Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: I was not discharged from the Underwriters’ Association, but left their employment because I had finished my agreement with them. I am now in business for myself. I am a surveyor of shipping, and also teach navigation. I have the same authority to survey ships as any other surveyor. I have not got up this case. I made the model exhibited, and McKenzie the shipwright finished it. I have spoken to Captain Mathieson on several occasions. He did not carry a pilot on board. He was an exempt master and a skilful sailor. From Melbourne to Bairnsdale and back, would be about 530 miles, and the Alert would need about fifty tons of coal to do the round. She would burn twenty tons in twenty-four hours, and at the time she foundered, she would have burnt a good deal of her supply of coal. A ton of water is about three feet by two feet in size. There would be a ton and three quarters in a 400 gallon tank. If both the alleyways were filled, they would hold about fifty tons of water, and the ship would go under. At the time the Alert was built, the bunker tops on a good many vessels were fitted in the same way as hers; but they are not allowed to be fitted in such a way now. I surveyed the Alert. I did not pass her for insurance. She was refused by the Underwriters. I will swear the Secretary informed me that she was not to be insured until she was passed. She was not passed by me. Glass ports are just as efficient to keep out the sea as an iron casing, because they are properly secured inside. A window like the Alert’s could be made perfectly secure, but in her case it was not. When I surveyed the ship I did not complain of the window. I would not object to it because the ship was only trading to Geelong. I know the S. S. Excelsior. She is not fit to go to sea. I would not pass her.

Henry William Byrant, examined by Mr. Smyth: I am a duly qualified medical practitioner residing at Williamstown. I knew John Kennedy Kilpatrick for four years. He never ailed in any way. I examined him once or twice, and found him perfectly sound and a very strong man. I would not make any statement as to how long he might have lived, but he would live as long as any healthy man might live. His age was twenty-eight to thirty.

KILPATRICK v. HUDDART, PARKER & CO., LTD

Third Day, February 13, 1895.

Evidence for the Plaintiff.—(Continued.)

William Matthews, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a ship and boat builder. I have had about thirty-seven years’ experience. I knew the Alert and travelled in her to Geelong a few times, but not outside the Heads. I see the model on the table. I think the Alert was finer aft than the model. Otherwise it fairly represents her. I think she had about two feet freeboard aft, and about eight or ten feet or more out of the water foreward. I know the weight of the engines which were in the aft part of the ship. I knew her hull very well. Having regard to her length, breadth, and depth, I do not think any sane man would send a ship like that outside the Heads. I have been in the Alert in the Bay, with a south-east wind, and she was nearly going down then. It was not a very heavy wind, but there was a nasty sea, and she nearly drowned the lot of us. The water came in aft over the lower part. There is no doubt that the gratings over the engine room and stoke-hole should be secured. I would fasten them with tarpaulins, iron cleats, and wedges. I think a glass and wooden frame in the bulk-head of the saloon of a vessel like the Alert would be easily smashed. The glass would be a mere bagatelle against the water. It should not have been where it was in the front of the poop on a sea-going vessel like this one at any rate. I know the bunker holes. The covers should be screwed down and fastened below by a bar. They would not be secure by simply being fastened down by their own weight in a boat like that, rolling about as she did. I think if the vessel had had more cargo than the forty-four tons placed in her main hold, she would have been even worse than she was. That cargo was not right to go outside the Heads with, as the vessel, considering her length, was not fit to carry it. If the cargo had been stowed in the forehatch it would have put her more on even keel. It was a great mistake to place that wooden awning on the boat. If a gale of wind were blowing, the wind would get under the awning, and if the vessel were lying over, it would help her to go over further without doubt. It would keep her down when she was down. If the Alert had had another mast and sail on it, her head could have been brought up to the wind and sea. At all events it would help in doing that.

Cross-examined by Mr. Purves: I carry on business at Williamstown. I have built small vessels larger than the Alert, but never built a full rigged ship. It was some years ago that I was nearly drowned in the Alert. It was on the way to Geelong, when we were just the other side of Point Cook. The sea came in one side and out the other. I cannot say the decks were full, but the after part of the boat was flooded particularly. I was not frightened, as I am used to that sort of thing. Of course if I had been washed overboard, I might have lost my life, but I did not think there was any great danger so long as I had something to hold on by. The water came over both aft and amidships. It came over the port side from the mast to the poop, heavy seas, quite enough to wash you overboard. The fires were not put out, but some water went down the bunker holes. One of the bunker lids I saw off myself. I don’t know how it came off. The sea did not go on the poop. At the time I speak of, the Alert had about eighteen inches freeboard. By freeboard I mean the distance from the water up to the level of the deck. It has nothing to do with the bulwarks. I still think that forty-four tons of cargo was too much for that vessel to go to sea with. Of course if it had been placed further foreward, it would have been better.