The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-08
Southern Pacific Attorneys
Assist the United States
inspectors.
MR.. BREWER THREATENS SUIT
Witnesses Very Positive That the
Colima Was Not Topheavy
or Badly Loaded.

q
dav. There was an official investigation
commenced into the causes of the wreck.
statement made by Mr.. Rowan, one of the
survivors, a solemn reticence maintained
by Manager Schwerin and Captain Pitts
and big damage suit against the Pacific
Mail Company threatened by L. r. Brewer,
the wealthy coffee planter whose wife and
children persisted in the wreck. There was
also careful comparison made between
the list of those rescued and the list of the
passengers and crew-214 in all-known to
have been aboard the Colima when she
sailed away from Mazatlan. Out of this
total only thirty-six are known to have
been saved. One hundred and seventy
eight are dead and missing. 1t is gener-
ally believed that all the missing are dead,
for it is now nearly two weeks since the
awful wreck occurred. and there has been
no word received that would lead to the
belief that there were others rescued ex-
cept those already heard from. In brief,
these were the events of yesterday in the
aftermath of the wreck of the Colima.
Possibly there is more to come.
Of course, the greater interest centered
in the official investigation conducted by
United States Inspector Of Hulls Enoch S.
Talbot and United States Inspector of Boil
ers William A. Phillips in one of the
rooms of the Appraisers building.
The Southern Pacifc's law department
was represented by Attorney J. E. Foulds.
The Pacific Mail Steamship Company.was
especially represented by Ward McAllis-
ter Jr. There were no other interests rep
resented in legal way, though Attorney
de las Casas and one or two other lawyers
were present.
Five witnesses were examined-all of
them employees of the Pacific Mail Com
pany. Their testimony was all the same
all very hard on the sea and weather, all
very light on the ship and her manage
ment. 1t was such a storm as had never
recalled at the close of the session to re-
mark, under oath, that he had never seen
it blow so hard, even at Cape Horn.
Manager r. P. Schwerin was present
during most of the session and listened to
the testimony of his faithful employees.
Though he said nothing at the time and
declined to be interviewed, the testimony
adduced could not have been otherwise
than pleasing to him.. And that it was
pleasing to him might be further argued
from the fact that the manager of the Pa
cifc Mail Company paid for three type
written copies of the stenographic reports
of the testimony of his five faithful en-
ployes-one copy to be furnished free to
each of the three morning newspapers.
But the CALL had its own reporters at the
hearing and from their work was enabled
to have the full testimony set in type sew
eral hours before Manager Schwerin's
typewriter copy arrived.
The witnesses were Arthur K. Richard
son, storekeeper of the Colima; Ole Han
sen, third officer; Albert Carpenter, sea-
man; Thomas Fries, seaman; Raymond
Aviles, engineers storekeeper.
None of the witnesses were cross-exam-
ined, except Hansen, when recalled, very
briefly. Some one asked him:
"But supposing the mainsail had been
set, would that have brought her around to
the wind ?'
Both Inspector Talbot and Inspector
Phillips hastily answered:
HE says no canvas would have held in
such a gale"
But the stranger was persistent. He
smiled and returned to the charge.
81 asked him if the canvas had been
Stl. anu LIS ptIslSltuCy uLd1y GULF
PEELED Mr. Hansen to answer that had the
mainsail been spread reefed the ship
would have been brought around out OF
the trough of the sea, provided, of course
and this was very thoughtfully dilated
upon by all concerned-that the spread
canvas could have lived in such gale.
And this was the OILY question asked
throughout the entire hearing that was
calculated to elicit an answer tending to
show that human skill and foresight or a
better loading of the vessel might have
averted the disaster.
All manner of questions were asked as
to the terrible strength of the wind. None
of the witnesses were permitted TO leave
the stand before they had expressed them
selves very fully on this point.
One of the witnesses was asked by In
spector Talbot whether the wind was not
strong enough to blow the clothes off a
mans back.
But that was too much for the faithful
employee. He hesitated an instant and
then answered in the negative. He ex-
planned that it was the flying timbers in
the water that nearly tore the garments off
the drowning and struggling men. A fair
example of the manner in which the ques-
tions were propounded is shown in a couple
of inquiries put by Inspector Talbot to the
witness Carpenter.
s'Do you think that the load on the
hurricane deck had anything to do with
the loss of the vessel2"
sNo, sir" said Carpenter.
"The deckload never started till it was
cut looseP'
mo, sir.''
1t was suggested to Inspector Phillips
that the witnesses should be asked how, in
their opinions, the vessel could have re-
manned on her beams end and not righted
if she were not topheayy and none of the
cargo had shifted.
Inspector Phillips did not put the
question. No such questions as that were
put to any of the witnesses, though their
opinions and conclusions were continually
called for in such manner as to show that
the company and its officers were blameless.
When Raymond Aviles, the engineers
storekeeper, had testified that fifteen
minutes before she went down the en-