Evening star., 1928-11-21

THE EVENING 81
closed the coal ports and half doors be-
| fore the ship sailed, this being the
carpenters responsibility.
Wohl said he caulked the half door
with spun yarn and white lead, to make
it watertight. He said he personally
supervised the closing of the half door.
did that half door leak on previous
yoyages?"
II had not heard that, but chief
officer told me Sunday evening that the
port half door leaked and I went up
and fixed 1t"
How much of leak was it?"
"Not much"
Ibid you try to fix the half door on
the starboard side?"
Eyes. 1 caulked it up Sunday after
dinner"
THAT stop the leak?"
Caulking Washed Out.
''For o little while, but water coming
in washed the caulking out / caulked
it again at o'clock Sunday night"
Because Wohl obviously could not
understand Tuttle's questions. Capt.
Jessup took up the questioning, using
the more technical terms of the sea-
man.
Wohl said he worked on the star
board half door from 7:30 pm. to l
am. Sunday night. He said that he
then had to fix several port holes that
had been broken in by the sea. From
then on he made Soundings in the
ships bilge tanks. reporting TO the
captain every half hour.
AT am. Monday, he said, there
was not more than 2 feet Of water III
any of the ships tanks. He said he
took no later soundings.
Questioned by Jessup. Wohl said he
personally shut the three starboard
coal ports before the ship sailed, work.
ing on staging and caulking them
with spun yarn and white lead.
"They held" he said
"Where do you think the water came
in?" Capt. McConkey asked him.
I'VE couldn't find out" Wohl replied!
Adjournment was then taken until
tomorrow.
j. B.: Dovalle, associated with the
Brazilian consulate in New York and
survivor of the Vestris disaster, teSti-
fled at the Department of Commerce
inquiry today that the portfolio of
his third-claSS cabin had leaked con-
tinuously after the liner ran into bad
weather on Sunday November IL, the
day before she went down with loss
of more than 100 lives.
Dovalle, who said he occupied the
cabin with two other men, declared
that sufficient water had entered his
quarters to require the attention of
steward with a mop. He said the plate
glass window was cracked, although
the leaking occurred around the edge
of the port, which he said was not
properly fitted with a gasket or washer.
Attempting to Find Negligence.
Dovalle was the second witness today
before Supervising Inspector Dickerson
N. Hoover of the steamboat inspection
service of the Department of Commerce.
Hoover is attempting to learn whether
inspectors of the service who examined
and paSSd the VeStriS as SeaWorthy were
guilty of negligence.
Before Dovalle took the stand, James
E. Duffy, ship news reporter for New
York newspaper, testified to his part in
the handling of the story of Frederick
Sorenson, VestriS survivor, who was
first credited by some newspapers as
blaming Capt. William Carey and his
officers of the VeStris for the disaster,
and who later repudiated the accounts
as having been twisted around"
Duffy's newspaper story was read into
the record of the hearing, as was testi-
mony yesterday by John McClain, an
other reporter, who submitted notes
tending to prove SorenSon had been
quoted correctly.
Testimony that the lost steamship
Vestris needed repairs for two years
was given by members of the crew yes
terday afternoon. United States in
Spectors reported that the British liner
was Seaworthy before she left on her
last voyage, yet members of the crew
told Federal Commissioner O'Neill that
various ports through which the sink
ing ship took water had been out of
repair.
The testimony was given by Gilbert
Ford, chief fireman; Isaac James Scott,
a saloon waiter, and Thomas Connor.
head waiter in the first cabin.
Ford testified that the ash ejector
valve in the stokehold shipped water
and always had during rough weather.
He said he tried to tighten the screws
on the valve, but they were rusty and
had been that way throughout his two
years service on the ship. He said he
had never made formal report be-
cause everybody knew about it."
O1AACSIS O4 bLlc NGSJIlS previously I1AQ
testified that water coming in through
this pipe and other places in the coal
bunkers contributed to the laundering
of the vessel.
Tell Of Defective Door.
Scott and Connor told of a half door
on the Starboard side of the vessel
about 10 feet above the water line,
through which the water poured in such
a stream after the ship started to list
on Sunday night, 20 hours before she
sank, that the bailing efforts of several
men could not keep up with it. They
testified that on previous trips when
the weather was rough seas had been
shipped through this door.
Scott said the water which came in
through the door poured down into the
coal bunkers through matches which
were not covered until Monday morn
ing. The water was so deep in their
quarters Sunday night, he said, that
they could not use the lower berths.
He also told Of being assigned to No.
lifeboat, which he testified was loaded
with women and left suspended five feet
above the water. He said it was carried
down with the ship. He himself jumped
overheard and was rescued by another
Meboat.,