WAIKARE SALVAGE WORK.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 65, 18 March 1910, Page 2

WAIKARE SALVAGE WORK.

DELAYED BY BAD WEATHER. INVERCARGILL, March 14. Operations in connection with the proposed salvage of the ill-fated Waikare are no further advanced, owing to stress of weather. The syndicate recently decided to charter the schooner Anna to make the trip, but owing to the bad weather and the unfavorable winds, the little vessel has been unable to get away. She was supposed to get away last Tuesday, on the arrival of Diver May, but she is still lying at the Bluff. There was a calm yesterday morning, and hurried messages were despatched to Invercargili to have the party sent down right away. They went down as promptly as possible, but before their arrival a "howler" had set in, and so put a stop to the departure of the syndicate. Mr J. W. ' Jamieson informed a News reporter that an effort was being made to charter the tug Theresa Ward to take the part}' round to Duskj r Sound, on account of the waste of time caused by the inability of the schooner to get away. If successful in their effort, they hope to get away by Thursday at the latest. It would be difficult to get the tug before that, because she is engaged in' the Stewart Island service on Wednesday. They were, so far, no wiser on the subject of the prospects of salvaging, although he had noticed that every second man he met had the whole question of salvage cut and dried. "You have only to do this and that, and there you are," they say. JNo one, however, knew how things were, nor could they know until the results of the diver's investigations became known. "We have received theories from as far north as Wellington," he said, "and if they were as feasible as they seem on the face of them, salvage would appear as easy as shelling peas. Diver May wisely will not advance an opinion of any sort until he investigates." An ex-officer, who was connected with the attempted salvage of the barque Ann Gambles wreck off Te Wae Point (Bluff) in the later "seventies," has most decided views on the subject of the Waikare project. "Mark my words," he informed a representative, "they haven't a hope of salving the Waikare." Continuing, he based his views upon the position of the vessel. She had holes on her starboard side, and must also have them on her port side, if hknew anything about such matters. In that case the possibilities of salvage would be infinitesimal, if any. Taking the case of the Ann Gambles, the Dunedin firm of Dunning, Green, and Speeding bought the wreck and the valuable Home cargo she possessed, and spent a lot of money in an attempt to salvage her. They fitted up a centrifugal pump, and chartered the old tug Awarua, of which, by the bye, Mr J. K. Jamieson (head of the S3 7 ndicate) was then chief engineer. In towing her off they made a big hole in the barque, and her bones still lie unsalvaged at Te Waa Point. The company in question dropped from £2OOO to £3OOO over that venture .