A MISSING CUTTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 168, 16 July 1894, Page 4

A MISSING CUTTER.

SUPPOSED TO HAVE FOUNDERED'

WRECKAGE FROM THE PAKU.

FOUND NEAR MANUKAU HEADS

Constable Parkeb, of Waiuku, telegraphed this morning to Inspector Hicksen :— '•Found, oar, with'Paku ' and 'H.B. cub in it, also hatches of a small cutter, and a bib of a boat painted white and blue, upon stony cream. The wreckage was found in the direction of Manukau Heads."

A further telegram was also received from Constable Ryan of Raglan as follows :— " On Saturday night I was informed by the mate of the s.b. Kanieri that a cutter's dingy had heen found on the beach pasb the tanmile gap near Waiuku. Two cutters were seen oil that coast about fcha third instant.

Previous to the receipt ot the above telegrams by the police, grave doubts were felt for the safety of the cutter Paku, which ia now 16 days out) from New Plymouth to Onehunga in ballast, but since the finding of the wreckage, there ia little chance of the cutter or those on board her having escaped. The supposition is that the Paku took in sand as ballast and leaving on the Saturday mob with the full force of the gale which raged on the coasb thab night and during the following day, and which, judging by the wreckage picked up lately, must have also proved fatal to a schooner near New Plymouth. Captain Caven, the matter, was well acquainted with the coast, and it is probable that when the blow catno he continued on his course instead of running for Bhelter. The force of -the gale, the leaning of the cutter, and the roughness of the sea would combine to shift the ballast which, moving, would throw the cutter into such a position thab she would probably founder. The Paku waa a cutter of 33 tons, built in 1878 at Aratapu, and the property of the Kauri Timber Company. Her owners express surprise that no word of the vessel has been received, as she waa in fine trim at the time of the supposed casualty, and was a perfectly 6taunch little vessel. Her dimensions were as follows : Length, 54ft 2in ; breadth, 16ft 3in ; depth, 6ft lin. Captain Caven, the master, is about 22 years old, and during the four months he has been in charge of the cutter, has given the utmost satisfaction to his employers, and seems, also, to be universally popular in Onehunga. He was unmarried, but, witb the help of his brother, who is also in the employ of the same Company, having charge of the scow Rover, which trades on this coast, he supported his mother, who resides in the township. The man who was second in command to Captain Caven was known as D. Carroll, and ia eaid to have been a good seaman. A rumour has obtained "currency to the effect that Carroll left the boab at New Plymouth, but it has nob been verified. The other hand employed on the Paku waa shipped on the lasb trip, when the vessel was loading at the Huia for Waifeara. He was a young man about 20 yeara of age, but his name is unknown.