NEWCASTLE.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3972, 16 May 1870, Page 4

NEWCASTLE.

Arrivals. — From Auckland : April 28— P.0.E., barque ; April 29 — Princess Alice. Departure.— May s—Crislma,5 — Crislma, Stephens, for Aucl^ancl, with 360 lons coal.

Early on Saturday morning, a schooner of sonic 48 or 50 tons (the Josephine) foundered about five miles below the Gellibrand's Point lightship. Two men and a boy were on board, who got off in their boat before the schooner filled and sank. — Argus, April 25. Loss of the Spray. — We learn, from the Wollongong correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald of April 30, that the Spray, brig, of and from Sydney to the former port, was totally lost on the 26th instant, at the Coal Cliffs, near the Bulli jetty. All hands were saved. The Spray was employed in the Wollongong coal trade, and was owned by Mr. Speer, and is insured in the Australasian for£Boo,of which suni£3oois re-insured. A correspondent of the Empire says, "A report was circulated this afternoon (April 27) that a veJssel was wrecked on the coast to the north of Bulli, N.S.W. The weather about j this time was very boisterous, and it was found impossible to carry sufficient canvas to clear the land on either tack ; therefore she made considerable leeway. About 10 o'clock on Tuesday evening she became quite unmanageable, and., they soon found that she was in among the breakers, and in a moment or two she struck. When striking she lurched on to her beam ends, making the position fearful in the extreme. One of the men/more courageous than the others, made a bold attempt, and got on shore with a line, which he secured when getting 'on there, by which the remaining six managed to save themselves. The Spray belonged to Mr. Spear, of Sydney, and was insured, so I am informed, for £1,200 in one of the Sydney, in-. surance offices,'! ' " * ' The barque Novelty, which was in "sight of the Sydney Heads on April 28, arrived next morning. She left Auckland on the 17th, and experienced favourable weather for the first half of the passage. On Monday last she encountered a heavy easterly gale and sea, which lasted until Wednesday, from which day strong southerly breezes have prevailed. Foundering or the Schooner Notion. — From the Sydney Morning Herald of April 29 we take the following :—": — " By telegram from Broken Bay we learn that the schooner Notion, the. property of Captain Summerbell, and trading 1 between Newcastle and Sydney, sank in Broken Bay during Wednesday night. All hands were saved. She was from Newcastle with a cargo of coals, and, owing to the late heavy S.E. gale, took shelter in the bay. The cause of the accident has not yet been reported. The vessel is uninsured. " Wreck of the Dauntless. — The ketch Dauntless, owned by Mr. A. Book, was wrecked on the south head of- Port Hacking, New South Wales, on April 26. When within a mile of the port it fell calm, and in the rocking of the vessel the mainsail split and the mizzen-gaff. carried, away ; a squall from east then struck her, and being disabled from the want of after-canvas, she would not come to the wind, and thus drifted on ' the rooks,; ( turning ( bottom \up j • one hand, r named James Dixori, 'Vaa washed' overboard/ and drowned. The body was recovered on April 28 about a mile from the wreck, inside the harbour. -The res^ of the, crew ,wer.e providentially L washed- ashore* and- "were saved. A fearful sea was running at the '-time. » , 10 Loss of the Steamer Perseverance. — 'Intelligence. }was" received-; (sayi^heJ7/c«le»ce;i -Examiner or "April 26th.) 'in town, on Friday i last, of the total loss of the steamer.Perseverance, on the North* Stocks, "near the entrance „pf the Tweed River, on Thursday, the 14th j April. It appears that the Perseverance, j having' 12,000 feetlbfptimbeighTboard/^nd >| six! dr seven 4 passengers, crossed'the Tweed: j Tfciyer, bound for Brisbane. The bar was in a good state, $he L»yessel 4«vwingr only, Jtft. 9inj aft, and SfOmvfdrtfafti. "The "bar was

