BARQUE IN DISTRESS

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 491, 26 April 1909, Page 6

BARQUE IN DISTRESS

GROUNDED OFF HOKIO BEACB. BUT TOV/ED OFF SUCCESSFULLY. WAS IT THE WEATHERSFIELDP ■=■ ■■-,- :v... Thoro was great oxcitomont -at .Levin - on ...v. . :,? Saturday -when ■ word was ■ received ■ that ,a . ' vessel was' firing"distress , signals off Hokio ■ ' - : Beach/ which is-situated a -fow milos to the t ■ north-oast'of tho township. When the; boaror , : " of news, Boro Honoi, reached the polioe ( ■ station at Levin ho was almost too excited i to narrate his story. 1 ; . - "Between 6 and 7 o'clock this morn- j ; : . ing," ho said, ;"a ship appeared off the j " . . -beach.' She began to firo big'guns and j i " blow a big horn. , When I left she was ] ...' . within' half .a. mile .'of tho shore. Sho has. .; to sail on at all, and seems to be dragging her anchors. You can tako it from .. ; • mo sho will bb piled on tho be:toh before | i anything can be' done." . Position of the Vessel. i .: . 1 Without' delay • Constable Bagrie mounted ft horso and proceeded to tho bcach. ■Ho i csimo abreast of tho vessel two miles north ,- ; of -tho spot indicated by tlio Native./, She :• was anchored-'■ about ono milo from the shore - ' ' : ;directly dpposito tfio remains- of .tho Hydera- ; ' ' bad, an iron vessel which was wrecked on the beach about 26 years ago. The spot I ■ would bo about nino miles north of the Ohau > v - Eiver. -There was .not a stitch of sail on -.tho i ;.-.. . voss©] ) -. whi6h ; appeared;.to,bo perfectly, safol 3io sea at that timo was modoratoly rough, 1 7 and thero was a slight brcezo ofr tlio coast.' , Although' Constable Bagrie remained at the s >■•■., Bceno until dusk ho was - unable - to. gain- any I - ■ . ■ information' which wouldslead to .the identity I. ii; -',; :; of ' the vessel. Subsequently,- however, -ho I ' . ."; learned that a boy had picked up a piece ,of ( ; board on which u:was . .-written, . tho., name j I "Weathersfiold." The officers and crow were eeen-walking about on>the vessel,'but no at-, 1 tempt was mado to communicate with "i the ! : R'.:: , " .'shore.;'>Diirmg,the,afternooi a. small steamor J • ' ' came upon -the soono from tho direction of :,' Foxtori; • ;.It ,wia' generally believed that she was -tho : Queen-.ofl-the■■ South,-. She .sailed- ' round the barquo: several times, and .then, after having stood her for about 1J hours, 1 vent on her way southwards. A Reassuring Message. : . . Upon tho receipt, of: the first message de- | tailing.what; | generally surmised -in shipping circles, that i the w barque-:-must.. -be:'the ■ Weathers field, i :i; bound . from Wollington to; .the, Fiji j ; -During the evening a further.wire of a more ■ reassuring ■■ .character; was:,! received- from | ' '..Levin. It was stated "that tho barque was i J:?;;- ;' , ;apparently.7'pcrfectly,, i safe.,, : Tho fact, that ,a 1 ■ . . .! small steamor - had- stood-; by her for somo < ' ■~.: V time-was also The constable.was, i not.'in: -aposition;,to f sayv if'-.assistance .was : needed to tow ; the'.vessel off,-but'; thoughti ( Rumours. ■ By tho early train, yesterday , morning a ■ .1; . ' Dominion'(reporter 'proceeded en. route- .to, ;:' , v r-Hokio'Bay. - On-his ! way .he found that all. ■ eorts of rumours-wore current. . At' Otaki ■'...- -:;...' ho was informed by-.Constablo -. Sathorley : that tho vessel had i not been towed off, "but ','.'.'.'^:.'>.'','";'.'.'':'it i !\iras, ! lioped'that' , an''attempt!which was to .. .be : made ■ during: the morning ■ would be,.sue-. - .-. > ■' ■. cessful.' He mentioned further that a. fishing boat or oil launch without engine had ' como ashoro; on. the Otaki Beach. Thero wad ';,', no namo on'tho boat nor anything that would' ;. . . lead to its -identity. , Thero'was, howevor,' ; v.ii •no reason to believo -.that it -, belonged: •to ; ■ tho, barquo which was ashoro at . Hokio Beach. At Levin it was variously (and erroneously)' stated that the vessel had been -towed off, also .that' she was wrecked.: Intervlev; With Constable Bagrie. ' , . Intorviowed upon his return from a-fur- , ; ... -thor visit'to the,beach that -morning, Con?' ■..•.'■"i- , . , .--''7-:.Btable'.-rßagrie'.-'Btated-'-'that>*there-,were two =,steamers -alongside..the -barque - when;, he ; * • - v reaohod the - beach .at :8 o'clock. • One .