HAWKE'S BAY.

Press, Volume XI, Issue 1351, 7 March 1867, Page 2

HAWKE'S BAY.

WRECK OF THE STAR OP TTIE ETENISq We republiah in a elightly condoled form the narrative of this dreadful catastrophe, as supplied to *|, ." Hawke's Bay Herald," of March 4 by a survivor :— '

The s.B. Star of the Evening left flapim roads on Tuesday, 12th ult., at noon, bound for Auckland. ' She had on board a cre»of eighteen men, and threo Smith, Warrall, and Sleipetine— twonty-ono souls in all, and had a cargo of 1300 cheep On leaving the roadstead the weather waa fin and clear, but soon afterwards it became over. ca»t, the wind being south-east, and blowinaa fresh breezo. All sail was carried on the shj D to get her across the Bay before dark, but as Portland Island was approached the wind hauled more to the eastward, bo that tho square, sail had to be taken in, and the island was not rounded till close on oight p.m. A courje was then shaped to a position off tho Bull Rock, between Portland Island and Tablo Capo. At twenty minutes after nino, the rock boing well cleared, the ship was kopt away duo north, and all sail again set. [This course, as Captain Turner explains in the account famished by him to our contemporary, boing half a point easterly deviation, would take tho vessel mid-channel between the Ariel rocks and the Gable-end foreland.] It was the matoV taatdi from eight p.m. till twelve, during tho latter part of which time Captain Tumor lay on the bridge to get a little sleep. At midnight the weatho? was thick end hazy, with showers of rain, and the wind increasing. The second mate then took watch, and ho and tho captain wore both on deck until who struck. This took place at a quarter-past two a.m., tho ship being undor all sail, and going eight or nine knots. It was a thick squall at tho time, and nothing waa seen to give notice of the impending disneter— the shock of the vessel striking being the first intimation given. Ten or twelve minutej aftor the vessel struck, the second engineer, who was on watch, and whose sense of dutj would not allow him to forsake hie poet till tho last, extremity, was obliged to leave tho engine-room. The water had then rison rathe stoke hole, had got to the backs of the firce and forced open the furnace doors; at tho same time, the wooden floor was forced up by the water, aud tho cranks were striking and splintering at every revolution. About this time also the man had to leave the wheel, 1 as he was twice washed away by tho heavy eoaj which broke over the stern.

An attempt was also mado to get the foro hatches on, but this was found to be ira« practicable. In the hope, aleo, of easing the ship a little, the captain gave orders to out away the mainmast, and the carpenter promptly came forward to cut it away, although the main deck was being liovo tip under his feet by the violent working of theship. Soon after, thinking the ship was hung aft with her bows in deep watee, and that she might slip off and go down f>odi[f t ' the chief otlicer went to take a cast oJ tw ;■ lead. He then heard the plates cracking amidships, and reported the same to the captain, who immediately gave orders for all hands to go on to the forecastle, as boing tho part most likely to last longest!.

It was fortunate that they did so, for they : had not been there more than ten minutes ''■'■ before the vessel parted amidships; The fore part forging ahead, left the after part on the outer reef, with the funnel standing and the mizen set. The fore part of the ship was, up to this time, comparatively free from wkterj the iron bulkhead between the fore and mam hold remaining unbroken ; but soon after tho ship broke in two it was forced in by the heavy seas which struck it. The fore bold then filling, the vessel gave a heavy lurch and then sank with her rail awash. When she sank, the captain called out for all to follow him up the fore stay.. Many did bo, whilst others tried aiid failed ; amongst these were the chief engineer, carpenter, steward, cook, chief officer, two eeamen, and tlirea passengers. Some of them tried to climb the fore stay, but could not. The chief officer did not attempt it, he having a life buoy td take care of as being the best thing" to txitrf 4 line ashore. He lashed himself/ together With Mr Sleipstine (a passenger) and one of the eeamen, to the fish davit. ■

Our position at this time was one of great peril, and deep anxiety.was felt as to whet daylight would reveal. Clinging to part d , a vessel, and that sunk ao low that whilst standing on it the water broke overyear., heads —holding on with might and main to prevent being swept overboard, cold aad wt* I —we had but little hope of reaching the lend. Still, as it turned out, we had cause to be thankful that we struck with a falling tide, as, had the tide been rising, I am afraid rerf few would have escaped to tell the tale of this sad disaster.

