MISSING RIPPLE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10179, 9 August 1924, Page 6

MISSING RIPPLE

GRAVE FEARS FELT. BARE HOPE OF SAFETY. SEARCH PARTIES ORGANISED. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, August S. In connection with the missing steamer Ripple, though the worst is feared through the finding of a body and a boat near Flat Point, which is 40 or -50 miles up the coast from Cape Fall is or, there is yet a bare hope that die steamer may be running before the gale, which probably now has abated at sea. It is suggested that the derelict boat and man's body may mark an attempt to communicate with the shore which met with disaster. The police are now organising a Search of the coastline for any other signs of boats or men.

OFFICERS AMO CREW. The Ripple carried the following complement when she left "\V ellington: Captain, J. A. Norling, who is in command of the vessel, residence m Wellington. . Chief officer, S. Nicholson, single, Wellington. Second officer, J). M. Alhster, married, residence in Napier. He only recently' signed on the Ripple as relieving officer. Chief engineer, J. B. Neilson, married, residence, Johnsonvilie. Ho joined the vessel a month ago in place of Mr J. Glover. /Second engineer, W. J. Meban, married, residence, 16 Murphy Street, W ellington. The following are the members ot the crow:—Seamen: Bernard Gustafson, single, Napier; Olaf Dybdal, married, Napier; Perciyal La.vey, single, ■Wellington; Bernard Johansen, single, Wellington; Robert Williamson, married Wellington; Neils Thomasen, married, Wellington. Firemen: John diaries Ofbor, married, Wellington; Robert Nelson, single, 'Wellington; John J "Way, married, Wellington. Ship’s cook, W. G. Squire, who shipped at Wellington just before the Ripple sailed. John Ofbor, one of the firemen, is a married man, about 45 years of age, with no children. He was well known on the West Coast, where be was a miner for many years, and latterly took to seafaring. A statement was published that Mr Barton, junior, of Trentham, was _ a oaGsenger. This, however, was in-

correct. He went to Napier on a previous trip and intended returning in the Ripple when she came back this time.

TWO PASSENGERS. WELLINGTON, August 8. The Ripple- carried two passengers from Wellington, Messrs Taylor and P. Leu da n. Mr Taylor was employed as an accountant by A. I). Riley and Go., engineering importers, Wellington. He was married, but no detads as to his family are available at present. Little is known here of Lendnn. He booked his passage by the Ripple for Napier The sb p carried a full cargo, the largest cargo carried by , the vessel for”months. The total freight was ■‘nC; fens for Napier and Gisborne, a portion being transhipments by the Port Curtis, Tahiti and Mooraki. Beyond the facts that a man’s body' lias boon washed ashore and that the beaches were being searched, Captain Petersen, representative of the owners, had received no further news at the time of wiring. Search steamers report that they have seen nothing.

THE MISSING VESSEL. From Cape Pa Riser to Flat Point the coastline- is low'* with sandy and shingly beaches and rocky points extending at intervals some distance oft shore, rendering the whole stretch danherons for anything navigating close inshore. The first landing is at Kiddiford's station, at Tora, 40 miles from Gape Palliser. Castlepoint, 20 miles further on, offers some shelter, but this would not be of very much value in face of the south-easterly gale which was reported raging along the coast about Flat Point yesterday and last night. As stated yesterday, telephonic communication with Cape i ailiser was lost after the bare announcement of the Ripple’s peril got through. Had this connection been maintained, it is possible the Mararoa could have been advised by wireless of the derelict steamer’s position so long as the latter remained in sight of the lighthouse. The trawler Futurist, which is searching, may, if she picks up the Ripple, tow her to Napier. .As neither vessel carries wireless, nothing will be known till she reaches port unless she can signal some sheep station along the coast. The worst of the storm now seems to have passed. Actually its full.foice was not experienced in the Dominion, the centre being off the coast, and probably it was of a very bad type. The Ruahine may have been included in it, and is not now expected till this evening. The heaviest seas loi many years broke on the shores or Lvall Bay and Island Bay. The barometer now has risen considerably all over the Dominion.

THE MARAROA’S search. Referring to the s.s. Ripple yesterday afternoon on the arrival of The ferrv steamer Mararoa, Captain Sewell, master of the .ferry steamer, stated that on receiving a wireless message at 2.30 o’clock on Thursday morning while on the way north from Lyttelton, he proceeded, under instructions, towards Cape Palliser to look out for the Ripple. The weather conditions were very bad, and it was *o thick that it was impossible to see l&rLf&ed toward. Weni„g--to&p*"sTefl SSU**A A dT the "land the wind was dead southerly, brit at Cape Palliser the wind wa> south-east? which he considered would

drive the vessel towards Flat Point. Flat Point is eight and a-iialf miles south south-east of the Uruti Point. It is a low projection with a sandy tongue extending a short distance off it.

WRECKAGE FOUND. NAPIER, August 8. Advice has been received in Napier that two of the Ripple’s hatches and ten casks of deck cargo have been washed ashore at White Rock, 20 miles south of Flat Point. The Ripple carried 500 tons for Napier, chiefly transhipments from the Port Curtis, from London. 0. Dybdale, mentioned in a Wellington telegram as one of the crew, signed off on the last trip. The company does not at present know of men named Bruce and Thomasen on ! the ship, and it is thought here that Robert Nelson signed on at Wellington for the present trip. Squires is believed to belong to Gisborne. D. Crawford (cook) also was on board, otherwise the Wellington list is confirmed.

LOSS OF ALL HANDS FEARED. THE FLAT POINT DISCOVERY. MASTERTON, August 8. From wreckage picked up on the East Coast with the body of a seaman, it is evident that the Ripple has foundered, and it is unlikely that there are any survivors. A rabbiter at Flat Point station this morning discovered a 20-foot lifeboat, with the' - name “ s.s. Ripple,” on the beach near the landing stage. It was fully provisioned. Loose oars and a mast wore nearby, and the body of a seaman clothed in singlet, shirt, and bine jersey, and wearing a lifebelt. .He was a powerfully-built man of apparently' 55 years, clean shaven, with long red hair and heavy eyebrows*.

Searchers also discovered an airtight compartment and some boxes. The theory' is that the crew took to the lifeboat when the vessel foundered, and drifted or sailed uv> the coast. Owing to thick weather during the last few day's, it has been impossible to see anything from the shore. Late to-night the “Age” received information from White Rock station, about ten miles from Cape Palliser, that ten barrels of tar and pieces of a hatch had been washed ashore on the beach there, which it is feared is evidence that the Ripple has foundered somewhere in that locality. This • afternoon the coast was thoroughly searched for a distance of five miles from the wreckage, but no other bodies were found, though the oars on the beach suggest that the boat- was fully manned when she left the ship. It is possible that another boat still is at sea, though the one which was cast ashore would have held the whole crew.

The police from Tinui, Masterton, Carterton, and Martinborough are taking part with settlers in a search of the coast from Palliser Bay to Aohanga River.