WILLIAM SAMPSON,
re-called.
By Lord Mersey:
2801. Mr. Sampson, do you know the state of these bunkers on the night of the accident?
- Yes, my Lord.
2802. Were they full of coal or of cargo?
- Coal, my Lord.
2803. Then, will you tell me, please, was that coal being used?
- No, sir, it was being used in the lower bunkers.
2804. You were not using the coal out of those bunkers that were spoken of a little while ago?
- It may have been falling down; it all falls down from the upper bunkers right to the lower. We work this right throughout the voyage.
2805. You work, of course, from the bottom?
- Yes.
2806. But are the bunkers all separate bunkers one above another?
- Yes.
2807. Well, how does the coal from the upper bunker fall into the lower bunker?
- There are traps right throughout in the deck.
2808. So that is you use the coal from the lower bunkers, and as you use it the coal from the higher bunkers falls in?
- That is so, my Lord.
2809. And that is the way you do fire?
- Always.
2810. And you were using the coal from the lower bunker?
- That is so, my Lord.
2811. Do you know whether the doors of the two bunkers were open?
- No, in the 'tween decks those are always kept shut.
2812. Then did I not understand you to say that the coal was falling or might fall from one bunker to another?
- It falls right throughout, from the ’tween decks, both forward and aft.
2813. And as I understand it there are what you call traps?
- Yes.
2814. Are there doors to these traps?
- No, my Lord.
2815. They are open?
- Always open.
2816. The water-tight doors are the doors which, as I understand it, are some fourteen or fifteen feet above this top sill of the water-tight doors which enclose the engine space?
- That is so, my Lord. They are the doors through the main bulkheads.
2817. Could you tell us, do you know, what amount of coal there was on board the Empress at that time?
Witness:
At the time of the accident, my Lord?
Lord Mersey:
Yes.
- I should think about 2,400 tons.
2818. Well now, can you tell us where the coal was in the ship?
- It was mainly in the lower bunkers. I should say, about 800 to 900 tons in the ‘tween-decks. It was all right across the ship.
2819. But these bunkers you are speaking about were longitudinal bunkers?
- Yes, my Lord, those are on the side of the ship, the permanent bunkers.
2820. How much coal was there in those?
- I should say about 1,800 tons.
2821. That is you mean there would be about 900 tons on each side of the ship?
- Yes, my Lord, about that.
2822. Well, where would the other 600 tons be?
- Across the ship.
2823. In the ’thwartship bunker?
- Yes, there were two there, my Lord.
2824. Can you tell us whether in the ordinary course the water-tight doors leading into the coal bunkers . . . . can you tell us whether in the ordinary course of things these doors would be open or shut?
- Shut, sir.
2825. They would ordinarily be shut?
- Always.