LONDON, April 4, 1902. "IN THE MIDST OF LIFE."

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7464, 24 May 1902, Page 3 (Supplement)

LONDON, April 4, 1902. "IN THE MIDST OF LIFE."

Seldom since the war began has any public festival in the Old Country remained unmarked by some untoward happening in South Africa, and Easter was no exception to the rule. It is true that the "regrettable incident" of which the wires informed us last Tuesday morning was" not of the usual nature, but over four score casualties represents, in these ■days, the mortality of quite a "severe engagement." The accident on the Barberton line was prophesied long ago by newspaper correspondents, and others familiar with the steep gradients and awkward curves of the railway line in this locality, and the wonder is that a smash-up has not occurred before. In addition to the sad news from South Africa we had the usual holiday accidents at home, the worst of which was the running down of the barque Cambrian Princess by the Channel steamer Alma, one of the "greyhounds" of the South Western Company, off the Nab Lightship, at 2 o'clock on Tuesday morning. ' The collision apparently was due to a thick haze which prevented the look-out men on both ships seeing the proximity of the vessels till they were within a very .short distance of each other. At any rate, when the alarm was given on the Alma, all attempts to pTevent the collision were futile, and the .swiftly speeding steamer crashed into the starboard quarter of the illfated barque, cutting her down to the water's edge. For a few minutes the two ships were locked and wreckage from the mast and rigging of the sailing ship fell on to the steamer's deck. Seeing that the barque was doomed, the crew of the Alma began to help some of the sailors of the Cambrian Princess over the bows oi the steamer. Some others had jumped into the water, and were hauled up on the deck of the steamer. Then quite suddenly the vessels parted company, and, to the horror of the people on the Alma, the bnrque rolled once or twice, gave a lurch, and sank, carrying with her 11 men, who, with the eleven men rescued by the Alma, made up the ship's company of twenty-two. A boat was lowered from the Alma, and cruised around the spot where the barque had foundered, but a long search met with no reward. The passengers on board the Alma, comparatively few in number, were in their bunks when the crash occurred. They rushed on deck to find the vessels locked together, and water pouring into the tore part of the steamer. Naturally great excitement prevailed, but the officers and crew of the Alma succeeded in keeping order among the passengers, and the water-tight doors having been promptly closed, the captain assured them they need have no fear for the safety of the steamer, which, when the search was abandoned, returned to Southampton. The Cambrian Princess was a guano laden ship 125 days out from Peru, and her crew were looking forward eagerly to an early release from the malodorous craft which bad been their home for four long months.

The tale of Eastertide disasters was completed by a couple of mining accidents. The first took place at Wigan on Wednesday an explosion of gas in the Edge Green Colliery proving fatal to a dozen men ana the second occurred at the LochgeJly mine, West Fife, three miles from the scene of the memorable disaster which occurred at the Donibristle colliery a few months ago. Here, again, the cause of the. disaster was. an explosion of gas, but happily the section in which it took place onfy contained half a dozen men. Of these two were killed outright, ana two were suffocated by the aftev-' •damp, the remaining couple being rescued by the hastily organised search party before the deadly gas had quite vanquished them.