A LONG PASSAGE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10628, 5 June 1897, Page 4

A LONG PASSAGE.

ANXIOUS TIME ON THE DINGADEE. The Union Company's b.p. DlndPgee oame tn an ftnohorcge in Poverty B»y shortly after 9 o'otock on Thnraday morn> log lifter a somewhat exciting und duoidedly unpleasant jouruey from Nspler. The Dlogarlee left Napier on Tuesday evening, having In tow an iron dredge pant far Mr T. B. O'Connor, who was intending to nee it in connection with his oonttaot for the removal of Dips rock from the Turanganui river. From the first the pant provod a souroe of trouble. Only about an hoar after the commencement of the joarney the pant broke adrift, and It) was necessary to lower a bast, pick it np. and re-fix the tow line— 5 task that <?ob not effaoted withont considerable difficulty owing to the heavy oca that was running, The steamer thea prooeeded dead Blow, bat more ■than once the pnnt broke adrift, sDd wsb only oeonred with considerable difficulty. The night was very dark and cold, and a heavy sea wns running, and a passenger on board informed oar representative that he was several times woke up during the night, and rnshing npon deok, filled with upprehenolon, he fouud each time that ths paat had once raoro snoceßded in break* Ing loose. Then, he says, there wav a nasty job to ba performed. A boat had to be lowered in a heavy sco, and a orew aent oct to pick up the dereuot, bnb enoh time they wore BUCcsßßfal, and at I o'olook yesterday arrived at Poitland Island, and a boat woo eenf) aehoie to muke Inquiries with leaned to tee wreck of the eoow Pirate. The shipwrights, it waa fonnd, had taken everything movable off the vessel, Bud had oc.lluoted it ready to put on board the Dlngudee, bat as the sea was too heavy to permit of this bting done, the gear wes left thero (o await a later opportunity of bring lemoved, and the shipwrights wore taken on board the vessel for Auokland, After this a start was again made, with the pant la tow, for Qlsborne, the vessel steam« ing "dead alow," find nothing untoward occurred until about 4 o'clock this morning, when the Dtearaer Wan about 18 miles from culb port, Then the pant again broke away with a load meb, and a* it was impossible to send out a boat the vessel lay to nntll 6 o'olook. Search was then niide for 'the pnnt, which bad disappeared, find after cruising round for another boar uome portions of her waterways tfero discovered, and it wao coDJectmed that she had fonndored. The Dlngadee, aitcr making sure that this waa the oase, resumed her journey, end as already atatcd reachod Gisborne about 9 o'clock. The tiip was an exceedingly trying one for all on boaid, and Captain Adame, in bis anxiety to do his beat to bring the pant safely through, never left the bridge the whole of the time since leaving Napier. Great sympathy is folt with Mr O'Connor on account of bis loss. This Is ifie secqnd low hfl has experienced, another pnnt having broken odrifb while being towed from Napier by the s.s, Ahuriri abont a fortnight ago, acd there seems little doabt that she, too, has tonndered, The prints were only finite recently purchased by him from the Kepler Harbor Board, He paid £350 for tbe pnnt he iont lnat night and £160 for the one wblah broke adrift from tbe s.s. Ahnrlri, bob Included in the latter was an engine and boiler, which he took eff and brought to Glsborne before letting the pnnt start from Napier. Both punts, however, bad been only slightly need, and were in excellent repair, snd were worth considerably more than wsb paid for tbe». Mj O'Connor will build fresh pants to replace those lost, bat he li already getting his machinery into poaUloo, and hopes to be able to commence dredging operations by the wagoning of next week —fovtrty Bay Herald.