Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-02-15
THE GAY HEAD DISASTER INVESTIGATION

| The public has been waiting with gooc
deal OF Impotence for the City Of Columbu!
Investigation, before the board of steamboat
Inspectors. Testimony began 10 be taken OF
Tuesday last, and the details given by The
witnesses are exceedingly full and particular
1t does not, however, appear that anything
which would tend to cast light upon th,
mystery OF the affair has bccnclcted. Capt
Wright, the first witness, testifies that, a
the time of the disaster, he was not aware
that the ship was out Of her course that h,
had given orders which, If followed
would have carried the vessel two
or three miles clear OF Gay Head
The captain testifies that, after having salts
fed himself that the vessel was on the rlgh
course, by consulting the compass, he hat
stepped below, although the watch was ID
reality his. The lookout was on duty, as
usual. The captain did not hear the usua
cry OF Buoy" but instead heard the mate
sing out, Port" Aware of danger the
captain ran up and gave the order, 'Hard
a pert at which time he saw the buoy abou,
one hundred and fifty yards away. Abou,
twenty seconds after the captains order was
gwen, the ship struck. No effort was made
to stop the ship until she struck On striking,
the signal was given to the engineer 10 re.
verse. The vessel hacked about her own
length, was then started ahead again and once
more backed, when it was found that the hold
was fast filling with water The captain
then ordered the man to leave the wheel and
The boats to be got ready. The captain also
testiiies that he aroused the passengers. The
vessel had six boats, all of them provided
with trained crews, but the sea breaking
over the deck made them useless. The
captain staii on deck for fifteen minutes.
giving the necessary orders before ne was
obliged to take to the rigging. As soon as
it came daylight he was able to count TWEEN.
ty-eight others 10 the rigging. At eight
o'clock he san the first rescuing boat. Can't.
Wright was able TO give SO reason for the
disaster. He said he should have been no
more astonished if the ship had gone ashore
on Nashuon. He could not say who was to
blame. God only knows" he SAID, chow
the ship came so far to the SOUTH If nv
order had been obeyed, the vessel would
have passed Gay Head three miles and an
eighth"
Some minor testimony was taken, subs,an-
TALLY confirming the captains story. More
important testimony still remains to be
taken. But from the investigation so far. it
would appear, first, that the captains orders
were not obeycd as they were given. If
they had been, the ship would not have beer
near enough the rocks to strike them by any
slight deviation from her course caused by
the lookouts negligence, or misapprchension
on the part of the mate, in giving the order
10 port. In the second place, it would ap-
pear that the captain himself displaycd
criminal negligence in going below before his
watch had expired. The order of the mate
may have been the immediate cause of the
vessels striking. II she had kept her course
Or better still, Immediately reversed her
engines, The disaster might not have occurred
from the uncertainty of the vessels
whereabouts at the time when her danger
was discovered, 1t appears that, with the best
seamanship, it is not always possible to
Know the exact position of vessel in the
night time. The City of Columbus was in q
very different locality from what all on
board supposed she was, at the time of the
disaster. The question is, how did she come
theref Was it entirely due to carelessncss
on the part of the pilot, or had the heavy
sea, the wind and current anything to do
with i'll Probably, the latter cause is not
to be left out OF the account. The Min,
was known to be a man of temperate h,li,.
faithful and careful. 1t is possible that the
disaster was not due entirely to his peeli.
gence.
The coast Of Massachusetts, at the best. is
treachcrous and dangerous in the extreme.
Pilots say that there are many rocks to be
avoided which are not down on the cbar,s
and others known only to local pilots and
email coast vessels. This being the case.
pilots ought to give the coast as wide
berth as possible. There is plenty of Sea
room, and although it may necessitate n
longer passage to avail themselves of it, we |
tnink II would be more satisfactory to pas
sengers and more remunerative to steamship
companies TO do so-especially In the present
suspicious and apprehensive state of the pub
lie mind