BAR TRAGEDY

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 June 1926, Page 4

BAR TRAGEDY

STEELE’S REMAINS,./FOUND.

Human bones, scattered along the Po/brari 'Beach, near the. inoutli of the Buller Creek,' were discovered;;; about noon on Saturday yoiung men, Albert and James r'isher. They informed Mrs P. Olney, who communicated with the Greymouth police by telephone. Meanwhile, Messrs j. Tjndale and H. V. Mathias collected , the remains, arid placed them above highwater mark. Mounted Constable J.i Crowley went out from“ Greymouth, and ha<d the. remains brought in to the Morgue. They consisted of the', skull, the spinal column, and the leg bones, and to the latter were attached boots,, trousers, arid underclothing. Subsequently, t.he remains were identified as those of Robert Bruce Steele, of Blaketown, one of the two victims of the ill-fated fishing expedition which left Greymouth on Sunday, May . . 30, the boat being/ dashed on to. the rocks at the South Tiphead when returning about 6.30 p'.m. The' second Victim, whose name is believed to be Dawgill, is still missing. The third member of the party, John Robert .Gamble, ■ rescued by a launch. An inquest, was. held at Greymouth .to-day by Coroner W. Meldrum.. Senior-Sergeant P. J. McCarthy conducted the proceedings for the ; police. John Rebert Gamble, the survivor of the .tragedy, said that he was. a coal miner, residing at Gresson Street, Greymouth. On Sunday, JMfay- 30, he went to Steele’s residence at . Blaketown, having previously, made arrangements to go fishing. A stranger, whose name witness did not know, was also present. At 3 p.m. they went our in a sailing boat. Deceased and witness were experienced in sailing boats, and the stranger said that he had done a lot of fishing. They started to. return to port about 5 p.m. The boat was just an open sailing boat, without an engine. They reached the mouth of the river about 6 p.m. and approached it .'from .the south. On rounding the tip;-< they; were caught by_ a swell and .thrown on-to,’Uie.low rocks. It was low ■tidb,: and . .theA rocks were exposed' for a’ considerable distance from the bar. While/the. boat on the rocks, 1 a second swell, caught and capsized it, the backwash/carrying them to sea. Witness; manageddo. swim to the boat,. ; a'nd-caught, the centre-board. Another swell. then-'Tighted the boat. The other 'men' seemed/ to swim in towards the rocks, ? and; he called out, telling them to -come ‘ bjick tpAhe boat. During that time, the current was taking the boat out to: sea. -.He. heard the other men. calling- ouib, to: the/signalman for help. Witness also sang-out, and a launch ,came‘ to his When he last saw, his companions, they were about ten yards away-; from the rooks. He was • picked up .by the launch, after Ranging •'/■oil to the boat for about twenty minutes. He showed the men on the launch the place where he last saw his companions, but they could not betfound. The sea was making, and the launch had to return to port. William Armstrong, miner,’ of Runanga, " stepfather ?of Steele, gave evidence of*identification, which was established by the boots and’ clothing. Similar evidence was given by Hugh Steele,,, .rope asistant, Runanga, a ’brother of deceased. ‘ . . Mounted-Coristable J. Crowley said that lie < had beaches since the day of the tragedy.;,On Saturday last', he received advice that a body had been seen on the beach at Punakaiki. He went out to recover the remains. They were just.above high.water mark, and he brought them to the''Greymouth Morgue, where they were identified. . ’■ “j - . It. : * The Coroner returned a verdict that deceased was accidentally, drowned_at the mouth of. the Grey River on May <3O "last Spealdng later to a “Star” reporter, Mr Hugh Steele expressed his appreciation, on behalf of deceased s relatives, at the conscientious v?ay in which the police had conduced the patrol in their ~ search for.-the bodiesHe desired particularly- to thank Mounted-Constable Crowley and Constables Baird and Houston.