•At last dayJight came, and we then perceived that we were about a cable's length from tho rocks, and that it was about dead low water. Another reef extended oa otff right at an angle with tho coast line, about the same distance off ac the reef ahead: of the ship. No time was lost, but ft : Uaa having been made out of the running geWi the best swimmer on board-—W. Hammond) A.B.—then volunteered to carry it ashore. With the life buoy, and assisted by soother seaman named James Weaver, the line wajj carried to the rocks. Our hopes of getting &U hands ashore were raised by this success W the highest pitch, but were soon doomed & disappointment, as, on hauling in the line, «• found that it had been out by the rocks. WU we were not disheartened, and Hammond bravely swam off to the ship again wtb .tM life buoy, Another line was made fast, which there ia little doubt he could have.catrw ashore all right if he had not made the mistese of trying to take Mr T. Smith (passenger; ashore also in the life buoy. Mr dmith *a» quite helpless in the water, and bung motw»' less in the life buoy; Hammond w&e unaw?, in consequence, to stem the current, and tBBJ were swept among some detached roc ■ Hammond had then to let go arid etnlnv os» for the shore to save bis own life, «» ffe , hauled Mr Smith back again io the ship. _ One of the eeamen, Walter Hooper, tns» attempted to swim ashore. The poor lew reached well into the rocks, and was tat tuken down hy the strong under tow that F vailed. Tho poor fellow leaves a wifo *\ three children to mourn his untimely «!"• While lashed to the fish davit with them»«» he expressed hie fears of not reaching v" chore alive and his grief at the destitute «• dition hid " poor wife and dear little chiiaren would be left in. -],« Aβ neither Hammond nor wearer, *« were ashore " felt equal to the EWimnußg to the ship again, the chitf officer tooK life buoy and line, and tried to carry_it but not being a powerful ewiinmer he J 8 " üble to contend with the strong » Ba * r and was three times curried umoD S°, k (Q broken rocks and had to be hauled ».* the ship—the last time in quite an osna^ D f condition. Oue of the fireman, Jolin » then tried with no better success.

was now fast rising end the gale -and It .Became eVident jptbanag woU ld have to fake his choice of tlKlt T-, swim ashore or staying on the wreekl in %yttoan<l-chic.r officer, after strongly ?** -mr u*bn 'those that could not ewiin ! f p /thev should leave the wreck as soon as •X rind , not take the water without someto support them, each took a piece o thl °! «nd iumped overboard, and got ashore V, The chief officer went first, followed by **"' a ttißte and captain, the latter having Then one of the fire" ashore on part of the house, and *? «.nnd engineer on another part; and by a little boy only ten tuey w ky t w h o j s an excellent swimmer. «H>ho>e' safe ; but two passen--711 Sere. Worrell and Sleipstine, the erS 'rdand the cddk,'none of whom could gtewara j unl ped overboard without any T^-iSSupport theni, were all drowned a fS Stance from the chip. There were then on the wreck the chief engineer, STSS neon ; a fireman, P. McDermott r Wood and Morgan. These "itXα the ipreyard. The carpenter, A. t wrin and Mr Smith, passenger, were Slorecastle, holding on to the foreatay. f. the tide rose and the surf increased, poor fcWK-*« swept away and drowned. m> oxpenter would *oon have followed had ♦Ah oeople on the foreyard lowered him rt£. a , line which he had strength left to put JfflnsafiißiiaS' a nd he wa3 then hauled U P on *° A*/soon as we landed we found shelter at a tCanri nettlement, and picked up a. few pieces Trfotirißg'as'nmost of ua landed naked, nhoueh we had some trouble to get these on Maori'law, which allows a man Aβ Boon as possible a messenger was sent to retain G.E. Bead, of Tumnganui, acquaint- • him of the ; sad disaster, and asking for is? an( j assistance to get the men off the wt" Th fl a PP eal wae no * raade ia vain, f? »eral gentlemen arrived with assistance, but Bucceuful attempt to rescue the survivors ™L ma & e until Friday. On Thursday at midnight the gale broke ; «nd by daylight on Friday the eurf had gone down considerably, giving ua great hopes that »t tot we should be able'to do something for our unfortunate shipmates, if <hey were not already past human help. By five o clock we on the beach, and got lines stretched lady for use, life buojs, &c, at hand. We then waded on to the outer rocks, andas no flatwe-wiM- be got to swim off, Hammond end Weaver again bravely volunteered to do i 0 Having stripped and taken the line, they jumped in, and by God's blessing were enabled to reach the bows. They then climbed up the forestay, and one of them getting in the rigging, called cut to u« to bend on one of the lifeboat's floats, which is made of canvas and filled with cork, and is about twelve feet long. We did 80 » and jt was hauled oufc to . the Bni P i one of the men being placed on it he was cuickly hauled on shore by his shipmates, assisted by some Mapries. The float was then hauled back again to the ship and another one hauled ashore, and so on, till we had them all Bftfe amongst us. We then made the hills ring with the cheer we gave, atrtliis happy termination of their sufferings and our anxieties. The poor fellows" were found to be in a sad condition. They had been f fifty-three hours hanging on to the wreck, and , sixty-one without food of any kind; their sufferings from thirst and want of sleep had also- been very" great. Their legs and feet were found to be much swollen, so xnneh bo that they could not walk without B&sietanee. 'On the Thursday night the carpenter was delirious; he seemingly labored under the delusion that the vessel was anchored off Napier, as he kept saying, "Why does not the pilot come off -with the boat ?" Another night's exposure would, without doubt, have taken away some of their number. Fortunately it was not so to be, and we had the great pleasure of rescuing all who remained on the wreck after eight o'clock on the Wednesday. We got them up to the whare, and, after they had something to eat and drink and a little were able to walk down to the river'and bathe their swollen limbs. Tho»?f>£w who were able then, walked over to Poteklf BWy, where we received a hearty welcome from ■ Captain Bead, Mr Eepie, Messrs Cadle and Blair, and other gentlemen, whose kindness to us will never be forgotten, although it may not be in our power to repay them for it.

