LOSS OF THE COSPATRICK

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 147, 24 June 1933, Page 26

LOSS OF THE COSPATRICK

In last Saturday's "Post" there was printed an extract from the Auckland "Star" stating that sixty years ago, on June 1, 1873, the clipper ship Woodlark arrived at Auckland with 130 immigrants from Kngland. One of the passengers, Mr. It. Miilen, is still alive, and he stated in an interview at Auckland that when the Miilen family were arranging to leave .England for New Zealand they planned to travel by the Cospatrick, but fortunately for them they were too lato to secure accommodation on that vessel. Thedestruetion of the Cospatrick by firo at sea, with appalling loss*of life, was the greatest disaster connected with the settlement of tho Dominion. A correspondent, Mr. A. Perrin, writes stating that the '' Stars informant . was somewhat mixed in his dates. Mr. Perrin states that he himself arrived in Wellington on January .22, 1575, in the ship Berar, having missed the Cospatrick, but lost I luggage, furniture, and a piano in the Cospatrick, which was actually - seen burning, shortly before Christmas, 1874. Mr. H. Toomer, of Petono, who arrived at Lyttelton on January 21, 1875, in the Lady Joe'clyn, also remembers seeing the Cospatrick on fire a fewwceks.before Christmas. Mr. Perrin states that he does not know if the Cospatrick made an earlier trip to Auckland. For the benefit of readers, it is pointed out that the Cospatrick was burnt ht sea on November 18, 1874. Out of 475 people on board, only three _ur* vived. The Cospatrick made only one voyage to New Zealand besides the illfated one. She left London on March 20, and arrived at Dunedin on July 6, 1873. This is undoubtedly the trip referred to by Mr. Milieu. THE P ? Al-D~O. COMPANY A correspondent writes asking two questions. The first is: "When did the P. and O. Company trade to Auckland? I 'recently saw in an old periodical a photograph of the s.s. Mantua in Auckland Harbour." The. P. and O. Company traded to Auckland for a few months .in the latter half of 1909, and early in 1910. The''second question is: "What happened to the s.s. Ling Nam? I used to

see her in Wellington in 1923. I- believe she traded between Hong Kong and Valparaiso, but anr not sure. A notable feature of her was the large number of windows in place of the usual round portholes." The Ling Nam left tho New Zealand coast after tho South America trade became unprofitable. Inquiries hare been made at official sources, but because the vessel was Eastern-owned no record was kept of hor, and it is regretted that her end is not known locally. Perhaps some reader has the necessary information.