TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 182, 31 July 1912, Page 5

TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

™ —■ • ■ — - '_' .£ LOST OVERBOARD FROM THE $, ZEALANDIA. MOTHER AND CHILD DROWNED. WAS IT SUICIDE?

A sensational tragedy occurred oa July 22nd during the voyage of the steamer Zealandia between Honolulu and Suva, when Mrs. littic- Opland, a married woman, and her sou, six years of age. who were travelling steerage, wore lost overboard and drowned. No one aboard the vessel appears to have actually seen the victims of the affair fall overboard, and it is therefore somewhat of a mystery as to whether it was a case of double suicide or an accident. On the date of the tragedy, about 1 p.m., the cry of "Man Overboard!" was raised, and immediately the utmost commotion and consternation was caused aboard the vessel. The bugle had just sounded for luncheon, and nearly all the passengers were in the dining saloons at tho time of the occurrence. Simultaneously with, the raising of the alarm there was a hurried stampede to the deck. For a second or two the forms of the woman and the child were seen struggling in the sea. and then the waters closed over them, blotting out every trace of the tragedy, with the exception of a small cap which floated ou the waves. WOMAN'S LAST MOVEMENTS. The woman and the boy, it would seem, were last seen going up the com-panion-way loading to the boat deck. A moment or two later a splash was heard, followed immediately by another and heavier splash. The sea was comparatively smooth at the time, and the vessel was rolling only very slightly. At once the bell was rung from the bridge for the ship to be swung round, and there was a quick response by the engineers to the signal. Afl the two forms swept post the side of the steamer, a couple of lifebuoys were thrown out, but although one of them is stated to have drifted in close proximity to the woman, she does not' appear to have attempted to reach it. The officers and crew ran to man the emergency boat with, commendable alacrity. The chief officer, Mr. Ncal, clambered up the railing on to the boat deck, and was quickly in his placo in the boat giving orders. He had with, him the second officer, another officer, and several seamen, and the boat was | promptly lowered. Quickly as it reached I the water, however, there was no sign lof either the mother or the boy. Only I h smeill cap was recovered sole relic of the grim affair- For a long while the boat cruised about in the vicinity, the steamer meanwhile swinging round in a circle. For over an hour the search was kept up, but was fruitless, and everything that was possible having been done, the Zealandia proceeded once more on her voyage. THE SUICIDE THEORY. Inquiries among the officers and the passengers as to the circumstances surrounding the affair are somewhat conflicting. The officers, generally, seem tc have no doubt whatever that the cast was one of suicide on the part of the mother and the boy. The railings o ■the deck, they state, are so secure thai it would be impossible to get overbear* without deliberately climbing over th rails. In support of this contention i I the fact that the woman and the chil i did not go into lunch -when the othe J third-class passengers did,, and - as the i had been in tlie habit of doing. ! Another, (ind perhaps more charitable ' view is that the child fell overboard am J that the mother flung herself after him jlt is rumoured that the 'boy had mad j a number of attempts to get threyug] i the railings, but had been prevented fron I doing so. I The port at which Mrs. Opland em ! barked was Honolulu. Her Husband wa_ • not aboard, and his whereabouts do nol i not appear to be known , I The woman's luggage, consisting of a ! leather trunk and a. bundle of clothes ion the top of which was the ca;* rescuec i from the sea, were handed over to tht j shipping company on arrival of the Zea; i landia at Auckland this mr-raino.