MICHEL GAGNON,
Recalled.
By Mr. Newcombe:
5557. Now Captain Gagnon, have you marked the charts?
- I have marked them, sir, but all the points which have been used for bearings are not on this chart. I haven’t got St. Luce church and St. Flavie church is not available
Lord Mersey:
I do not know what this gentleman is whispering in your ear.
Mr. Newcombe:
He is saying that the points from which he took his angles are not shown upon the charts to which he has been asked to transfer the position.
Lord Mersey:
The New York chart is no good to him?
Mr. Newcombe:
He has done the best he can.
Chief Justice McLeod:
We want it right or not at all.
Lord Mersey:
Are you going to suggest, Mr. Haight, or is anybody going to suggest that the steamer Empress did not go down in the water perpendicularly?
Mr. Haight:
My belief is that she went down within a comparatively short distance to the northward of where she was struck.
Lord Mersey:
And that she went straight down; she did not steam ahead while she was under water?
Mr. Haight:
I think not, my Lord.
Lord Mersey:
Then what does it matter?
Mr. Haight:
As I view it, the place of the wreck is approximately the place of the collision.
Lord Mersey:
No doubt it is, and that is what I am saying to you. The ship went down perpendicularly at the point where she foundered.
Mr. Haight:
Yes, my Lord.
Lord Mersey:
If we could ascertain exactly where she is lying now, we should know exactly where she foundered.
Mr. Haight:
I think we should have to go a little distance back, because in my belief she was moving when the collision occurred.
Lord Mersey:
Captain Kendall and Captain Andersen each marked the spot, and the two pretty nearly agree. I was told that the difference was so slight that it was of no consequence in this case.
Mr. Haight:
I think that is an error, my Lord. As I understand Captain Kendall’s diagram, he places the place of collision at least a mile to the northward of the wreck.
Lord Mersey:
Suppose he does; what then? Is it your case that you have placed a spot upon the chart exactly over the place where she is now lying?
Mr. Haight:
I have not compared the two, sir.
Lord Mersey:
It might be that your spot is a mile in another direction.
Mr. Haight:
I think, my Lord, that our courses lead us close to the wreck, and I think that Captain Kendall’s courses lead him a mile beyond the wreck. That, frankly, was why I asked Captain Kendall to mark his chart.
Lord Mersey:
Apparently this gentleman now says that he cannot mark the spot upon the chart which we have hitherto had in the case.
Mr. Haight:
Captain Gagnon has given the bearing and the distance from Father Point, and if he runs a line at the angle which he has taken as the bearing from the buoy and measures the distance, while he cannot get the point to a second, it cannot be more than fifty yards out of the way.
By Mr. Newcombe:
5558. You have the Cock Point buoy marked on this chart?
- Yes.
5559. And you have the position of the buoy marked exactly?
- Yes, sir.
5560. Now, that bears to the northward so many degrees east, I suppose?
- Yes, sir.
5561. Now then, three miles or thereabouts; you can measure it on the side, and do you not arrive at the precise position on this chart by measuring so many miles on the same course?
- If I worked it this way I might.
By Lord Mersey:
5562. Would you like to retire and make another point?
- Yes, sir.
Mr. Haight:
May the witness transfer the location both to our diagram and to Captain Kendalls?
Lord Mersey:
(To witness): You will go away and see if you can come back with an intelligent answer.