SIX LIVES LOST.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 26, 31 January 1921, Page 5

SIX LIVES LOST.

-—— ■ » . SCHOONER OMAKA WRECKED. CAPSIZED IN A GALE. BRAVE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. | ißy Telegraph. — Press Association.) , WELLINGTON, Sunday. i , While entering Wellington Heads early ' this morning the auxiliary schooner Omaka, trading between this port and Blenheim, capsized, or struck Barrett's reef. It is believed the crew of six were drowned. Their names are: — Captain A. K. H. Purvis, aged thirty- . eight, a resident of Island Bay, Wellington. He leaves a wife and two children. I . John Tyrell Weeks, engineer, of Wei-1; lington and recently of Westport. He | , leaves a wife and four children. I ; William Leonard Watson, acting-mate, j • aged twenty-seven years. He belonged - to Wellington, and was not married. }, Harold Stapleton, aged twenty-two, i, whose mother resides in Wellington. He I was not married. I .r. Marlow. cook, aged thirty-eight ! years, of Brooklyn, Wellington. He j , leaves a wife and three children. I Tommy, a boy. whose surname is not] ascertainable. He recently worked on the Rona. His parents reside in the ! Taranaki district. The body of Weeks was found right | inside the deckhouse, which was but a | galley, when it shoaled on Petone beach, I A rope stretched round part of the deckhouse made it appear that one of the crew had endeavoured to lash himself to it. A second body, not yet identified, has been washed ashore on Petone beach, i HEWED FROM LIGHTHOUSE. Mr. T. B. Smith, principal keeper at Pencarrow lighthouse, gave a graphic and pathetic story of the accident and of the brave struggle for life of a number, of the men on the ill-fated I schooner. "While extinguishing the , lights at 4.45 this morning," he said, "I j noticed the schooner making into the | harbour under a foresail and jib. Her mainsail was not set. j "Lighthousekeeper xTussey went downstairs. When he went outside he saw j tbe vessel capsize. A strong southerly I gale was blowing at the time, and the | vessel was running before the wind. Suddenly she broached-to. A Big wave struck I her at tie same time and over she went. | "I could make out the forms of at I least two saliors hanging on to the ! wreckage, aud T immediately rushed to communicate with Wellington. I kept Imy two assistants. Hussey and Cocker. , on the beach to light fires opposite these I men with the double object of showing I them where to land and letting them know there was somebody to receive ; them if they came ashore. They were, j however, drifting up the harbour. "I could then make out three men among the wreckage. One was clinging :to a tank. but. becoming exhausted, he I was swept away. I saw him throw up his arms and disappear. It was then ten minutes past six. The other two men were clinging to a long plank, one at each end. TWO STEAMERS PASS. "In the meantime, at about twenty minutes past five, the steamer Wairau appeared entering the harbour and passed some 300 yards away, but apparently did not see either the wreckage or the men struggling in the water. By | this time the wreck had been blown j inshore considerably, and had struck half ' a mile further on. where she subse- ; quently broke up. j "'Later the Baden Powell came in and | passed the men about, it Beemed. 100 ' yards away. We again made frantic J efforts to attract the attention of those jon board, but without avail. The man | I who was on the tank had disappeared | ! some time before, but I kept the other j two men in view all the time, until they j had nearly gone out of sight. There was about a mile of wreckage in all — I benzine tanks, fodder, timber, etc., drifting with the wind and current faster than one could walk. '•'I then took my telescope and ran ias hard as I could to the point where j I saw one of the men on the plauk throw up his hands and go down. As the , i second steamer passed I distinctly saw i the men make a supreme effort to I attract the attention of those on the - passing steamer. They drew themselves up almost into a kneeling position on ' ' the plank, but apparently they were not seen nor their cries heard. Before • this, when the men on the tank passed i the men on the plank I saw two men i I on the plank wave encouragingly to, and apparently cheer the others. ; ASSISTANCE TOO LATE. " j ] "'The gale was blowing so hard that l ! the progress of the vessels that came j : from Wellington in response to the call I for aid was retarded to such an extent that when they reached the wreckage j it was two and a-half hours after Mte ! . accident, and the men had disappeared. The assistant-lighthousekeeper followed up along the beach the drift of the men on the plank, and about half an hour after he started he saw one man swept from his hold and disappear. Then, folj lowing on as far as Gotland's Bay, he , saw the second man on the plank al3o I disappear. I "The schooner is completely broken up and has disappeared. The hull w;ls smashed to matchwood, and only a mass of spars and debris is left. When the man on watch came down to mc he stated that he distinctly saw one man, probably the helmsman, swept overboard as the schooner broached to, and he was clambering up the side again when she capsized. ■ "My son also saw a man seated in j the ship's dinghy after the vessel capj sized, but a big ware overwhelmed the j dinghy and all. We saw the men on j the plank making efforts to tear off ; their clothes so that they could swim | better, and a torn sweater was after- , wards found on the beach, showing that , they had partly succeeded." | The Omaka was formerly known as | the -May Howard, and for many years ■ j was employed in the trade between ' • Auckland and Hokianga, and later on '; in the East Coast service. She was afterwards sold to Southern owners who I renamed her. She was a vessel of 04 tons register, her principal dimension* I being: Length 78ft, breadth 20ft Kin. and ' depth 6ft 2in. She was built at > Brisbane Water, N.S.W. in ISS6. I ; ' '_ ! A RECENT PURCHASE. iRy TVlegTaph.—Press AssWciatAxu.i BLENHEIM, this day. r ; The Omaka was an auxiliary steamer. >" her engine being a 4.~> h.p. oil machine. 5 She was bought by Messrs Ecfcford ' , Bros, in May last. Her cargo comprised ■ ', I peas and chaff. The insurance* are not | I available. 1