At Hexham recently Herbert Charles Elfor, of Hexham, master of the British steamship Mana, was charged on three counts with having failed to keep a continuous Wireless watch on the vessel on voyage from Liverpool to New Zealand to South America, and on the way from Las Palmas to the United Kingdom, contrary to the Board of Trade rules. He pleaded guilty.
It was stated by the Board of Trade, who prosecuted, that this was only the second case taken under the Wireless Act. The complaint against the captain was that when the ship was on the way to Colon at the East end of the Panama Canal wireless watchers were taken from the Marconi room and put on deck duty, the consequence being that for about 16 hours on three days there was no continuous wireless service ow the ship. Similar charges were made in respect of the other two voyages.
The captain, in his defence, said that so long ashe was on the trade ratite and in call of wireless stations he maintained a continuous wireless watch, and it was only when he got away from the trade routes that he put the wireless on to the deck work. He had contravened the regulations, which were so numerous, in ignorance.
A fine, in all, of £30 and £23 10s. costs was imposed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.