The Alaska daily empire., 1920-07-15

before Special Commissioner Bruc,
Morburg this morning in direct ex
animation, stated that when he ar
rived at the scene of the wreck al
Vanderbilt Reef on the morning O.
Oct. "a, 1918, the weather was suf
/ liciently moderate to have permit
ted the transfer of passengers from
the Princess Sophia to the Estebeth
or other boats.
| Asked to describe the weather
! he said, lit was what fishermen
call fair dory weather." not rough
| but neither was the sea flat or
calm. It was showing with a Is
mile wind blowing northerly.
Converses With Captain
lie said that he was notified of
| the wreck by Mrs. E. II. Kaser about
2 or 2:30 in the morning of Oct.
"a and after talking with F. F. w.
| Lowle. at that time agent at Juneau
for the Canadian Pacific Railway
Company, he took the Estebeth to
Lynn Canal and the Vanderbilt
Reef. Arriving there, he dropped
the Estebeth down under the stern
If the Princess Sophia, according
| TO his testimony, expecting to take
the passengers off the ship.
Did you have any conversation
with Captain Locker" asked Mr..
Martin. And, if so, what was it,
well" answered Mr.. Davis,
when we dropped down to the boat,
/ Captain Locke. using a megaphone,
asked me If | thought the wind was
| Going down. | replied, Hell no!
He testified further that Captain
Locke repeated his question and
thinking that he could not hear
from that distance, he (Davis) shook
| his head in negation. This conclud-
ed the conversation at the time.
His knowledge of the weather
along Lynn Canal convinced him
that instead of dying down, the
wind was due to increase and that
1 a hard blow from the North was
coming up.
Small Boat Launched
Mr.. Davis stated that after ms
conversation with Captain Locke
he dropped down to buoy about
| 900 wards from the Vanderbilt Reel
threw a headline over it and TIED
m there for a number of hours
After tying' up to the buoy, skill
was lowered off the Estebeth on
the water and Captain Davis alone
entered the boat managing it With
ont assistance. He testified that
he was short of food supplies and
wanted to get some coffee from TIE
Sophia. The boat used, he said, was
IA feet long and 3 Y feet across
the BEAM He was on the water
| sometime and returned to the rs
4 tebetr without making water at all
| which he said would have been I'M
/ possible had the sea been rough
Life boats and RATS, he said, In MS
opinion, could have navigated the
sea at that time without danger te
passengers.
Sophia Boat Lowered
After tying up to the buoy, the
Amy came up an dtied alongside OF
the Estebeth The Peterson was
also near at hand, ready to give as
sistance. About that time, he SAID
boat was lowered over the side
of the Princess Sophia and num-
Der of persons, numbering between
70 and Is, entered it. He was
unable to state whether or not mem
bers of the crew or ii they were
Messengers. Almost Immediately
however, a ladder was lowered from
the ship and those in the boat re-
turned to it.
With the rising of the tide. Cap
tain Davis stated he took the Es'
tebeth from its mooring at the buoy
and approached closer to the So
phia. Greeting him, Captain Locke
according to the witness. said the
stranded ship was resting safe and
sound and did not think it necessary
to take the passengers Off lie asked
Captain Davis to remain nearby sc
he could land the passengers when
the wind died down. The Sophia
declared the witness. at high tide
was apparently floating clear of the
reef as it seemed to respond to the
motion OIL the water anu NlHu. 81
far as he could see, stated Captain
Davis, there was no effort made te
back the Princess Sophia off tho
reef at that time, no motion of the
wheel was noticed When the tide
turned, the wind increased, and 6
strong current from Berner's Bay
set in, producing a sloppy sea.
Could Have Taken Them Off
There would have been no diff
Guilty in taking the passengers of
the ship at any time during the day
of DC. "a, 1918. declared Captain
Davis. At low tide on that day
said the witness, no water was
breaking over the reef. Boats from
the vessel. said Mr.. Davis. coule
have been lowered either on the rec
or in open water into which thu
passengers could have been taker
off. The easiest and most practica
way, in his opinion. would have
been to have lowered them into the
water and transferred those aboard
to the smaller vessels nearby. There
waS no chance of losing any live.