The San Francisco call., 1895-12-31
There Was No Jockeying With
the Load.Water Line of
the Defender.
MEMBERS OF THE CREW HEARD.
Soon the Findings of the Committee
of Investigation Will Be Made
Public.

NEW YORK, N. Y, Dec. 30.-The
special committee which is sitting as a
court of inquiry on the charges made by
Lord Dunraven against the people in
charge of the Defender held an all-day
session at the New York Yacht Club house
to-day and adjourned at 6 o'clock tonight
without completing their work. Nearly
all the testimony is in, however, and it is
expected that the investigation will be
closed after short session to- morrow.
The hearing to-day was behind closed
doors, but it was learned that the exami-
nation of witnesses for the defense took up
all the time of the committee. Their
testimony was of the cumulative order and
it is safe to say that the charges of fraud
made by Lord Dunraven are completely
refuted. Owing to the rule of secrecy
which the club has made, the actual state
ments of the witnesses before the COM
mittee cannot be given, but the report of
the committee which will be made at an
early day after the close of the investiga-
ton will, it is said, summarize the evil
dence and give the finding of the tribunal.
The members of the committee, the
counsel and the witnesses arrived within
few minutes of 10 o'clock this morning.
Captain Mahan, E. J. Phelps, William G.
Whitney and George L. Rives had begun
proceedings when the fifth member of the
committee, Pierpont Morgan, drove up.
George R. Askwith was on hand to look
ont for Lord DunraveI's interests, and
Joseph II. Choate took care of the defense.
A. Cass Garfield, Archibald Rogers.
Latham A. Fish and J. Fl. Busk, of the
America cup committee, were present
during portion Of the morning session.
Nicholson Kane, chairman of the regatta
committee, dropped in after recess. c.
Oliver Iselin, the manager director OF the
Defender syndicate, was present all day.
Ten memb bers of the Defenders crew and
the captains of tugboats and OF the hattie
Palmer sat in the smoking-room of the
club, and were called in before the COM
mittee one by one.
The morning session began at 10 10 and
lasted until 1 o'clock. when adjournment
for lunch was taken. Mr.. Whitney said
that he thought that it would be impossi-
bic to finish the examination of witnesses
to-day.
The witnesses examined to-day gave
evidence corroboratirg the testimony of
Iselin, Herreshoff and Half which was
taken last week Official Measarer Hyslop
told about the first measurements on Sep
tember 6, the day before the first race. ane
of the remeasuremenrs on September 8.
He also told how closely the two measure
ments of the Defender agreed, and said
that, in his opinion, it was absolutely I'M
possible to make such a change in ballast
as was charged without discovery by him
self and score of others who were about
the two yachts.
Captain Taylor, who was in charge of
the Hattie Palmer, was an important wit
ness. Lord Dunraven charged, it will be
emembered, that the additional ballast
was taken from the Hattie Palmer and
placed in the hold of the Defender on the
night of September 6, while the yacht and
her tender lay at anchor in the Horseshoe,
and that the lead was removed ON the fol-
lowing night off Bay Ridge.
Captain Taylor fatty denied every one
of Dunraven's charges. He said that no
lead was taken from his boat to the De-
fender on the night of the 9th; that he dio
not at any time have quantity of lead
aboard sufficient to sink the Defender four
inches deeper in the water; that no lead
was removed from the Defender to the
Hattie Palmer on the night of the first
race, and that his boat did not lay along
side the Defender off Bay Ridge that night
at all.
Captain Turry, who assisted Captain
Half in sailing the Defender, told substan-
tally the same story of denial of the
charges. Mates Berry and Conant, Quar-
termasters Staples and Barbour, Riggers
Byno, Billman, O'Neill and Francis and
IL the members of the crew who were
brought on from Deer Island, Maine, gave
substantially the same testimony.
After adjournment the only informa-
ton the members of the committee would
give out was that the hearing had ad-
journed until 10 A. NJ. tomorrow and that
the evidence is nearly all in.