TFxyTlt \.K JtAVU 1-iL.tfUE. JC crossed, said the vess^gptjome distance iouV to "se&T "when "the engines* Hopped" on" the centre — at 'this time tne' j boiler was carrying_ 321b. o£ steam. Strenuous attempts were" made to move the engines, but without effect ; they could neither 'be/ gqt, to move ahead o¥ astern^ T^he vesserconseqtiientry got Broadside onto the sea, all steerage way bemglost.j Both anchors were then' let go, in 'order i 6 keep her head on the sea, and attempts were made to get her into the channel at the entrance of the river, but without avail— the f anchors coming home, and the sea beginning to "break over her. All chance of saving the ship was thus gone,'' and, being quite unmanageable, she immediately after struck broadside on to the 'North Rocks, near Point Danger. The Panic, schooner, was lying, inside, the bar, and Ker crew," by their exertions ancTactivity in getting a lino off, assisted materially, in saving the lives of those on board the steamer I — the passengers and crew' landing by that means without the slightest' accident to life or limb. - .

The Takanakl — The Wreck Recovery Company's s f a. Taranaki arrived yesterday from Wellington, which port she left at 3.40 p.m. on the 4th instant^ and experienced i strong S.^. breezes, -with heavy seas, in i crossing Cook's Strait, during which her eni gines were eased. After clearing Cape t Campbell, light southerly winds and heavy easterly swell t prevailed to off the Kaikouras, from thence favourable weather with light variable winds were experienced to arrival. During the passage the engines worked well, and averaged 64 revolutions per minute. Since the resurrection of the Taranaki from the deeps of Bowden Bay she has h.een thoroughly overhauled at Wellington, and to every appearance is now as' good as the day when she was first launched. Her engines look in admirable order, whilst' her cabin accommodation is tke'same, being fitted with horsehair cushions and settees, and well ventilated. Her steerage apartment is also well arranged for passengers, 'and altogether ■ she is now one of the best boats on the New Zealand coast. She will be docked on Tuesday, and will probably sail for the North on Wednesday next. — Otago: Daily- Times, j May 7. . * • '•>' A bottle was picked up by Captain Davie, of the ketch Violet, at sea, off the Burnett Rivei-, on the 2nd instant, containing a' slip of paper, having written thereupon in lead pencil : — " Barque Ellesmere", — Lake, master, eighteen days out, having encountered calms; longitude 173, latitude 27*10. All well. February 10, 1869." Here follow initials undecipherable, — JRochhumpton' Bulletin, April 14. Boat's Crew Murdered by Blacks. — The Police Magistrate of Port Somerset, Mr. H. Chester, writing from that settlement on 31st December last, to the Colonial Secretary, says :—": — " On October 16, the schooner Georgiana Godfrey brought in a large boat. Her mast was standing, and sails bent. There was a little stone ballast in her. There was an appearance as of blood stains on the starboard side of her deck. On the following day the master learned from some natives, who came off in a canoe, that she had been seized quite recently, and. her crew of two white men killed by the blacks." We are informed that the "boat has been recognised from the above description as belonging to Maryborough, where she was known as the Eliza. — Cleveland JBay JExpi e&s. In the Brisbane Courier of the 30th ult., the following telegram, dated Townsville, Apiil29, appears: — "The Pioneer (s.) has been wrecked at Sweer'a Island. The Boomerang (s. ) has been detained for another week." Whaling Station at Bird Island. — That enterprising firm of shipowners, Messrs. Fisher and Facy, have completed arrangements ,for the establishment of a , whaling station at Wreck Eeef, Bird Island, situate in latitude 2211 .north, and longitude 56 1 east ; and with their usual spirit have gone into the venture, determined, if possible, by the- supply of materials of the best description, and the engagement of experienced men, to make it pay. — Tosmanian Times, April 20. Blowing- vv the Lightning Wreck. — Thursday was a day that will ,long be remembered in Geelong. It was the day on which what it