THE DISASTER AT MANUKAU.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXX, Issue 5135, 5 February 1874, Page 2

THE DISASTER AT MAN UK AU.

Tiikhe is now no doubt that the ' Flora Macdonald ' was the vessel which capsized and, with all hands, went to the bottom off Mauukau If arbour, on Monday morning. Our special reporter forwarded to our office last night a piece of the vessel's stern, with her name painted on it, found inside the harbour Home twelve miles distant froin the spot where she was capsized. JNino lives have, as we now know, been lost by this unfortunate and fatal occurrence. They have been cut oil' suddenly, within sight of land, with no one to hear the despairing cry that preceded the Bwift sweep of the angry sea. The little vessel, after leaving Mauukau Harbour, had been met by the approaching Btorm which had been coming up the coast, while fair weather was witnessed in the Manukau. After getting into the gale and finding herself unfit to cope with it ; probably suffering from some injury which destroyed her steering powers, the vessel driven by adverse winds attempted to reenter the Manukau. lint she arrived at a time when the bar was unlit to cross, as the signals at tho Head clearly showed. Til ere was the raging wind behind and the dangerous bar before, with an unmanageable vessel between. To lace the wind was impossible, to nde out the storm equally so, and to attempt tho bar in the condition it then showed was almost certain death. The hoped for chance of safety which evidently induced the master of the vessel to try to cross the bar was doomed never to be realised ; a vast wave was seen to Btrike her and overwhelm her at once. 13y some of those curious accident*, trilling delays, those little things winch ho often alter the complexion of moil'* lives, and are yet so small as to ere nte wonder to the individual why such " jjn-ut events from little causes sprmu," — somo sixteen or eighteen additional persons anxious to get to llaglau by the ' Flora Macdonald ' were prevented from getting on board, some by their being only about an hour too late «u reaching Onehuuga. Had these been passengers instead of lamenting the loss of nine lives, nearly thiriy persons would have met their death, most of them newly arrived immigrants but a few days in the colony. 1 ho disaster, sad tlunmh it bo, lias been le s than it might luue, and would have been, had tho intending passing rs been able to got on board tlif >essel prior to her sailing. It would bp premature in the present state of our information regarding the condition of tho vessel, to accept as exact miy exaggerated charge residing her alleged unseaworthiness. In the oidinary course of events an inquiry into the causes which led to the wrick will bring out trustworthy statements on that subject, so far as it is possible to ascertain them. Assertions inimical to

t n 1 Mpiniou mat she \\ as in a good eundi ion, supplied by one who formerly sailed in her, have been combated by persons who know the vessel, and reasons are given in support of the denial, it is however, admitted that the vessel leaked, not to a great extent, butstill leaked; and it v. ill only be justice to wait for evidence, which either a Court of Marine inquiry, or a coroner's inquest, should any of the bodies be recovered, will produce.

His Honor the Superintendent and Messrs. Reed and Sheehan, two members of the Provincial Executive, left Auckland yesterclay, for a visit of about ten days' duration to I auranga, Opotiki, aud other settlements on the Ea3t Coast. On the way down his Honor aud Mr. Reed travelled as far as Motuihi in tho 'Golden Crown,' and took part in the Prince of Wales Masonic festivities until about six o'clock, when the 8.s. ' Pretty Jane' called off the island for the Superintendent and Executive. The City Baud played "Remember Me," " Auld Lang Syne'" *c , as a leave taking to his Honor. Mr. Matthew Barry also accompanied the party to the East Coast district, for the purpose of prospecting the Urowera ranges for auriferous deposits. The natives there have expressed their wish that such should be done, and his Honor the Super* intendent has made arrangements accordingly. On arrival at the East Coast Mr. Barry will be conducted through a portion of the district, and introduced to the natives by Mr. W. Kelly, M.li.R. Mr. Beveridge, who accompanied his Honor to Motuihi, i returned to Auckland in the ' Golden Crowd/ The industrial and fine art3 exhibition at the Mechanics' Institute has been brought to a close and arrangements are now in progress to complete a balance sheet of the receipts and expenditure. After Mr. Wood's collection of South Sea curiosities had been removed the committee wrote to him a complimentary letter upon the handsome collection which he had placed at their disposal. To that letter the following letter was received in reply, and which was read at a committee meeting last night :— "Auckland, Jaau.ry 22, 1874. Gentlemen, Ihavoto thank you for your kind and complimentary letter. I am only sorry that my South Sea Island collec* tion was not more complete. In a previous voyage I gathered from various islands all that I could find of interest. This time I only endeavoured to procure