THE WRECK OF THE ELINGAMITE

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 119, 15 November 1902, Page 5

THE WRECK OF THE ELINGAMITE

DISCOVERY OF THE MISSING RAFT. TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS OF THE OCCUPANTS. ONLY EIGHT PERSONS LIVING OUT OF SIXTEEN. FIVE AND A HALF DAYS OF ' AGONY. [BT TELEGItAPH — MiESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND, 14tli November. The Union Company's steamer Omapere, which 16ft Mnngonui at midnight last night for Auckland, after searching ■without success 'for the EiingamiWs missing- boat and raft, spoke 11.M.5. Penguin off the Little Barrier at noon to-day. The warship _ was shaping- a course from the north-east for Auckland, and as soon as the two vessels were within signalling distance, the Penguin signalled that she had picked up the EHngamite's raft with sixteen men on it, and that eight of these were dead. The third mate's boat was still missing. As the Omapere drew up to the Penguin, these tidings were confirmed briefly by the officers of the warship, and the Omapere continued on her course. Captain Chrisp communicated the news shortly after to Tiritiri lighthouse, whence it was conveyed to town by telephone. The Penguin arrived soon, afterwards and came to an anchorage off the railway wharf at a quarter to 5. NAMES, OF THE SURVIVORS. The names of those saved from the raft are : — Andrew Rossie, passenger. Stephen Rabone Neill, passenger. Thomas Malm, fireman. xueodore Danielson, A.B. Frank Jbbson, passenger. ' "Arthur Robinson, passenger. William Jordan, passenger. Henry Wetherilt, passenger. The following, who were originally on theTiaft, died from starvation and exposure, or jumped overboard : — Miss M'Guirk, the forecabin stewafdess, who died on Wednesday night after she had made a gallant struggle for life. Ellis, second steward, died on Thursday morning. Had the Penguin arrived a few hours sooner he would have, been saved alive." Muirhead, a passenger, jumped overboard on Wednesday night. He had gone niad. ' Dickson, a passenger, died on Monday night. A passenger, name unknown, connected with the Steel Trust, who had just been married and left his wife at Sydney, died on Tuesday morning. A passenger, name unknown, whoso father owns a yacht in Auckland, died on Monday. Pretty, a passenger, jumped overboard from the raft on Wednesday. Herbert (surname unknown), a churn of Pretty's, jumped overboard on Tuesday night. THE CASTAWAYS' EXPERIENCES. The raft was picked up sixty-six miles E by N N from the scene of the wreck, at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The survivors had been on the raft since 11 o'clock on Sunday, and had had nothing to eat but two apples. They used one apple on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday, each apple being cut into sixteen pieces. There were nineteen persons on the raft when it left the wreck. They hailed 1 the purser's dingy, and put three men on board of the dingy. The raft got clear of the land immediately after leaving the wreck, and never sa>w< it again. It drifted about, and was paddled till picked up. The casla-way^ had only one launch' oar and a &kiff oar. „ HOW THE PENGUIN FELL IN WITH THE RAFT. The narrative of the finding of the raft with eight survivors out of sixteen who had sought safety upon it last Sunday morning is briefly told by one of the lieutenants of the Penguin. On Thursday afternoon, when the Penguin was about sixty miles N.E. of tho Three Kings, the bottom boards of a boat and other wreckage was seen in the water. Shortly afterwards one of the men stationed at the mast-head sang out that a raft was in sight. At seven minutes past 4 the warship was alongside the raft. When it was seen that several of its occupants were alive the sailors on board gave three cheers. Only one man was standing on the raft. Three were kneeling down, and the remainder were croucb> ed in sitting, positions. The men and the raft were taken on board. The survivors were in a feeble condition, and some of them were too dazed to give intelligible answers to questions. Some of the men stated that some hours before they had seen a steamer appro ich, and that a boat had been loweied from it, and had come near them, but did not pick them up. Olhers said they had certainly seen a. steamer, but these did not mention the fact of a boat being lowered. The number of people on the raft after leaving the Elingamite was sixteen. Out of this number six passengers and two of the crew alone survived. ' THE ARRIVAL AT AUCKLAND. When it became known that H.M.S. Penguin was returning^ to Auckland with suivivors fioni the missing raft, thousands of people awaited her arrival, eager to know Mho were among the saved. When the Penguin steamed into the Waitemata, boats and launches put off in shoals, and the wharves were lined with people, among whom were many who had friends and relatives reported as missing. Only one of the survivors, Mr. Neill, was visible on deck. He lay feeble and worn ouC on the deck chair, and seven other men were tying on pallets in the chart-room, these eight being the sole survivors. They reclined in different positions, each one showing marks of terrible sufferings — the skin burnt and blistered on their faces, their, eyes bloodshot, their feet and legs too tender and raw from exposure to saltwater to bear the weight of their coverings. On the deck of the Penguin, lashed, was the raft which had carried the people on their terrible vovage — % structure about 12ft long by 7ft or Bft wide, consisting of narrow wooden battens nailed between two long round canvascovered floats. It did not take much imagination to picture the condition of sixteen people on that frail craft. They must have been, half-submerged nearly all the lime, and had no shelter from wind or rain or sun. Every wave must have washed over them. Each day and night was accompanied by hunger, thirst, cold, sickness, and hopelessness. To-morrow morning the survivors of tho wreck will be taken to the Auckland' Hospital. Midnight. The latest information from the Penguin to-night is that all the men are improving, with .one 'exception, and that one is not any worse.