Mr. Stokes then proceeded to open his case, He appeared, he said, on behalf of the owners of the Peking, the cargo on board her, and the master and crew of the vessel. 'The Peking in consequence of the fog prevailing was lying at anchor on 6th May last somewhere to the southward of Elliot Island, and a little to the westward, She anchored a little before half-past four in the afternoon, an' from that time she was doing all that was required by law with regard to ringing her bell at stated intervals. At about five o'clock x steamship, which proved tobe the Fusinn, was seen. ' She was coming up about " quarter or a third of a mile instant, at about four or five points on the starboard bow of the Peking. The bell of the Peking was kept ringing; the Fushun was loudly shouted to; but she came on at avery considerable rate of speed—his witnesses said at between eight and nine knots an hour—and she struck the Peking on the starboard side ar ght-angle flow which cut into her a distance of five or six feet, Within a very short space of time—just sufficient to enable the officers and crew of the Peking to scramble on to the Pushun—the former sank in about seven or eight minutes after the Fushun first struck her. Those were the facts as presented by the case, and he would proceed to call evidence.
Captain Frederick Schultz, the captain of the Peking, was then culled. He said—Thold British and German masters' certificates. The tonnage of the Peking was 954 net, and 1,476 gross. On the 6th May she had a full cargo of rice and pulse from Wahu to Canton, She was drawing 19ft. aft and I7ft, forward, At about four o'clock the vessel was nearing the Button in Bonham Pass. Tu consequence of the fog I decided to anchor at about half-past four near Elliot Island, a little to the westward.
The wether was f-ggy, sometimes clearing little. When I anchored it was a dense passing in clouds, The wind was about S.E. und according to the scale of force was about 4. The tide was setting to the westward at about 24 miles an hour, The ship was setting about E.S.E. T was on deck, with the Chief Engineer. The Second Officer was on duty, and two quarter-masters were on the watch, one on and the other at the Phe ship's bell was rung at inter than two minutes. That continued very nearly until the Fushi struck us, at about five o'clock. Before the cv three or four short blasts from a whistle.
That was the first I heard of her, We rang the bell, and apparently always got an answer by the same short blast. After a few minutes we heard a long sharp blast. By this time all my officers, (three engineers and two mates) were alongside of me. We were all standing just before the bridge, on the starboard side. When I heard this long blast I said believe he hus heard our bell now!' I took the short blasts to come from a sailing vessel when I first heard them. Then heard the long blast and at the same time saw the bows of a steamer abou a quarter of a mile off, about as far as the Ewo jetty from Pootung Point. The fog when i saw the Fushun had lifted somewhat. Tsaw the water washing over the bows of the Fushun to a considerable height, and I at once recognised her. She has'a straight stem-j bow—a bluff bow. She was very high in the water, and I think she was going at from seven to eight miles an hour. I have seen the log-book of the Fushun, in which stated the vessel was going "half speed The Fushun is a fast boat and half speed would be about nine miles. Her full speed is about twelve.
The Arbitrator.—You say miles, do you mean sad ts Witness—Yes. When I saw the Fushun
helm."
Tealled out to her captain starboard your way to clear the "Peking.
That in my opinion was the only she had done that she would have cleared us easily because the tide was favourable. When first I saw her she was heading at an angle of 75 degrees to our side, calculated between the Peking's stem and: the Fushun's bow. [At this point the witness illustrated his ridence by means of models and rough plan.
Resuming, he said—As the Fushun was nearing she appeared to port, as she struck us nearly at right angles almost at our midships bulkhead. She cut into us about from five to six feet. I saw nothing to indicate that the engines of the Fushun were reversed, She was very light and if the engines are reversed in such a case, the water thrown by the propeller will work ahead and show white, But I noticed nothing of the sort. When I found she had cut into us I saw my ship would sink, 80 T called out to Captain Croad tu go easy a-head. He was on the bridge. Gaptain Croad came forward when I called. All hands were on deck at the time and 1 told them to climb up on to the Fushun. There were fifty on board, and with the exception of the officers and engineers all Chinese. I was the last to leave the Peking and she was then heeling over. I then called out to Captain Croad to back out and as soon as the Fushun backed the Peking sank. After I had been on board about half an hour Captain Croad called me and said 'Come old man and take a drink.' He said '1 am very sorry about you, but [aim more sorry about myself. I know I am to blame,' We were talking about the accident and ho said 'I was rather let into it. Our people always want us to make quick passages, but now they will call this great carelessness.' I said to him 'Why did you not starboard your helm?' and he replied *I thought could clear your bows,' The next day I asked the second mate if he heard the bell, and he said, *I heard something ting-ting' but ho did not know where. We often meet fogs where the collision ocourred and I always anchor then, I have been on this coast for twelve years and it is the custom to anchor.
Mr. Stukes—What sort of bell had you Witness—A good-sized bell which was cast in December last in Hongkong. The old bell was cracked and I had it recast. It was 70 lbs. or 80 Ibs. heavier than the old bell. It was more than 20 inches Tt was hung in the usual place on board ship.
Ky Mr. Drummond—I have been running about 12 years from Hongkong to Shanghai varied by a few trips elsewhere. The length of my ship was 269 feet.. The The bell is placed forward on the lower deck bridge was amidships, a little forward,
over the companion way, about two foet above the forecastle head. The telogranh to the engine room is on the starboard side of the wheel house, Iliad a syren anda whistle; they are quite separate, The wires communicating with these hang down one on one side and the other on the other side of the wheel house. At the spot where I anchored the navigation becomes more difficult. Up to that spot it was open and easy navigation in clear weather, Up to half an hour before I anchored the weather had been quite clear. It did not lift again sufficient for me to see land, although it now and then became somewhat clearer. When I anchored I certainly intended to go on again when it cleared up sufficiently. It did not do so, however, and I did not think of starting. Everything was in readiness to start, but I always used to ive the Engineer half-an-hour's notice. The fires were banked. There was one quartermaster on duty on the bridge and no one else. He is a Chinaman. The quartermasters are Chinese and. they readily understood " pidgin" English. The floor of the bridge is about feet above the main deck. Ihere la a Indder on each side of the bridge from the deck. could get from the deck to the bridge in about ven seconds, Inever use the: syren in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.