GEORGE MCONIE,
engineer, Empress of Ireland,
Sworn.
Examined by Mr. Haight:
7228. You were one of the junior engineers, McOnie, on the Empress of Ireland?
- Yes, sir.
7229. Were you off watch at the time of the collision?
- Yes, sir.
7230. Where were you?
- In my room.
7231. Had you been asleep?
- No, I was just about to turn in then.
7232. Did you hear signals blown by the Empress before you felt the jar of the collision?
- Yes.
7233. What were the first whistles that you heard blown by her?
- Well, I couldn’t swear to what they were, but I took them for fog signals.
7234. How many times did you hear what you thought was the regular fog whistle?
- Oh, I couldn’t say that.
7235. You are familiar with the regular long blast blown by your steamer when she has headway through a fog?
- Oh, yes.
7236. Did the whistles which you heard sound to you like that kind of signal?
- Well, I wasn’t paying any attention to them at that time, so they might have been other whistles.
7237. I have a copy of the statement which you originally made to Mr. Holden, and according to that statement, page 59 you were asked:
Q. Did you notice any signals blown on your ship?
- I noticed the fog signals, that was all.
Q. How many times did she blow the fog signal, as far as you noticed?
- She seemed to be blowing it two or three times before she went astern. That is what drew my attention to the going astern.
Are these answers correct?
- The vibrations drew my attention to the going astern.
7238. Is it true that you stated to Mr. Holden the facts that I have read, the statement that I have just given you?
- Yes, that I took them for fog signals.
7239. That the first that you noticed was the fog signals, and that they blew two or three times before you felt the vibration of the engines going astern?
- Yes.
7240. That is now your best recollection?
- Yes, that is it.
7241. I will read one other section from your statement, page 60:
Q. You heard fog signals?
- Yes, sir.
Q. What do you mean by fog signals?
- Just the ordinary single blast every minute, or at intervals.
Q. A short blast, or a long blast?
- Long blasts.
Q, You think you heard three before she went astern?
- Before we went astern, yes, sir.
That is the statement you gave, is it not?
- I don’t remember saying how many I heard.
7242. Apart from the number, the whistles that you heard were the regular blasts blown at intervals, indicating that the vessel was under way in a fog?
- That is what I took them to be.
Cross-examined by Mr. Aspinall:
7243. Your recollection is that you heard these long blasts and that you felt the vibration?
- Yes, sir.
7244. And after the time you felt the vibration did you hear anything that you can remember? Did you notice then whether any whistles were blown or not?
- Not -
7245. I want the best of your recollection with regard to whistles?
- The first one I took particular notice of was the two whistles.
7246. So that if there were three short blasts, according to your evidence, you missed those?
- Yes, sir.
7247. Then you heard two blasts?
- Yes.
7248. What information did they convey to you?
- Struck me she must be signalling to somebody that she was stopped.
7249. Have you been sufficiently long at sea to know what that class of whistle means, the two long?
- Yes.
7250. What does it mean, according to the regulations?
- Vessel is stopped.
By Mr. Haight:
7251. The long blasts which you heard were before you felt the vibration going astern?
- I couldn’t swear to that now.
7252. Let me refresh your recollection again:
‘I noticed the fog signals, that was all.
Q. How many times did she blow the fog signal, as far as you noticed?
- She seemed to be blowing it two or three times before she went astern. ‘ That is what drew my attention to the going astern.’
Now, your recollection when you made your statement to Mr. Holden was that the vibration of your reversed engines was after you had heard the long whistles blowing the two or three times. That was your recollection then, was it not?
- Yes, sir.
7253. Nothing has happened since to change your recollection on that point?
- No.
Witness discharged.