what was new to me. Consequently my collection was not io complete as 1 would have wished, had I known that an exhibition of them would have been desire I iu Auckland. I am now about to make another cruise among tho islands, and should F be successful in procuring a number of objects f f interest I should feel it an honour if tho Mechanics' Inst.tute thought them worthy of exhibition. I am, &c f , C. F. Wood. To the Committee of the Mechanics' Institute, Auckland." A first meeting of credit rs in the estate of William Ii win Smith was fi\rd for yesterday. The liabilities are £166, and the assets nil. No creditors attended, and the meeting was adjourned for a week. The long and tedious case of Graham v. Thomas and otheis, will be concluded today. All the witneses have been examined, and (his morning the learned Council will address tho jury. Mr. Gustave Beckx has been appointed Consul-General for New Zealand by hia M.\jesty th« King of tho Belgians, ami has bi!cn recognized by his Excollency the Governor as Consul-Genet al. Iu the N'io Zealand On <"<>, of tho 2 ( )th January, is published the register of medioal practitioners for 1873. A public meeting of Good Templars is advertised to be held in the uchool-ioom of the United Methodist Freu ( hurch this evening, at half-past seven o'clock. The ship ' China,' that sailed from London on the 13th November, took out for New Zealand several specimens of cattle and sheep of the purest strains in England. They consisted of "British Flag," a first prize animal, lately tho property of the Messrs. Duddiug, of Panton ; " Wellingtonia," a splendid half-bred by Mr. Kirkham, of Audley Caistor ; and "Cherry Gwjnnc," from tho herd of Mr. Sharploy, of Acthorpe. This last hails from a heid of which a cow had three decandants, two heifers and a bull, realised at a receut *-ale nearly £1,500. These, as well as twentytive pure Lincolnshire ewes, ate being shipped by Mr. S. Larkworthy, of the Bank I of New Z aland. Twenty Lincoln ewes and two rams from tho flocks of Mr. Thomas Kirkham, of Bscathorpe, and the Messrs. Dudding, of Pauton, have also been shipped by the * Ciuua ' for Mr. Cathcart "Wa&ou, of Conteibury. We understand that the Drum and Fife Band, with tho sanction of Capo. Peek, will j^ive a performance on board the ship ' Hmdostau ' tins e\ening at eight o'clock. The publics will be admitted. Tho members of the Auckland Harmonic Society meet for practice this evening in the large loom of the Young Men's Christiau association, at 8 o'clock. The subjects for praotieo arc Mozart's Twelfth Mass and Haydn's Creation. As a contrast to the extensive bill manufacturing w hich distinguishes each session of I our Assembly, it is worthy of note that during the late session of the Victorian Parliament, which extended a little over six month?, there wore only forty-two bills initiated, of which twenty-six were pas ed and received the Royal assent ; eight passed tho Assembly, but not the Council, and the rjraainder were discharged or withdrawn. The treasurer of the Orphan Home acknowledges with thanks the receipt ef £5 2a. 1(M. from Mesar3. Cruiokshank and Co., Wing portion of money received from passengers in tho s.s. ' Hero' on her trip to the Hot Springs. Fifteen shillings a day was of!ered for ha vestmen on Moa Flat, Ota^'o, hist week, and men even at that could hardly be obtauud A contimporury itates that in 1S72 New Zealand imported articles tiom various paits of the world to the value of iit least two millions and a half, which must be placed in the oategory of luxunes As much as £3 a week aud found has been paid aa wages for harvest work in the Oamaru district X2 10d. per week and found has been offered and refused. Reaping is steadily advancing in the Tuvpeka (Otago) district, says the Tinus, although not as yet in full swin^. The i>rain crops generally are not rouiarkably heavy, novel the'ess there are exceptions Wo refer to a magnificent, crop of wheat on Tuapeka Flat, which is consideied to be the best iu the district. The eneiyetic farmer who owns this crop is confident ha will ha e a yield of over 40 bushels to the acre of really first class giaui. The ttiaw in some places is 6 feet in height Over £100 has been collected for Captain Johnson, of the 'Suiat.' A parcel of new oats was soil at the Teviot last week at the rate of 23 6d per bushel on the ground. At the Nelson Proviuco Anniversary sports hold yesterday in Nelson City, the Mile Font Race u aa run in 4min. T>6sec , which is vt-iy f.tir running for an amateur. The te'egrain omits the name of the successful luiinci, who, In sides a £4 or £5 pme, gets a »iUer cup for doing the distance under five minutt s Mr. T< nnant, of the B nk < f Mew •-outh *\ alei, is the bebt runnel in NeKo ., ,.nd has lepea edlv a ned first place, aud it is piobable he is tli 11 winner. Tho shorte t tune on repaid m which » mile has been run is 4mm. 17»eo,, and this by a professional i tinner Horseradish grated and mixed with pickle w ill prev. nt nioul 1 forming on the top of th ? jai Leaves of hoiseradish laid over the top will answer the put pose. It is said that this pungent root, if grated and mixed wit't cider and eaten with the food, will both 1 prevent and oure paralysis.