Of course nothing was saved from the ship, eith"er~ehipV property, or the private effects of captain or urew.' The -chronometer and one of the compasses were washed ashore, but they are of course useless from the effects of Salt water. The beach for miles was itreftefl with the debris of the wreck, and the sheep were to be seen lying dead in hundreds; in feet, only about eighty or one hundred alive. Four of the bodies of those! lost were washed up beforewe' left Turanganui, but they were io disfigured "by" contact with the rocks that their nearest>elati¥eß weald fail to recognise them. The bodies were buried near to where theyTw&tf picked- up. ListofSaved.—A. 0. Turner, master; E. teighton, mate ; J. Tutton, 2nd mate ; D. Bobinson, chief engineer; J. Barker, 2nd engineerj A.ifohristone, carpenter; W. Hammond, J. Weaver, D. Wood, N. Morgan, able eeanjeorjrj. -Williams, lamptrimmer ; C. PJiilXt,' 4 cabin boy; J. Hunt, P. McDermot, C. iwson, firemen. List of Drowned. —Mr Smith, Mr Worrell, and.'sfr Sleipstine, passengers; W. Eltham, •teward; J. Legorwood, cook; W. Hooper, j able seaman. FIRE TK THE "HERALD " OFFICE. "Wβ regret to learn that our contemporary has had a narrow escape from fire. 5 We subjoin an account from its own columns:— On the evening of February 15, a fire broke out in the rear building of the " Herald " printing establishment. The alarm was raised at a-quarter to five by Conetable Fitzgibbon, who was on night duty at the time, and who, happening to look in the direction of toe "Herald " office from Shakespeare Wad, saw the inside of the building filled with flames. Two or three ainutes after they had penetrated the roof. The premises on fire consisted of a long building, comprising a stable and a hay shed at one end, the book-binders-room and warehouse in the middle, and the machine-room at the other end. The fire, to all appearance, originated in the hay shed, but it JQickly spread to the warehouse, which king fall of printed books, printing paper, binding material, and other combustible substances, was soon one mass « flame. The destruction of the whole premises seemed at this time to be inevitable, and the shop and dwellingHouse fronting the street were gutted w their contents as a measure of necessary precaution. However, water was Plentiful (there having been nearly «w gallons in the tanks, besides a jell of 6 alt water), and willing W ( l Were e l uall y 8O - Fortunately, wo, the shmgles were saturated with «o»sture from the late rains, and there 2" no wind. By unremitting ex«tion the torrent of flame was stem- «« untU the arrival of the fire engine, ??■ wawingup in MrDanver'syard, wp w d ? B P leadid «ppJy the ?u at the rear of his house, and S? On . full P la - V - The eflfe ct was S y j l mhh in the flam es being Jjjdued before they had penetrated th« m °' or done much damage in, ir B f an J The WonXLr i i front Premises was Oaderful . but certainly less marvel-

loua than the rescue of the one end of the burning building, and the saving of the valuable machinery it contained. This was not done without very great exertion, as well as any amount of pluck, and we have to thank the many who threw themselves heart and soul into the work, not only that we are in a position to publish aa usual, but that a single stick of tho premises remains above ground. Before six nothing remained of the portion destroyed but the smouldering debris of bales of paper and printed books. The cause of the fire is involved in mystery ; no light had been near the place the previous night, and no one had any business there. The loss ■ sustained has been considerable, including many printed documents,—such as the blue-hook of last session and the remainder of the edition of the almanac—which cannot be replaced except at great cost and loss of time.

Napieb Eaces. — The races are announced to take place on March 5, 6, and 7, and tho "Hawke's Bay Herald," after a lengthened criticism on the competitors, informs us that the new course is in much better order than might have been expected, and regrets that so little interest in the event should bo taken by up-country settlers.