The San Francisco call., 1910-11-26
Beavers HEADWAY
IS MOOT QUESTION
Investigation of SeIia Wreck
Seems TO Hinge Upon the
Answer
Charges Against the Captain of
Coast Liner May Be
Result

Whether the cruiser Beaver had any
considerable headway when 1t rammed
the Norwegian freighter Selja in a
dense fog of Point Reyes last Tuesday
afternoon. sinking the latter in 80
fsthoms Of water with the loss OF two
Chinese members OF the crew. was the
one big question developed yesterday
AZ the hearing before inspectors of
Hulls and Boilers O. F. Boues and John
X Bulger
Captain Olaf Lie If the Selja testi-
fed that he believed the Beaver was
making 10 knots at the time OF the
collision and he recalled having seen
The Beaver shed foam from her bow.
Captain William Kidston Of the Bea-
yer. who admitted that he was tempo
rsrily absent from the bridge of his
ship when the collision first became i'm
rainent held that his ship was not
making headway when the collision
occurred.
The evidence so far adduced. how
ever. shows that the Beavers nose
pierced the side OF the Selja and
crashed through the cargo and the
buI<head between holds l and . TO a
tempts To explain this by saying that
the force Of the swell drove the PROV
Of the Beaver through the side Of the
Seljs- More testimony on this point
probably will be brought out when the
hearing is resumed next Monday at 10
o'clock.
BEAVERS CREW ABSENT
Further investigation was not pos
sihle yesterday because the crew of the
Beaver departed before they were
wanted and Attorney E. B. McClana
han, representing the captain of the
Selja, refused to call any more mem
bers Of the crew Of that ship He eX-
planned that his clients were present
by courtesy and the Captain Lie and
Third Oficer Arvid Bjorn had given all
the facts in their testimony. He voiced
his objections when a demand was
made that the chief engineer of the
Selja go on the witness stand.
Both vessels were operated by sub
Sidiary companies of the Pacific Mail,
Tie Beaver by the san Francisco and
Portland steamship company and the
Selja by the Portland and Asiatie COM
pany- Inasmuch as the Seljs is a ship
of Norwegian registry and only under
lease 10 the operating company, the
ofhcers and members of the crew of the
ship are not answerable here. Their
testimony. therefore, was given merely
by courtesy.
William Denman and Charles Page
appeared as the attorneys for the COM
pany operating the Beaver. Their eli
ent is Under the Jurisdiction of the
local authorities and if the testimony
Of the present hearing brings out suf-
fcient damaging evidence charges may
be preferred against Captain Kidston.
CAPTAIN KIDSTON TEsTIFIEs
The hearing yesterday opened with
the reading OF the sworn statement of
Captain KidstOn and a. copy of the log
OF the Selja, submitted by Captain Lie
The first witness was kidston. who tes-
tihed that he was on the bridge with
his second officer the afternoon of the
collision When he heard the second
whistle Of the Selja he gave the signal
10 back and said he believed his ship
had checked its headway when the
crash occurred. He attributed the dam
age 10 the Selja TO the force of the
swell From the tremble Of his ship
he knew that all the power was being
used in an effort to stop the headway
and gather sternwsy. He admitted that
he had been running a about II knots
before giving the order TO reverse. He
said he acted on the signals of the
Seija and reversed is or 20 seconds
before he could see the doomed ship.
MS AuE showed InaL one minute han
elapsed from the time the signal to
reverse was given untiI the collision
occurred.
Captain Lie was a convincing wit
ness. despite his name, and gave
clear account of the happenings as his
boat was feeling its way toward this
port. After he had been followed on
the stand by his third Office, Bjorn, the
case went over until Monday.