'In :i |ouruiid meeting ot ot t'ue Auckland Pres!\\te v was heM yesterday, when the Rev. T. Nome acted as Mod-rat r pro. tern, A large amount of busings wa*i disposed of f but it was chitliy ot a nmt'iie chaiacter. The resignations of the litv. T. Stewart, of Waikftto, and the Kpv. Mr. Tait, of Coromandel were accepted, and a call was presented to Mr. fetewarfc from the Coromandel congregation, which was acceptod, and the necessary airangementa made for inducting him into his new charge. A summary of the business disposed of will be found in another column. The Australasian of January 10 reports as follows on the Victorian harvest :—Harvesting has been pushed on almost without intermission, very fow of the men having left off work during the holidays. In all tarf earliest districts threshing is well forwarcT; the results as regards wheat, though differing rather widely, are for the most part satisfactory— the exceptions are where the heat came too quickly to admit of the berrybeing properly filled. The Leader of the same date reports : The state of the crops througnont the country is being confirmed by reports now coming to band. The crops, wheat especially, in lome districts, are turning out highly satisfactory. The farmers for the most part have used strippers as a means of saving labour, whioh is not only expensive but hard to get. If it were practicable they would prefer the clean work executed by the reaper. 1'iie grain in other districts noi having reached maturity, is sadly shrivelled. Even patches are to be seen in the fields where the ears look bleached, and upon inspection are found to be empty, so that the farmers now find that the yield will not be more than half of what they calculated on a few weeks ago. Under the heading " Buffianism at Ballarat," the Australasian's telegraphic news, Sunday, January 11, contains the following : — "Last night the police arrested two larrikins named Healy and O'Brien, for fighting in the street. The fellows called on their mates to release them. Two constables went to help their comrades, when about 70 larrikins surrounded the police, and fought them. Ten more police were sent for from the station to help. Several of the police were injured in the melee, but not seriously. Four larrikins were arrested. Constable English stuck to his man, though every i-titch of clothing was torn off him, except his boots and socks. " The death of a miner is reported from Royston, in Hertfordshire. A tailor named Peate, 57 years old, was found dead in his bed, and the doctor at the inquest, said that death was caused by starvation, and there was no food anywhere about the premises, but no lets a sum than £40 in money vras found in the house. The numerous strikes that have been continued amongst the workmen in Britain for sometime past are beginning to have their natural effect ; that is, driving the trade of the country into the hands of foreigners. The follow ng is only but one instance that might bo cited : -A firm of perhaps the largest wine merchants in the world using bottles enough to keep busy a large manufactory in the North of England, found consequent upon strikes, dear coals, &c, th .t bottles got five, ten, twenty, thirty per ce.'it. dearer (aays the Court Journal). It began to get rather serious, anl at last they wrote to the manufacturer to say that, as far as they were concerned, they had gona to the end of their tother.— " Come down and speak to the men yourself" the manufacturers wrote. So down went one of the firm, and talked in a friendly way to the men, and showed them what would be the end of it. The next week they aent m a demand for a fresh advance in wages, and the price o? bottles was up five percent. The firm immediately went over to Belgium, looked about them, and being able to give a pretty big order, ma^e a contract for bottles which wi.l be delivered here at considerably less than the North of England will sell. " We have got a piece of ground," says one of the firm, " that cost us £20,000, and in the sheds run. up upon this we mean t> store a few dozen shiploads of foreign bottles, winch w e shall keep in stock, and then we shall be able to snap our fingers at the English bottle makers, who, knowing our daily necessities, have hitherto had us on the hip. We shall have our first delivery in before the end of this mouth, after which date the men in the North must look out customers and earn their wage out of somebody else's purse." In the Lord Mayor's Court on November 1, before Sir Thomas Chambers and a jury, an action tot breach of promise of marriage wj.3 tried The plaintiff, Miss Caroline Brazier, a young wouiau of prepossessing appearance, was a domestic servant, and defendant, Thomas Chandler, is a master coachbuildor, at Brixton-nse. Damages were laid at £300. Plaintiff