WRECK NEAR CAPE PALLISER.

Evening Post, Volume LII, Issue 1170, 9 December 1896, Page 5

WRECK NEAR CAPE PALLISER.

THE BARQUENTINE DELMIRA ASHORE AT TE KAUKAU. ALL HANDS SAFE. This morning the steamer Kahu, which left Wellington on Monday for Akitio for a cargo of wool, returned to port having on board Captain Hntchinson and crew, 10 in number, of the barquentine Delmira, which at 10 o'clock last night struck on a reef off Te Kaukau Point, distant about two miles from Mr. Barton's White Rock Station, near Cape Palliser. There is Very little chance of its proving other than a total loss. The Delmira ltft the Bluff on 30th November for .H'alden Island to bring a cargo of guano to Dunedin. A succession of light and variable winds, mostly ranging from north to north-east, were met with until she was abreast of Banks Peninsula on Monday night. Then a fairly strong south-east wind sprang up, ultimately veering round to the southward. It continued to blow from the latter direction until shortly after 8 o'clock last night, when the wind suddenly dropped. The night was very dark, with intermittent rainfall, and it was impossible to see far ahead. A nasty sea was running, and Captain Hutehirison, seeing that he was approaching perilously near to land, endeavoured to wear the vessel round. As, however, there was no wind, she continued to drift in shore. Eventually she struck, bow first, on the ledge of rocks off Te Kaukau, and the heavy swell drove the stern in to the shore. W hen the stern caught the reef, it had the effect of causing the bow to pay round and the vessel then went broadside on to the reef, which quickly ripped up the bottom between the fore-and-aft water-tight compartments. Captain Hutchinson and the mate (Mr. Twbs) decided to stand by the ship while the remainder of the crew launched the boats, filling them with provisions and whatever "clothing and the vessel's fittings were likely to prove useful on the long pull to Wellington, some 45 miles distant. The boats remained near the stranded ■vessel until 5 o'clock this morning, when they were Keen by Captain Ronteri], of the Kahu, on his return trip from Akitio to Wellington. Captain Romeril had seen the vessel ashore and instantly taken steps to ascertain the whereabouts of the crew. Capt. Hntchinson and the mate were then taken off the vessel, and the whole of the crew were brought on to Wellington. When the Kahu left this morning the Delmira was heading about E.N.E. and j standing fairly upright, i The vessel is fitted with watertight compartments forward and aft, and Capt. Hutchinson reports that there is now about lift of water in the mainhold. He also informs us that there is not the slightest hope of saving the vessel, and that she is not insured for a single penny. The Delmira is owned by Grice, Somers, 'and Co., of Melbourne, and was built in 1864 by Bhodee, of Chester. She is an iron barquentine of 338 tons gross, 325 tons under deck, and 338 tons net; length, 134 ft 7in ; breadth, 24ft 3inj depth, 156 ft. On his arrival here Captain Hutchinson informed the local authorities of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, who act as agents for the owners, of the circumstances, and they will now report to the owners as to future instructions. >