WRECK OF THE SCHIEHALLION," FROM AUCKLAND TO LONDON.

Auckland Star, Volume X, Issue 2771, 13 March 1879, Page 2

WRECK OF THE SCHIEHALLION," FROM AUCKLAND TO LONDON.

HEARTRENDING SCENES.

We arc indebted to the kindness of Messrs Cruickahank and Co., agents for the Soliiolmllion, for the following account of the wreck :— "The wreck of the barque Schiohailion at Blackgang, a, spectator describes to us the most exciting scene tlie Isle of Wight coasts have witnessed since the loss of the Clarendon in 1836". She was a fine iron whip, classed Al at Lloyd's, of between COO and 700 tons register, belonging to the Charles Savil Line, Captain Lcvusk, coni' mander, and was on her voyage from Auckland to J.ondon, laden with a valuable Ciir;ro of kauri gmn, cotton, cotton seeds, &c." -She had on board 29 aouls, all told, of 1 .vhom 13 were passengers—Mrs Storey and five children, Mr and Mrs Chapman and two children, Mrs Smith, and Mr Taylor. She was 113 days out, and on Saturday night made Usliant light. She then went on the starboard tack, and, running before a ten-knot breeze, came ashore in thick weather, with all sails set, at the foot of Bluckgaug Chine shortly before (5 a.m. There was a heavy ground sea running at the time, which lifted and bumped her on the shingle, but biaiiw a strong vessel, she did not begin to gojpieces for an hour or more After trying, by shouts and other means, to attract attention, David Moore, the cook, a courageous man and bold swimmer, jumped overboard with the lead line and made for the shore. He nearly lost his life, but he ■ struggled hard, and at last by a supreme effort, and favoured by an advancing wave, lie reached (he strand. Daniel Butchers, of Southlands, who had seen the wreck j from the cliff, rushed to the shore about the same [time, 7.30 a.in., and was j greeted with a tremendous cheer from the vessel. For a moment he was uauiauned as he saw the outstsetched arms, and I thought how little he could do, and could make out women and children aboard. He, ! however, quickly recovered his presence of mind, and at once sent George Butchers, who had followed him closely, to warn the Coastguard for the rocket apparatus, which iH kept away sadly too far out of reach. He then shouted to those on deck to biud their ■ end of the load-line to a hawser, which they] did, and he hauled it ashore, and ■ made it fast to a rock. He then went as i far as he could into the surf, and clutched, when they came within reach, those who dared nrnke their way, haud'Over-hand, | along it through the breakers ; and many ! die dare for dear life. Harley Storey, I Mrs Storey's eldest child, a brave little ! fellow of scarcely twelve years, passed from I the ship to the beach in this manner without the slightest assistance from thosn on j shore, whose whole attention was coneen- . trated upon a sailor they were rescuing, j and who Harley Storey had to reach over j and pass on the rope. Mrs Smith came along the rope in the same way, but was j nearly drowned. The steward's was a won- j derfu'l escape ; he left hisholdof the hawser, , was washed under the stern of the ship, j and wns cast ashore by a big wave. Mr I Beetson, the second olHcer, a great favour- j iie on board, who had been already exhausted by his efforts to save the women ! and children,and by loss of blood, his thumb ! having been crushed off, wasstuuned against I the side of the ship as he mede for land | and was carried out to sea. Butchers was j soon joined by Maurice Brown, and then by I Herbert Low, who were followed by the j Wheelcre, the Chivcrtons, Morris linyncr, ami many others whoso names are associated with the southern coant of the Island. Mrs Wheeler and hoi daughters. Mrs Brown, Mrs L'iitionce Brown, and others of the woiiiGii of Chale find Blackening were there. Mr Dabell and his sons gave great assistance, and Lord Mayo and Or Groves, of Sealnuds, were able to reader valaabio service botli on the shore and subsequently. After most of the crew had been saved, Mr Pengolly and the Coastguardsmcn arrived with the rocket gear, and tho children were got oil', lashed to ouc another, or to the backs of sailor.".