was examined, nnd stated that she was hrst introduced to defendant by the mother of his present wife in August, 1S70, when he told her hs had a cottage of his own, tnd £200 in money whioh he had saved. She met him from time to time, and, in January, 1S71, he asked witness if she would be his wife, to which she replied in the affirmative, and subsequently he seduced her. Defendant in his evidence denied in toto the statements of the plaintiff ; bub the jury, after a short deliberation, found a verdict in her favour — di»mages, £100. A wedding ceremony at Dampremy, Belgium, was a short time ago marred by a shocking accident. As the newly-married pair were leaving the sacristy, after the marriage, the bride, by a sudden turn, brought her light muslin dress in contact with one of th j tapers, and in au instant was enveloped in flames. Her husband and brothers made every effort to save her, and it was hoped she would recover, but ahe shortly after died of her injuries. The Times of India reeorda a shocking case of human sacrifice in the Kohlapore state. The crime was detected, and the criminal discovered. The victim \ras a boy of twelve years old, who was decoyed from hits home on the pretence of showing him something wonderful, and burnt within the temple as a human sacrifice to the stern deity, under the impression that Mahadeo, pleased with human sacrifice, would tell her faithful devotee where hidden treasure could be found. A curious story is going the rounds of the continental journals. The Duke of Meinm j 9 a recently startled his relatives and his couit by marying privately Fraulfin Ellen Franz, an actress. Soon afterwards he proposed to take his wife to the villa opon the Lake of Geneva, whioh was the property of the late Duchess, who was a daughter of Princess Marianne, of the Netherlands. The vula is now the property of the Princess Matianne, who, it is s>aid, gave her servants 8tnugent orders not to admit the Duke's present wife ou any condition. The ducal couple had consequently to abandon their plans. Kev. Fither Damen, S. J. , says the Chicago Evintiuj ]\»t, is a veiy sensiole, if not a very Catholic diviue lie has been talking to the girls, and talking to them plai ly. He says that paint and powder on the eneeks are a Mgn of barrenness within. Much paint, no brains He says further that they should eschew dime novels and cultivate the oookbook, and taiso thtir mothois to a level with themse'ves by bharing their work in the kitchen, and permitting them to ihare their leisure in the pat lour. Moreover, he says they mustn't tell any more "fibs," if they want to be angels in a future state of existence. A rural gentleman standing over a register m a Cincinnati store, attracted geneinl uttention to himself b}' obserwng to his wife, " Murmr, I guess I'm agoin' to bare « I feel such hot streuk- a-runnin' up niy lJff." A sausage 69 feet long, as hi? around as a 8to\e-pipe, and weighing 5,592 pounds, was nude in Pennsylvania recen ly. It has heen lathed m hair renewer, and if the result is favorable will be exhibited next yeir as a Imiiy boa-constrictor from the wild* of New Jcr^ev . Four ladies recently laid the foundation stone of a new Weileyan chapel at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Each lady laid a corner »tone.

"When Sir Gin Li* Seruopo muted a Imsje part^ of his hiends and neighbour to (lino wiHi him nt Bolton Hall, it is recorded m flic Ingoldsby legends that lie was vorv lndnrnntit at t lu n- disappointing him Alter wail 1112 two hour* the page at ln*t announced tli.it dinner was scived m the absence of the guests, whereupon Sir Guy is reported to have said : " I en thousand fiends sieze them wherevei they be ' The de\ il take thorn ! and the devil takethce!! And tho devil may eat up the dinner for me ! • !" An artful gentleman seeking the suffrages of a metropolitan constituency in Victoria was doomed to a similar disappointment tho other day. Ho invited a large party of influential electors to dine with him. Covers were laid for fifty, and a feast "worthy of Bolton Hall prepared. When the time came, fire out of tho expected fifty turned up, and those not the most respectable of tho lot. Dinner was put bnck for an hour, but without avail, for no one else appeared. .Six men sitting at a small table can look and feel very jolly and sociable ; but to sir down in tho presence of five and forty vacant chaiis, each one of which is suggestive of backing out, is not conducive to jollity. Tenders are wanted by the General Government for the supply and delivery of a large quantity of sleepers for the southern railways. Tenders will be received until the 4th March The Provincial Government of Wellington invite tenders, until the 2nd April, for the reclamation of 49 acres of laud for the Wellington harbour.