Page 2 Advertisements Column 5

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10163, 18 July 1924, Page 2

I The fire that occurred on the Union ' Company's coal hulk Wai-iti, at Lyttelton says the Christcmirch " Sun," marked another event in the vessel's chequered career. About 15 years ago the Wai-iti -was one of the smartest traders in the intercolonial run, but she came to grief in a manner without precedent in New Zealand's maritime history. The Wai-iti was lying at Dargaville wharf in Kaipara Harbour, and the captain, in order to berth at another wharf about a mile farther down the river, decided to cast off and drift on the ton of the ebb tide. The Wai-iti nearly reached her destinI ation, but grounded on a bank. Then, at the tide fell, the vessel gradually toppled over. The Wai-iti finally turned bottom upwards, the masts snapping off as she took the final plunge. The strange mishap was witnessed by hundreds of spectators, who had the unique

experience of seeing a shipwreck on a calm summer's day. It was many months before the hull was turned over, and hundreds of tons of mud were pumped from the holds. Owing to the heavy cost of refitting, it was decided that the Wai-iti should end her days as a coal hulk, and her last voyage, from Kaipara to Lyttelton, waa made at the end of a tow rope.