Captain KENDALL
recalled.
2739. Captain Kendall, were you on the bridge all the way from Father Point up to Quebec while the Empress was finishing her westbound voyage?
- Yes, most of the time.
2740. Do you remember passing a two-masted schooner which was apparently light and was bound down the river while you were coming up, about at the Traverse, below Quebec?
- Yes, I do, many. Not one, many schooners. Not one.
2741. Well, were there many schooners right at the Traverse?
- Yes, I should say anything between six and ten.
2742. Do you remember clearing one by less than ten feet?
- No.
2743. Do you remember at any place, above or below the Traverse, clearing one sailing vessel by about ten feet?
- No, but in the Traverse it is very narrow, and you always pass vessels very close to. It is impossible to do otherwise.
2744. Do you remember that your steamer at that point took a sheer in the neighbourhood of two points, and that the wheel was put hard over, and she just did come over in time to avoid hitting something?
- No, never.
2745. Have you ever known of an occasion when your steamer has steered badly to the extent of the wheel having to be put hard over to counteract an ordinary sheer?
- No, never.
2746. Well, is it your testimony that as a matter of fact it never has occurred that the Empress sheers badly?
- No, never.
2747. It is not possible then that while you were bound down the river, and another man up, that your steamer could sheer so that she first shut out the port light and showed the starboard and then swung back and shut out the starboard and showed the port?
- Not through any mechanism of the ship.
2748. Well, would your boat under any condition which would be found in the river, about three hours before you reached Father Point, sheer to that extent so as to shut one light out and then the other of the vessel coming up the river?
- No.
2749. Now, Captain, were you on the bridge continuously for the four or five hours preceding your arrival at Father Point?
- I was on the bridge practically all the time from Quebec.
2750. I want to know whether you were on the bridge absolutely all the time during the five hours preceding your arrival at Father Point?
- Yes, except to go into my room for a cup of coffee.
2751. That would not be long enough for a vessel to pass?
- Five minutes.
2752. When you went in to get your cup of coffee, was there any steamer close at hand?
- That I can’t say.
2753. You wouldn’t leave your bridge with a vessel within half a mile of you?
- No, it was a clear night and we could see a long way.
2754. Do you remember when you got your cup of coffee?
- No, I do not.
2755. You have no recollection of passing the steamship Alden, a freight boat, a collier, called the Alden, between nine and ten o’clock on the night of the accident?
- No, we pass vessels at night but it is impossible to get their names - not impossible, but they don’t Morse much, the majority don’t Morse, especially the colliers.
2756. On your way in, after you had left Father Point on the termination of your westbound voyage, did you receive any report about or know that there was any trouble with your steering gear?
- None whatever.
2757. On the way down on the night in question between ten and twelve o’clock, were you then to the best of your recollection on the bridge?
- Yes, on the bridge.
2758. Did you receive no information from the officer on watch that your steering gear had stopped working?
- No, none whatever.
2759. Who were the officers on watch between 10 and 12 o’clock that night?
- The officers on watch between ten and twelve were Mr. Williams and Mr. Tunstall.
2760. Are they here?
- No, they are drowned.
2761. Both of them have been lost?
- Yes.
Mr. Aspinall:
My Lord, may I ask a question?
Lord Mersey:
Do you want to ask any questions about this, Mr. Aspinall?
Mr. Aspinall:
Well, if your Lordship attaches any importance to it I would like to ask some questions.
Lord Mersey:
At present I do not attach any importance at all to it. Of course I don’t know what importance may attach to it until I hear this man Galway. However, it is for Mr. Haight to consider whether this other inquiry is to be continued. You may later on ask any questions you may desire.