Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-05-10
BOAT'SCREW IS
HELD TO BLAME
FOR z DROWNING
Tragedy Off Lahaina Followed
BY Coroner'S Inquest
and Verdict

The Maui News of last Saturday
gives the following account of the &C.
cident off Lahaina the previous week,
concerning which conflicting reports
reached Honolulu:
Death from drowning due to over
turning of a boat manned by crew
/ of the IL. s. Il. Co, at Lahaina, Maui,
through the carelessness and neglect
of said crew.
Such was the verdict of the coro-
ner's jury in each of the fnquests held
at Lahaina on Thursday morning over
! the bodies of Mrs. Ushi Kuwaye and
Chow Soy. The jury consisted of o.
J. Whitesead, David Espinda, Philip
Espinda, Robert Bodinar, P. y. Kaiwi
and William Keliiheleua.
Sheriff Clement Crowell as coroner
conducted the inQuests
Thrown into a boiling surf at La
haina, when a shore boat of the Inter
Island steamer Kilauea overturned at
g o'clock last Saturday night, seven
passengers struggled for their lives
and two lost in the fight. And while
they thus struggled, against heavy
odds, the strong and able crew of the
boat swan ashore and left to their
fate the men, women and children
committed to their charge. Only Kiku
Iona, the boat-steerer, to whose negli-
gence the accident is ascribed, stayed
by to assist, according to the testi-
many sf.....-..-.
The other members of the crew are:
Umauma, Moses Smith, AHA Moepona
and Lepanu. .........: -, .
1t was the second boat to leave the
Kilauea, which had just arrived from
Honolulu. In it we're Mr.. and Mrs.
John Saffrey and two children and
Miss Keao of olowalu, Japanese and
Chinese, whose names have not been
learned, Kuwaye, husband of the Mrs.
Kuwaye who was drowned, and Chow
Soy, the aged Chinese victim. r.
For some reason Iona, the steers
man, shaped course for the shore fas
to the westward of. the landing place
When close in large wave swung the
boat around, and q second breaker,
even larger, caught the craft broad
side and turned it over. Iona says his
steering oar snapped. 1t drifted away
and has not been found The other
members of the crew did not hear the
oar break, nor had any idea that such
a thing happened. The surf was per-.
haps a little higher than normal, but
not such as to be considered danger.
Gus, had the boat been in the usual
course
That there were only two victims
is the marvel of the accident. Mrs.
Saffrey, although weak from illness,
was able to save her youngest child
as well as herself, while her husband
rescued the other child from beneath
the boat, and placed him upon the
keel of the boat He states also that
he grabbed Chow Soy and stood him
upon his feed, advising him to remain
until help arrived, or to wade ashore
The Chinaman evidently attempted the
latter course and is believed to have
stumbled into hole in the coral and
been overcome by the raging water.
No one seems to have noted the Lit.
tie Japanese woman who was probably
lost sight of beneath the boat Her
husband. who could not swim, chung
to the boat until rescued by the first
boat, which came to the rescue as
quickly as possible.
The drowning of the Japanese wo.
man is particularly pathetic. She had
just arrived from Japan last week, a
picture BRIDE" and had been mar.
ried at the immigration station, Homo
lulu, on April %. She was on her way
to Paauhau, Hawaii, with her hus-
band, and they were stopping at Maui
for brief visit with the brides broth.
er, who lives at Paia
Chow Soy, aged IS years, kamaai-
ma Of Maui, who for some time has
been in Honolulu, was returning to
see his wife, who still lives at Kahu-
lui .~-: =. =. Il
The Inter-Island Company was rep
resented at the inquest by E. w. SUIT |
ton, attorney, and Eugene Murphy APP
peared also in behalf of relatives OF