The San Francisco call., 1898-08-27
THE M'DOWELL'S
 CREW BLAMED Inquest on the Death of
 Mrs. Paxton. TESTIMONY IS CONFLICTING WITNESSES SAY THE LAUNCH CHANGED HER COURSE. This Is Denied by Her Officers and the Jury Censured the Crew
 of the Government
 Boat.
TESTIMONY IS CONFLICTING
WITNESSES SAY THE LAUNCH
 CHANGED HER COURSE.

Coroner w. J. Hawkins held an in-
 quest yesterday on the body of Mrs. Flora
 L. Paxton, who lost her life in the collf-
 sion between the General Mcdowell and
 the Scandal S launch last week. The jury,
 after listening to the evidence, brought
 in a verdict of drowning, due to the care
 lessness of the officers of the General Me Dowel.
 Several witnesses were called, and the testimony throughout was conflicting All
 those who were aboard the launch and
 would acknowledge that they did not lose their heads insisted that she never changed her course, while the officers and crew of the Mcdowell anu eyewitnesses of the collision declared that the launch
 was clear of the Mcdowell, but changed her course.
 | Captain Hart of the Scanda, one of the passengers on the launch, testified as fol- | lows: When we left the wharf we blew | one long whistle, according to regulations,
 and just as we were about clearing the
 head of the wharf We saw the Mcdowell l bearing toward and about 100 yards
 away. We again blew one whistle, signi-- 1 flying that we were entitled to the right of | way, and she answered. We were going | ahead full speed and did our best to get
 out of the way, but the Mcdowell over l took us struck us on the port neim ana l turned us over"
 A. J. Thompson. third officer of the 1 Scandia, who was In charge of the launch
 at the time, gave testimony corroborattng
 that of Captain Hart. He acknowledged, | however, that when the vessels were
 about 30 feet apart he saw that collision was inevitable and put his helm to port. | He does not consider that this threw the | launch out of her course, but thinks that | she might have been thrown out some l by the wash from the larger boat. Don
 aid Hillman, engineer of the launch; John | Daly, fireman, and Quartermaster Sea- | rini all testified that the launch went
 straight on her course without slowing | down.
 The testimony of Mate Grimm, who was
 in charge of the McDowell, put the mat 1 ter in an entirely different light. We | had been over to Angel Island pumping l water" he said, and when We were | about 800 feet from Pacific-street wharf l I heard the launch whistle l answered
 and slowed down, hnd then signaled the | engineer to stop and reverse, as our swing
 was carrying us in too close. The launch | light between her stern and our bow, and she had plenty of time to get out of
 the way. The people aboard her suddenly seemed to get rattled and changed her course, turning in shore. We were car ried up to her and struck her starboard quarter. We could not have struck her starboard side If she was ahead of us accident would not have happened. Mem bers of the crew of the tugboat testified that they did not see the accident, but that they knew the Mcdowell had slowed down, stopped, reversed and lowered a boat.
 John Lindsay, soldier stationed at Al catraz. who stood in the bow of the Mc-
 Dowell at the time of the accident, cor
 roborated Mate Grimm's testimony in
 every particular, as did Peter Brown and H. P Huggard, who witnessed the acci | dent from the end of Pier g.