LOSS OF THE NIAGARA

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23052, 21 June 1940, Page 10

LOSS OF THE NIAGARA

PASSENGERS BUY CLOTHES INQUIRY TO BE OPENED TO-DAY (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) AUCKLAND, June 20. Most of the Niagara’s passengers spent to-day in getting their bearings after their trying experience, and in attending to immediate needs shch as buying clothes and suitcases, and arranging money matters. Some of those for whom hotel accommodation had been provided took their departure during the day, but it was not known whether they had gone to their homes or to stay with friends. The Union Steam Ship Company intimated to all passengers who joined at Auckland that it was prepared to refund their passage money in full. Through passengers were informed that if they so wished they might recover the passage money for the balance of the journeys .for which they had booked. This arrangement will make it possible for passengers, if they desire, to continue their voyage by the Matson liner Monterey, which will leave Auckland next week tor island ports and San Francisco: The Auckland agents tor the Matson Line, Henderson and Macfarlane, Ltd., received between 40 and 50 inquiries today, hut it is not possible yet to say how many will travel by the liner. Fiji residents who were homeward bound in the Niagara are very likely to be among the number, since tor them no change of route is involved, as is the case of people booked for Vancouver and points beyond. All, of course, have the option of waiting and going on by a British vessel. The mascot of the Niagara, Aussie, the cat, was the only casualty. Aussie was thrown on to a lifeboat as it was being launched, but jumped back on board, and went down with the ship. For nearly five years Aussie had been a popular member of the ship’s company. The sea was in his blood, for his mother had been in the Niagara before him. His father was an aristocratic Persian, owned by a waterfront policeman at Vancouver. The Superintendent of Mercantile Marine at Auckland, Captain H. A. Dillner, stated that a preliminary inquiry into the loss of the Niagara will be opened before him to-morrow. It is understood that the inquiry will be of a purely formal nature. Grants to Crew To most of the 200 officers and men of the Niagara the ship was their home, and carried all the worldly possessions of many. Although they landed in Auckland with only a minimum of their belongings, every provision is being made for their welfare. The Niagara’s crew signed on in Sydney, and was under Australian articles, which provide for payment of their wages until the owners have returned them to their home port. The seamen are entitled to receive £2O each to replace lost effects, and the Union Steam Ship Company, Auckland agents for the Niagara, has already advanced them £lO for their immediate wants. The providoring staff have also received a similar amount, although no provision is made in their award for the sum. On the recommendation of Captain Dillner, the Marine Department’s superintendent at Auckland, the Shipwreck Relief Society’s headquarters at Dunedin authorised the issue of orders equivalent to £5 to each member of the crew. The men will remain at the Hotel Auckland and the seamen’s home at no cost to themselves until they are sent back to Australia next week. Most of the officers and engineers will remain in New Zealand, where they will report to other ships. When the explosion occurred, those members of the ship’s complement not on duty immediately went to stations and to render assistance to passengers. The iresult was that although many of the crew managed to salvage a few belongings for the passengers, they had little for themselves to bring ashore. PRAISE FOR CREW AND OFFICERS CAPTAIN’S STATEMENT AUCKLAND, June 20. “It was a wonderful show,” declared the master of the Niagara (Captain W. Martin) to-day. “Everything went like clockwork from the start. Officers and crew, to the last man. did their jobs and acted up to the finest traditions of the sea. “The calm of the passengers was remarkable. You would never have thought there had been a shipwreck. When they got into the boats, you would have thought they'were going to a picnic—laughing, singing, and joking. There was no suggestion of confusion. “I would like to pay a tribute to the passengers on the liner which rescued us. There were not many of them, but they rallied round in great style, doing everything possible for us. “The citizens of Auckland, too. have the greatest thanks of the Niagara survivors for their great hospitality.”