The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-02-03
CAPT. BERRY IS
TO STAND Trial

confersncs Of the hoard of supsrvisinl
inspectors r. T. Tapley. inspector o
hulls. was ON duty 1t Norfolk. bat ~
coliesGus. =. w. BRAY, Inspector Of bob
era was Ia ct his home There va
therefore. but one oGlcsf pressnt exoeD
that assistance vas had Of T. ,. HanIon
assistant Inspector. Of boilers n Norfolk
Mr.. Cast. he supervising inspection. I
not authorized TO take part In me preiim
mary inquiry, sincs An appeal may b,
made to him from the decision Of tn
local board.
Under these conditions r. =. Tapley
proceeded Ct once. with the assistance Of
Mr.. Hanlon, to make the lawful prelimi-
nary inquiry. Together with . stano-
grapher. they proceeded on tug to mest
the Nantucket before she reached shorS
and took the testimony Of her cncsrs
and crew. and also the testimony Of
Capt. johnson. Of the Monroe. and oi
Andrew J. 6joden. bow lookout Of the
Monroe. fifteen persona m all.
"A careful examination OF the testi.
mony shows that Inspector Tsplsy
brought out the evidence with q great
deal Of intelligence and thoroughnesa.
and 1t tends to show that there was neg
1igence on the part Of Capt. Berry, of
the Nantucket 1t would. however. be
quite improper to pass upon that quss-
uon at this time. further than 10 decide
that there 10 sufficient evidence 10 require
that charges be preferred against Capt.
Berry. and that the question of his limo
cence or guilt be made the subject Of
further investigation
VIII Not Delay Charges.
Tho department therefore. has given
instructions to Inspector Tapley to pre-
FER charges against Capt. Berry. This
VIII be done without delay, and the
board OF local inspectors at Philadelphia
VIII hear all the testimony which may be
produced on both sides and render its
decision. An appeal may be taken from
the decision Of this board to the super
wishing inspector of the Philadelphia dis
trict. and further appeal may be taken
from his decision to the Supervising In
spector General The local board Of in
spectors at Philadelphia has been asked
to conduct this Investigation because
neither vesselCRails from that port, and
because the. local board at Norfolk will
appear az bringing the charges, through
the testimony taken by II as above de-
scribed.
Meanwhile it Is proper to state that
the Secretary. who. together with the
Assistant Secretary. was conducting an
into the lighthouse service
on inc Gay
when the accident occurred, telegraphed
to the supervising inspector general at
washington to make an inquiry that
would be thorough and searching. In
spector Tapley had. however, acted with
promptness prior to the re-
ceipt of this dispatch and the matter now
goes before the Philadelphia board as
above explained. Meanwhile the SUPER
vising inspector general of the Steam
boat Inspection Service, and the Com
missioner Of Navigation of the Bureau of
have been appointed a spe-
cial committee of the Department of
Commerce to make a particular inquiry
into the facts and conditions surrounding
the disaster with a view. to suggesting
such procedure. either on the part Of the
department itself or In the way of legis-
lation. as may be taught by this unfor-
tunate accident"
The nature Of Capt. Berry's negligence
Is not indicated. but II II understood
chiefly to have consisted In his having
been o.. his course whom his boat raxnmed
the Monroe.