was hoped would be the final attempt to remove the Lightning would be made. Two thousand pounds of powdei were to be exploded about her under water. Never was there a greater crowd, the Visit of the Duke of Edinburgh excepted. Nevei was a greater disappointment experienced by the people of Geelong. They expected a magnificent aquatic display, and there was none. Two divers, George Eskdale"and Richard Ingram, took it in turns to place the torpedoes ' in -the position assigned to them about the wreck. There were altogether sixteen torpedoes used, seven on each side, outside of the vessel, and one each at the bows and stern. Every torpedo having been placed 'and every wire tested, an insulated wire, 450 yards long, was affixed to the connecting plate, and laid right along the Yarra-street wharf, the outer end lying alongside of a powerful battery placed about the ceutre of the stone approach to the wharf. At twenty minutes to 3 o'clock two guns were fired as a signal that in an hour the explosion would take place. For an hour before the guns were fired anxioue spectators had begun to flock towards the centre of attraction, and at 3 o'clock there could not have been far short of 9,000 persons present. After waiting for 40 minutes, Colonel Anderson determined to keep the many thousands no longer waiting in the rain and mud. A second had not elapsed when there was an upheaving of the waters at the stern of the Lightning, and immediately afterwards a similar upheaval amidships. The water, however, did not rise above seven or eight feet, and nothing beyond a thud was heard. The wharves trembled as if shook" by earthquake, and a similar sensation was felt by those stationed along the eastern and western slopes ; beyond this nothing occurred. On arriving near the wreck hundreds of pieces of wood were found floating about j the water was as black as ink, and stunk of burnt powder and rotten wool. On a" closer inspect tion, however, it was found that every one of the torpedoes had exploded, and that a large piece of deck, which in the morning was only two* feet under water, had disappeared, and that a great portion of the stern had been shatteied. On examining the wreck early on Saturday morning the divers found that Inone of the torpedoes placed on the previous day had missed fife, and that the starboard side was open the whole length, a broad splintered gash showing the direct upward' passage of the various, explosions. .■ There were, they said, clumps of heavy timberabo'ut the'mizen rigging, and also about the waistof the vessel. Alost of the large -iron tanks, some of which formerly contained over 2,000 gallons of water, were burst,- and nothing was to be seen of any colonial wine. . The hoops were there, but the casks were gone"/- clearly showing that they must have been consumed. A torpedo placed in the mizen rigging soon disposed of the heavy timber alluded to. Three-quarter? ; of ,an hour afterwards the symmetry of the hulTs waist, as much as was left of it, was also disturbed, by , three of the lpaded oil-cans. ,-r/FhiSjWas thejbest shot of any that took place. A column of. water rose at least sixty feet high, the hea^y logs of timber were tossed, about like watches", land the wrecker^ were delighted. The Colonel will return"to blow up.thebows of the vessel. — Geelong Advertiser, April 22. „ , T , „ r

< « In Maine, where, ,'it is well/known, spirits are only all6wed to l^ be^ sold^jfor. ' ( knedical purposes, the doctor 1 intjiure'd of an Applicant tor a quart of gin what he wan<ied J t,Ke spirits foiV to which the reply was,~ roots in.* Thinking, of coupe,*tna^a family bottie of tonic bitters was to b'e,cpjpap"oundea, the' spirits w,ere duly sersredr, ! No sooner had the' purchaser got 1 outside th§> , shop, .than he gu^ the botfclB to hiajips and" took "a H^ig. Thils was observed j^€bcf orl^hovT^meA outlaying," 'I thou^tit""yba"l.tq^d/m^w)u only wanted $he spirit? ibp soSl^s^nip.'roots, and. he'f'6 ybu-"'are^dr!ri£tng'yoiirselfj jtruiik, 'Faith, doctor, and I'm afte? t f ellpig yez po li^sl I wanted the gin' u 'shure\ to^so^k the^roots of me ould tongue/ whi&i "was 'so dhry IcouldneverQwallpwanfoTithfulofmate to teta-engthen K^^Qci|)r fouid himself. Ukeife'^Wei^fflvsoldJ