FATEFUL WAIPAPA POINT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 24 September 1924, Page 8

FATEFUL WAIPAPA POINT.

LOSS OF THE TAIAEOA. The wreck of the Wakatu at AVaipapa beach has recalled the fact that between 7 and 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 11, 1886, the s.s. Taiaroa. was wrecked at this spot. There were forty-eight people on board the steamer, and°of these thirty-four were drowned. The Taiaroa was commanded by Captain G. Thompson, who was saved. Amongst those who perished was Mr. R. H. Vallance, a well-known figure in racing circles in those days. It is interesting to note that when the Taiaroa was wrecked the Wakatu, then owned by Kinsey, Ward and Co., was placed at the disposal of the Union Steamship Company to proceed to the scene of the. wreck.

The Lyttelton- Times of April 13, 1886, sa-ys :. “About 11 o’clock yesterday morning, the community was startled by the intelligence that the Union Steamship Company’s well-known boat, the Taiaroa, had gone ashore on the run down from Wellington to Lyttelton. The first messages -were, of course, brief and gave rise to widespread dismay. The offices of the Union Steamship Company were besieged with persons eager,.to obtain exact information of the occurrence. The general distress was . heightened by the fact that a large number of people here had friends who were to have left Wellington on the; boat, but of whose actual sailing no definite information had come to hand. This was especially the case in regard to a number, of gentlemen well known in sporting circles. The Island’ Bay races were concluded om Saturday, and it was thought that, a large number of visitors from Christchurch'.were returning from the meeting by this ill-fated vessel. Private telegrams from Wellington stated that Mr. R. H. Vallance was on board on his return to Christchurch, when he intended taking to Auckland a racehorse to compete at tljie meeting there. Immediately on receipt of definite intelligence the Union Company’s manager decided to dispatch from Lyttelton the s.s. Wanaka with orders to steam to the scene of the wreck, and,-Messrs; Kinsey, Ward and Co. placed the s.s. Wakatu at the disposal of the; company. The sis. Wanaka left Lyttelton at. four o ’ clock in the afternoon, taking some officials of the Union Company and one or: two otl\er gentlemen,, among' whom were Air. Hugh Vallance, Mr. R. Ala son. the missing man’s partner, a shareholder of the Union Company, who -is at present on a visit to the Colony,‘and whose brother was a passenger by the lost vessel. During the day telegrams from many sources came pouring in, and from- these it became evident that a terrible disaster had occurred. The meagreness of the information available during the- day, however, is accounted for by the fact that the spot where the wreck happened is a remote one about 100 miles from Lyttelton, some 75 miles from Wellington, and 30 miles from Kaikoura-. The Taiaroa was an iron schoqnerrigged steamer of 228 tons net tonnage, and 438 tons gross, built at Glasgow by Inglis in August, 1875. The Taiaroa, before finally starting, put back four times to take on late passengers. Mr. Beader, formerly of Aloeller and Co.’s, had his luggage on hoard when he received a telegram asking him to await the arrival of a friend on the way down from Auckland. He consequently came’ ashore again. A number of bookmakers who intended taking passage changed their minds at the last moment.”

A survivor of the disaster, Air. Gilbert Hutton, gave the following details to a reporter: "We left AVellington at eleven o’clock on Sunday morning and met the full force of the south-easter. When off Cape Campbell, and after struggling along, the steamer went ashore between .7 and 8 p.m. AVe tried to get a line ashore, but failed. AVe then took to the boats, all being supplied with lifebelts. Four boats left the steamer, three of which hung on to a line attached to the steamer. About midnight a heavy sea capsized the boat nearest the steamer. I got on board the second boat, and about a minute after it capsized. Several ladies were in this boat. The third boat, of which the captain- was in charge, broke adrift and went out to sea. I saw no more of it. I struck out for the beach and reached it safely.” According to the captain, afteu leaving AVellingbon the Taiaroa had a strong north-west wind to Cape Campbell. At three o’clock the wind chopped round suddenly and blew hard from the south-west, with) thick rainy weather and heavy fog. The vessel steei'ed the usual course, down. The boats got away without difficulty, and every person was off the ship when the captain got into his boat.