Before this the wreck Lad begun to break up, and the mainmast had pone overboard, as the other masts subsequently did, to seaward. Hud they falleu towards the land many of those clinging to the port bulwarks would have been killed. The fcichiehallion • Jay broadside the shord, and was canted i seaward, her stardboard bulwarks, most of which had gone, being low to the water, the port bulwarks, to which those on board clung, being high out of water. To the after-rail on the port—that is to say on the laud side—were clinging, near together, the last three remaining to be saved. The i one farthest forward was a woman, Mrs Storey, who had refused to leave the ship before her children \ were safe. She was clad only in a linen night-dress, and as the sea b.oke over her there seemed not a chance for her—her companions, old men, being too exhausted aud benumbed even to fasten the life-line round her waist. There was a loud report, like that of an explosion, and the poop split and went overboard. This was followed by a scries of reports, resembling those of the discharge of pistols, as the iron plates of the hull parted from one another, and then the ship parted in two timid-ships, and the fore and mizen masts went by the board. At this moment the wreck was lifted bodily up aud heeled further to starboard, as it it were about to.turu over, and was sucked down apparently into the sea, For a few seconds it seemed as if all were over with the eugulphed persons, but a great sea running to the shore lifted tho vessel back, and/to the great relief of all, three figures were seen to be still holiiug fast to the rail. Many of the spectators would have willingly risked their own lives to save the brave mother of those little oues, but too help could reach her from the shore until she was made fast to the life line. Terrible though it was, the scene was grand and impressive in the extreme. In the background, the dark rugged cliffs towered upward into the midst. 'vn the shiugle were kindly groups giving sympathy aiid administering restoratives to the rescued, and petting the little children. Iv the foreground, amid the white surf and the great angry billows, which seemed as if protesting that they were robbed of their prey, stood the men at the life-line, whose lusty almost beseeching shouts, " Make fast the womau, make fast the woman," wero heard above the roar of the rushing waters and the howling of the storm. Then, as .the wreck heeled, and (hey disappeared beneath the waves, the awful stillness, the blanched cheeks, and the straining c.yes; and, a3 the blade hull was heaved above the sea onco more, and three forms were slAll seen clinging to it, the long drawn sigh of relief, and the suppressed " Thank God," and the trickling tear, are as impossible to forget as to describe. Mrs Storey probably owes her life, as her companions do theirs, to jher rousing them from their lathargy, as nt length she urged them to make her fast to the rope. Sho hifd remained below in the cabin until washed aud battered about, and almost drowned by the water which filled if-. At length the second mate and tlio captain rescued her, and dragged her up the sloping, slippery deck uutil she could grasp the port rail. As soon as she was at last fastened, she threw herself into the sea and was pulled under the waves as only men wrought to the highest pitch of excitement can pull. But the line became jammed, and although the earnest pullers had clutched her, she was still under water. A shout went up, "Out; the line," but for a moment no knife was at Laud, and nieu tore at the rope with their teeth, scarcely knowing what .they did. The line having boon cut, sho was lifted from the breakers and laid on the pebbles, and the men took oil" their jackets aud wrapped them about what appeared to be a lifeless form. After a fewmimites the heart could be felt feebly pulsating, and two minutes later the artery at the wrist was throbbing. As soon as reaction had fairly set in, she was carried up the cliff and placed under Mrs Butcher's tender care at Southlands. The old man was next rescued, and last of all the captain came ashore in the life-buoy cradle—the only one so saved. He, too, was pulseless, and was delirious for some time after reaction had set in. "When it was safe to inovo him, he was taken by Mr Pougclly, the coastguard officer, to the station, and there, thanks to the devotion atid good nursing of Mr and Mrs Pengelly, he soon rallied.' The steward, whose was the worst case, and who seemed for several hours to be dyiug, was taken to the hotel, and no him Mr. and Mrs. Dabell, jun., devoted themselves with tup greatest self-abuegation; although they had two children alarmingly ill at the "time. Home of the children were taken to Sealauds, where the crew were refreshed and comforted with breakfast and tobacco. Two of the passengers' and others of tho children were taken by Mrs Wheeler to her own aud her son's cottages ou tho cliv", and

there they tended them as the Wheelers' hare tended so many shipwrecked through many years. Mr and Mrs Reid received Mr aud Mrs Chapman, and prepared soup. The KeviMr Theobald, the rector of Chale1, visited the rescued as soon as ho hoard of the calamity, and ministered to their wante, Mrs and Miss Livesay, of Sandrock Spiing, -were most kind in providing large bundles of women's and children's clothing, iot some of which they sent to Ventuor. Indeed, the whole population, seemed only too disappointed that there was not more ta be done and greater sacrifices to be made.

On Wednesday morning, the bodies of Mr Beetson, the second mate, and Willie Butt were found at ftocken End. The story of "Willie Butt, aged fourteen, is a very sad one. The only child of a shipowner, himself an old sea captain, living near Auckland, he was allowed, most unwillingly by his parents, to make a sea voyage to England, they hoping it might Bickc!i him of the sea. He was holding on by the bulwarks next to the Storey boys, who had beCn his playmates, when one of the men sent him to fetch some money from a chest. The poor boy was washed overboard on the starboard side, and although he struck out boldly, he soon disappeared.

An inquest ou both bodiefl was held yesterday (Friday) Dr E. F. L'lsske, deputycoroner for the Island.