The evening world., 1894-06-27
HIS TUG WAS
OVERLOADED.
,,onnnued nom First iuoc. \

'fuHrTttu nom FfN IUN'.
communicate with a number OF wit
nesses whom he wished to have present.
Charles Kirchner testified that he was
the representative of the Herring
II made the arrangements with the
Superintendent of the Company for n
tug to take the Club to the fishing
banks and return. We were to pay $50
for the trip | wanted the tug Sammy.
but the superintendent said that the
said, was a better boat and could carry
siXty-hve persons.
Are You sure Of that"
+ Yes, SIR
How many people were there on
Nearly Ninety People on hoard.
well. after leaving pier we collected
siNty-thre" tickets 81 In cash. there
were seven dcadhead members OF the
Club two boy helpers, five members OF
the crew and about eight or ten others
on board"
THAT makes over eighty people,"
seven.
The people were not counted as they
game on board by any one, that ! saw.
did not see the inspection certificate ~
the Nicol and did not know how many
she was entitled to carry. nor was | told
by any one"
Did you carry. any LIQUOR on board"
Yes. The Club took on board 10
cases of beer. one quart OF whiskey and
400 pounds OF Ice. II was sold FOR the
benefit Of the Club, Only two kegs were
| emptied when tho tug went down. ! did
not see any drunkenness among the pas
sensers.
II can't say that the crow or officers
Of the tug were intoxicated. but l saw
three buckets of beer go into the pilot
house. ! can't say who dranh It"
Subsequently the witness said that
with him and he gave him cIEar. This
was In response to question which the
captain VA. permitted 10 ask him
When bs no ASKED why the sssenGsrs ran
by ,precipitated the accident, kirchner
said:
side Of the BOAT they would have been
washed overheard. The sea was break
Ing over the left side Of the vessel In big
waves. and 1t looked dangerous for any
Kirchner said in conclusion that his
ARRANGEMENTS with the company for
chartering the tug. were made in writ
Ing, but that he had lost the papers.
Blamcs the Passengers.
Engineer Farrell testified that he
was licensed engineer Of the first
class, and had been employed on the
Nieol for nine years. He received no
down Just before the vessel sank.
The accident was caused, in his opin-
lon, by the passengers all running on
on board to speak OF, and 1t was not
necessary to run the pumps.
Fireman George Hochein corrobora-
ton that some Of the passengers crowd
ed into the fire-room. He drove them
out, and then seeing danger ahead ran
on deck with the engineer and cut loose
Capt. Hyde was recalled. He said
that the Nicol carried metallic life
beat beat a life raft and large boxfni Of
We're scattered about the cabin. He
couldn't say how many.
Was the box containing the life
Il think 1t was open-in fact I know
1t was open. ] don't know that any OF
them Were taken out by the crew or
ibid you give any orders for the man
ming Of the life-boat or for the distribu-
ton of the life-preseryers when. you
mo, did not"
why not? 1t was your duty. wasn't
well. there wasn't time to do any
"You had time to warn the passengers
to get over on the starboard side, didn't
Yes. yelled to them twice. The last
time Icried out: For Gods sake. get
on the other side of the boat"
You gave no orders to the crew.
Yes, / ordered them to get the pas
sengers on the other side OF he boat I
did not have time to do much OF any
thing else. The sinking OF the tug was
caused by the heavy seas and by the
side OF the boat.
II didn't think she had on hoard any
more passengers than she could safely
carry. II the passengers had done as
ordered we could have carried them with.
out trouble"
You said that Pilot Kelly was with
you IN the pilot. Was he engaged
/ Pilot En... n-r-
No NO he came as my guset, and to
cover me- because my license did not ex-
tend beyond the Hook"
pi !!S9 ''''' A' ''F'-'sA
Albert Harmon, deck hand on the
Nicol, said he was In the pilot house
when the heavy seas We're running, just
the Captain order the passengers to the
starboard side Of the vessel. He noticed
that some Of the passengers were intoxi-
Gated, but did not see any OF tn. crew
in that condition. The passengers who
were drunk did hot interfere with the
| crew.
Charles Richardson, of Philadelphia, a
passenger on the steamer Algonquin,
! who witnessed the struggles OF the Nicol
with the heavy seas just before she sank
was next called.
ExOnerntes Captain and Crew.
II was in Boston yesterday when
read that the Captain and crew OF the
tug we're held responsible for the dis
catastrophe. ! thought 1t my duty to
come on here and give my testimony.
In my opinion the vessel was handled
as well as could be expected under the
| circumstances I had been watching the
| Nicol and half n score of other tugs out
side the Hook for the previous half-hour.
| The weather was simply too rough for
that kind OF craft.
Twice. while watching the Nicol,
saw huge seas tumbling over her bow
| The man at the wheel seemed to make
every effort to keep her nose before the
sea. Had he succeeded in doing so, all
would have been well. but the seas ran
so high that our vessel (the Algonquin)
felt their force from time to time"
The NIneSs could not rCcollcCt whether
any member Of the crew or any OF the
eXcursionists were the worse for drink
Inspector Fairchild asked Capt. Will
lam Reeves, of the Reeves Towing Com
pany, when ne could have his Witnesses
preaent
Monday" replied the Captain.
The Inspector accordingly adjourned
the inquiry until Monday morning at IL. 80
No More Hodies Found.
No more bodies OF Victims Of the tug
NiCnl disaster have yet been recovered
but one of the reported missing men has
turned up. safe AID sound
He is William Moore, Of 652 Hicks
street, Brooklyn. who has Informed
The Evening World" by letter that he
md his friend John Qhinn. who was. at
FIRST also repOrtnl among The rpi.sipV