SPORTING GEAR LOST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 145, 20 June 1940, Page 9

SPORTING GEAR LOST.

CREWS VALUABLE EQUIPMENT Valuable sporting equipment was lost in the Niagara wreck. Nothing was salvaged from the sporting committee's extensive gear, which included four sets of cricket material donated by the millionaire English philanthropist, Sir Julien Calm, as a mark of his admiration for the crew's enthusiasm during ■his last voyage on the Niagara from New Zealand in 1935. Punching balls, boxing gloves and wrestling outfits were also among Sir Julien's gifts. One of the crew's most prized' possessions was a handsome silver eup presented for boxing by the late Sir James Murdoch, of Sydney. They defended this cup against all teams from passengers and other ships' companies from Australia, New Zealand and Canada over a period of 12 years. Tiie sports committee's library of 2000 books, a combination radio and gramophone set, and a valuable amplifier system were also lost. A number of members of the crew lost "movie" cameras. Hiwever, at least one member of the crew took a motion-picture record in colour of the actual sinking of the Niagara from a lifeboat. A bright moon awl a calm sea helped him, but the photographer is not sure that this wonderful opportunity would be successful owing to the darkness.