THE KAPUNDA DISASTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 70, 24 March 1887, Page 3

THE KAPUNDA DISASTER.

[Froji Ouh London Correspondent.]

London, February 4th. ¥oU will have heard by the cable of the foundering on tho high seas of the ill-fated Kapunda, andtheconsequeut losaof some3oo lives, whilo on her voyage to Western Australia. The ''Central News" says:—"All tho emigrants were eteerage passengers, mostly of the poorer classes, including a number «f Scotch and Irish peasants. The greater number of these embarked at Plymouth on December 18th, or previous to that date. Some remarkable escapeß of would be passengors in the ill • fated vessel aie recorded. One of the steerage passengers who had booked a place Had the ill-luck to break his arm on tho day before she sailed, and consequently lost his passage, probably thus saving hia life. Another passenger, a motherof several children, wsb prevented from sailing in the Kapunda. On the other hand, a poor woman who had intended to sail in another vessel of the same firm a month previously, was unexpectedly confined on the day before that of sailing. She consequently missed the steamer, and when she recovered sho was able to eail in the Kapunda."

SHOCKING

NATURE OF TllE

CALAMITY,

" Our columns," soys the " Daily News,' in a Byinpathetio leader on the catastrophe, "contain names of passengers and survivors, but sometbiDg more is wanted to enable us to realise the peculiar nature of the calamity. Western Australia, for which the Kapunda was bound, is, aa we lately showed, one of the two ' emigration fields' which alone grant tree passages to emigrants. The other is Queensland. All the rest of the ten countries coming under thia tieadingred.uire some contribution to the cost oi the passage from the p^aaebn^or, The free paesages to Western Australia are granted only to Bervaut girls, and to these in a limited number. Queensland is more liberal, and adds a few agricultural labourers to the list, An exceptionally large number of womeii, therefore; was, in all probability, on board the Kttpunda. There were many women on board the Northfleet. Their screams ' were heard for miles 'as the gallant Spaniard soiled away, and it may be not too uncharitably hoped that they pirsue him yet, If he still keeps the seas. With the women on the Kapundd there was; in all likelihood, a fair representative selection of farmors, agriculturists, millers, wheelwright?, and others who may be useful in country districts All ablebodied peraona of th;s clasa are ' helped' by Western Australia, on their proving the posßossicn of a little capital which may enable them to help themselves when they land. To become entitled to holp from the colony they have to deposit a hundred pounds, with twonty-five moro for oach child under twelve. If any such men were on board the Kapunda, wo have lost some of (no very flower of our rut'/il population. While the colony dooß this for the little masters In farming and tho liko, »ho Woßtern Australia Land Company assists farm labourers, bricklayerf, ami qunrrymeu, preferring married couples and families, and taking thorn to a number, limited to n thousand per annum, at loss than half the usual fare. The Kapunda could hardly fail to have carried many emigrants of this description, men, women, and children, most carefully selected for aptitude in handicrafts, for health and strength.

'• Everything therefore points to the melancholy conclusion that the emigrant sent uut, in this ship were among the best that the three kingdoms could muster. Western Australia offers to the emigrant exceptional facilities of every kind, and she has the right to pick and choose. She helps him, not only on bia departure, but on his arrival. In Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, the Cape, and Natal now comers shift for themselves; in Western Australia they go to a Government depot straight from the vessel's side. As a rule, they find immediate employment. Of a consignment of 132 that arrived lost September, all but three were snapped up at once. Such considerations cannot but tend to embitter our regret for this almost unparalleled calamity. To have gone out with such prospects to euch a doom 1 It is some conßolation that one cause of bitterness, not to say of remorse, is wanting. The Kapunda appears to have been exceptionally well equipped. The crew was one over the full number, she bad an ex perienced master, and she was not now to the service in which she was engaged. Only tho details yet to come can show the sufficiency of hec provision in boats, and the opportunity she had of using as many as were at hand. Later reports, too, will show how the blame is to be apportioned. Wo know little more at present than that two vessels came into collision ; the precise mode of the accident is yet to be revealed. The most shocking part of the story, as it Rtands, iH that which relates to the fate of the women. Of all the women this vessel carried, surely more than one ought to bavo survived to tell the tale of her loss. So poor a count is almost enough to make the survivors of the other sex wish they had shared the fata of the helpless beings they somehow failed to save."

Dr. Doyle Granvillo (well - known' all through Australia) wrote an interesting letter to the " Daily News " speculating on the causes of the catastrophe.