| The beard OF Portwafdsns mel yesterday al
The executive efIise. Present WIN. M. Hunter,
Master Warden, presiding, aud uspts. fhes,
Conway, Jas. r. Lyons ana Jonas r. aefsJoff,
The Last three named being 81 The pilots COM
missien. Al The pilots commission had
nor BRHH pHnsHsf
N The previous meetings the testimony given
by Capt. King, Of the steamship feutonia given
on shs day previous, WAS read for tbeif infytma
tlon, tn substance The testimony was 30 the sf.
feet thai bis ship left here on May 0, 1877, and
arrived Al The isttiss on sbs same day Al D. H..
and anchored there, the chip al the time drawing
" feet II inches afb aud 10 feet inches forward.
Pilot Wilson eame On board Thursday. the 9Th
inst, when be WAS asked by tile witness about
The depth of water On The lefty bar. Il en-
ssefed BY inanfipg The draft of The vessel, and
upon being told said there would be enough WA
ter on
rms hhsT DAYS TIDE
IL being TOO late then for that days Tide, Helsft
with ths ship IN charge The next day, the witness
being Oh The ''btisges with the pilot, while going
through. The weather was quite elsss, The b,iyss
being clearly visible, and The ship ID mid chan.
neil Al isat ~ ths Witness ebild feeolest, the
ship struck when abpt,t half wsy through the
etties, che goihg directly Oh her eunf e, and did
not sheer Until she stftsk. then che huhg across
the channel for sit or eight hours after striking,
u sounded then," continued The Witness, "and
found ffem
SEVENTEEN 10 TwnHFH FEET,
the sotddihss being Irregular We assisted her
Iii working around with the propeller, the stesta
Ing apparatus a. The time being II sood order,
aud she minded her helm, Her keel struck with
stish f8fes ~ to sppfiss ef the fact, striking
fifst forward aud Their hung. Deemed HE ,bilot
spfspGsss asset aud believed lie had knowledge
VI the channel. Was guing ~ full speed when she
struck. The pilot voluntarily gave me infdfna@
ton that ihs bar had been sounded the day be-
fore by himself and Col. Andrews, and that there
was enough water fof The
sHtp 10 PASS.
This testimony. said one Of The commissioners
was signed Yesterday BY Oapt Ring.
Pilot Wilson WIS then placed upon The stand,
and asked that Capt. Kings letter be read. which
wau done
the master warden stated that no charges had
bsen inaae against the witness Or AIRY one. that
this referring 10 The beard was merely court 81
inquiry,
witness, who. III response to the questions pfos
pounded, testiisd In Substance that he was the
pilot Oh the Teutohis when che grounded Ia The
pass. He PLACED the vessel In The best water, WEI
The deepest III the ehahhs to The best u his
Judgment. He had personally sounded The istty
ehsnhel on other occasions, aud never put ship
In the istty channel without sounding before he
put her down. Sounded The istty channel on the
and 9Th DAYS Of May, but could rot sound oh
the day the ship eatna down, 40 he had TO meet
her At the head Of the passes.
On the last sounding alluded TO, found
THE tEAaf nuAsf.
was twenty feet, and aia hoafs after that ti,e
tide WAS lalling, was about half ebb. When the
witness boarded the boat, the captain asked him
sbuut The depth and witness told him thefe WAS
sufficient water for The ship 10 20 out, but ~ the
tide Was .'half ebb'' waited until asst day 81
4 sod tide, Got under way about Blp 4. M, OF,
the 7th. Inquired the draft Vt the ship when /
went Oh board, the captain telling me nineteen
fest eleven inches aft aud ninsteen feet eight
inches forward. In going down discovered no
difference III the stesfsss Of The ship. She u
one OF the beat ships TO steer that comes 10 this
port. When / got under way The
TIDE WAS AT FbooB
height, Had been Al Hood for s1 hours,
Dent think there MAS any wind At The time.
Have III my experience, found That The tides are
passes The usual rise Of the tide Ia calm weather
depends on the full aud change Of The moon. The
usual rise is about eightssn inches. During ebb
tides The winds govern the hide, the average fiss
struck WAS satisfied that she was in mid chan.
mel and about seventy feet from the west istty.
When shs
sTntea rHH OBSTRUCTION
she rose MP forward aud swung immediately In
swinging she was a6e.t till she got right aefops,
then she listed over aud shot ahead, aud we
let her have fall speed at that time. She laid
across the channel from ain 10 eight hours, and
In the meantime she struck hard Substances and
Knocked the fuider ont. We stopped then and
a Al a a IL. Aft
lepg $40 feet. A,n legally appointed pilot,
and have been such for fifteen years No acct,
dent Of this kind has ever occurred TO me before.
Have brought ships
oven rng tErftEa
larger than the Teatonia The Diego Ia one, and
ID aBO feet long, also The Mississippi.
Cannot account FIR tho change in the depth OF
water between the 9th aud 9Th Of May.
Capt. King, Of tho steamship Mississippi, Was
line ~ does the reutonia., He testified that Mr..
Wllson, tho pilot, had jpiloted his ship out over
the bar Of the jestes. Found him capable. aud
careful pilot Even after this accident he would
not hesitate TO take him again to pilot his ship
out over the bar.
The wi ness here remarked that when he Game
In The last tino there was too heavy \ sea to
come in the istties, and that hs would never
come In through them L he could help IL.
Pilot Wilson WAS again questioned, and stated
that he had never piloted the Teutonia previous
TO her grounding. Had, however, piiotsd
through the largest ship that ever went through
the jetties; she drawing twenty feet nix inches
aft, aud twenty feet four inches forward.
THIS WAS THE ZEPHYR.
The witness could not In any way account fer |
the changes In the depth OF wator 81 the outlets
at the mouth Of tho river. they being oecasioned
in manner mysterious TO pilots.
MIR. Il. O. Collins was the next witness. He |
was the Assistant Engineer UNITED states) al
Southwest Pass; had been there since MAY /, |
1872. Had not sounded south Pass since 1875, |
when he was ordered to stop sounding thereon |
tho 26th--by the Secretary of War. Keeps q |
tide gauge there, however. and 1t does not differ |
much with the other passes.
HAVE HEARD or Jumps
rising in the jetties, and the bottom changing. |
Mud Jumps come up at all the passes, and 90 |
suddenly that any one could not tell where they |
were to come up.
Last May ran aground with "launch" draw
ing three and half feet, when on the week be. |