-.of i was '. tho. - vesselwhich v; had ~ stood by her on 'thoiProviouß afternoon, and the other was 'the: Terawhiti. Tho. sea had t:,..: . -,gone ,(3 own , . very ;much;; The barque was , -rolling; a good ideal,:, but was j not-heaving ;*> ij much.Sho -was .evidently fast .'in- the. sand, ... at one' point. at least. About . ,10. o'clock -■ another vessel from the .south put 'in her ' appearance; v'Whon'he. left at-. 11.30 a-m. no -.'j '.- . attempt. had;been made .as -far as ho could , ':!•eee-to pass: a 'tow.;line, to tho.barquo. ; ;During (further '.-conversation .. Constablo Bagrie stated that Hokio beach was a Bandy - beach extending for a number of, miles. People who knew it well said that banks ran out for a milo or two.. It was. also de- ' clared to bo a bad* anchorage ground. If galo on Friday had not moderated, it ; was almost "oertain that, the barque must ; • have gone ashoro. Tho sea was not too . : ! 'on;/Friday ,to:; have prevented boats soming ashore ,if necessary from the barquo. ;. I- »•. ■ 'Ihey luight havo : been .capsized in > the surf, \' ■ but- no r hvcs would--have boon lost. vHoi fur- ■-- .j t-hor stated that' Constablo Lougbottom had gone to ■ tho sceno and intended; to, return with news.ap early as possible. Barque Towed Off. , •:,!?. • ' The following message was received ■ from . - ; liovin yesterday afternoon: — . . Tho barquo was towed off at 3 -p.m., ! • and 1 lias proceeded south in-tow of the. ■ Terawhiti. ' Identity of Coastal Steamer Unknown. ;<!;?■ Speculation was. rife as to tho idon-. . iity of thosmall steamer referred to. - - It - was thought that she could not have i>een : bound to Wellington, as no vessel that was in that vicinity has since reached ••. port. . Tho Stormbird arrived shortly after ; ; ' jiidnight from Wangainui, but she had passed , Hokio beach after dark, and those on board ;vOgivf;:,had seen nothing." Tho supposition is that .... . . tho . boat was one' of the small vessels en'gaged m tho 'West -Coast-Wanganui -or Fox--0.,--..ton trade.'-Seamen on board the Stormbird,. . ' ■' ;" with an experience of tho coast, informed our - ■;■' roprosentativo that as tho vessel approached; i ::.. :■ tho; shore; she would. 1 be better, sheltered, and •thero was good anchorage in the vicinity. i • History of tho Weathersfield. Few "sailers" aro bottor 'known iu Now Zealand than tho'barquo Weathersfiold, which - used to trado regularly, between London and - New Zealand ports. - She was built in 1865 by ■ R. Duncan and Co., of Port Glasgow, and is .: ' . an iron- vessol of 1101 tons gross and 1047 • ' '. tons' net register; -_It was under the owncri ship of Messrs. Greenshields, Cowie, and Co., of Liverpool," that she , first traded to; theso .": shores. Many of. the'.foromost of our Now ii: : iie,aland. oflicors.'bave served , their timo on . the Weathersfiold, and it is claimed that sho did more '■ for tho 'mercantile marine: locally ;';V. : than any othor' vessel. , In;tho eightie3, wheii on route from Australia to New Zealand, tho • . Weathersfiold, by, some means,'drifted ashoro on tho Otaki bcach, and remained there about ~j; ■ seven or oight years, • Tho late Mr; Saundors,' '■ Icontractor, purchased • the ,wreck, and after v : , • 60veral unsuccessful attempts at relaunching, r tho-Weathersfield was got off and.towed to Wellington for ro-fitting..purposes. Mr. T. .. .G. 'M'Carthy next purchascd- the vessel, :and, - •••-under the command of tho lato E. . Crokor, : sho mado many voyages to various. parts of the woild. - • About a year: ago: the ; Weathersfield arrive<l from Biinbury with'a.cargo of jarrah. ;- .. ' ''After discharging tho Wellington portion she w"as towed- to Nelson; by tho .Duco with tho .; : balance. On arrival back ' from there her crew were paid off; and the vessel took up on anchorago in tlio stream, whero she remained ", r - till quite recently. When the ' Union Com- . :• pany purchased tho Weathersfield, sho was. / brought -alongside'tho-wharf; and. extensive .. ' alterations, repairs, olxi., wero effected, and 'the vessol fitted out to mako;her last voyage ; . —to Suva, whero on arrival she -was to-bo -v , converted, into-a coal hullj. - , - It was expected , that tho Terawhiti with ■ 'the barque in tow would reach Wellington at A o'clock this morning. ■ k.; .