ACCIDENT AT THE HEADS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 35, 23 December 1879, Page 3

ACCIDENT AT THE HEADS.

+ THE SCHOONER JANE ANDERSOI f < , ASHORE. 2£— "' We regret to record an acciden which occurred at the Manawati bar yesterday, which it is feared wil result in the total loss of the abov< fine schooner. When the Huia lef the wharf yesterday afternoon, sh< took in tow the schooner, which hac completed her loading of 2,80( sleepers in the morning. On arriving at the bar, the usual signal to " tak( the bar" was run up, when th< steamer crossed all right, but unfor tunately the Jane Anderson struci ou the bar, and despite all efforts o; Hhe steamer to pull her off, stucl hard and fast. The tow-rope was then cut on the steamer, and Captain Wills, seeing that any furthei attempts to render assistance would prove useless, proceeded on his voyage to Wellington. The schooner after striking, appears to have been earned over the bar by the current, and finally washed on to the beach some distance north of the pilot's house, with her rudder pintle earned away, and otherwise considerably damaged. We understand the Jane Anderson has been abandoned by Captain Saunders and the crew, who ► removed their effects from the vessel. The captain states that had the wind not died away just when the accident occurred, he would have been able to have sailed back into the river. The Jane Anderson was a fine large topsail schooner of 96 tons, and we believe is partly owned by Keith Ramsay, of Dunedin, the captain holding a share in her. We understand that nearly £400 was recently spent on the vessel. The schooner was bound to Dunedin with a cargo of sleepers for the Government. We ; learn that she is only partly insured. (Since the above was in type, we have received the following : — " The Huia grounded on the bar while towing the Jane Anderson out, and those on the steamer had to cut the tow-line to save her. The bar had silted up during the late gale. — Andrew. Seabury.")