FURTHER PARTICULARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6076, 9 May 1881, Page 5

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

We take from the Duuedin and Lyttelton papers further and fuller particulars, not telegraphed, as to the wreck of the ill-fated vessel:— THE SECOND MATE'S STATEMENT. The second mate's statement is highly important, as he was in charge at the time the accident happened, and alone can now giye a statement exactly concerning the captain's actions. The following is his statement in his own words :—"I came on deck at 4 a.m., and got the command from the chief officer to head her west. I had been a few minutes on the bridge when the captain came on to the bridge also. I said, ' I think we are rather close in shore, sir.' He said, 'Yes, by Jove, I think I hear the breakers.' He ordered the helm a-starboard, and hauled the ship out a point and a half, making her course W. by S. half S. I steered her at that for abont twenty-five minutes, when he left the bridge, saying, 'I am going to steady her course again by the standard compass. Watch when I blow my whistle, and see how her head is by the forward compass.' I whistled back to him when he whistled. Then he came and asked how she was. I told him her head was due west. He said, 'That's all right,'aud that the two compasses tallied. Then he went aft. A few minutes afterwards, I cannot say exactly how long, I thought I could see the breakers on the lee bow, and rushed aft and told the captain I thought I could see the breakers. He ordered the ship to be hauled' oiF the shore, but before there was time to do it she struck. He said, ' My God, she's ashore! ' and he at once gave orders to call all on board and clear away the boats. It was a thick morning, with a heavy gloom on the land. When we struck, the land could scarcely be seen, but I could hear the breakers ashore." At the inquest he gave the following additional information :—I have been a long time on this coast—for eighteen or twenty years. I knew we ■were close ashore because of the reef, and I saw the breakers besides. To see the breakers is a sign that the ship is too elose. The captain, when I called his attention to the matter, ordered the man at the wheel to put the vessel half a point to the south. We steered W. by S. half S. for twenty-five minutes. He then went aft, and ordered the vessel to be hauled in again west, and that is the course she was supposed to be going when she struck. To make that alteration, drew her into the land. The captain thought her far enough out to clear the reef. Having put her in west for ten minutes, I went on the quarter-deck aud told the captain that she was too close in shore, and wo would have to haul her further out.'' Immediately I told him the second time, he put the helm hard a-starboard, and then the ship struck on the reef. To put her head a-starboard took her further out. THE FIRST MATE'S STATEMENT. On the vessel striking the chief mate states : The passengers all came crowding up at once, and for some minutes there was difficulty in controlling them. While the boats were being cleared some passengers in their wish to get saved jumped into them before things were ready to swing them up to the davits. There was so much crowding that the men were hindered in getting the arrangements completed. The captain had to threaten to use force to keep them back, and it was with difficulty those who had got in were got out. At the launching of each boat there was a good deal of trouble from the passengers, and the captain and mate had more than once to interfere. Things became quieter by degrees. From the time the chief mate's boat reached the shore and capsized nothing possibly could be done for the passengers. The tide was flowing after 9 o'clock, and the wind rising with it the sea increased. The chief officer is strongly of opinion that even had assistance come after 11 o'clock on Friday morning ne> boat could have got alongside the steamer, as the sea was breaking over her heavily. It has been urged by some that Mr. Mills, when he knew the Kakanui was at the Bluff, should have arranged for her going at once to the wreck, but even if he had done so she could not possibly have arrived until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and according to Mr. Lindsay, nothing could have been done, at any rate with boats. The mate states that he saw no man in the rigging with a child lashed to him. The afternoon passed over drearily. The people on board appeared to be behaving with calmness, as if they were prepared to meet any fate that might befall them. Darkness came, and the survivors on shore lit a huge fire with wreckage, and sat round it. It may be imagined how the unfortunates on the rigging must have envied those on shore, as, unseen themselves in the darkness, they could see then* late fellow voyagers sitting round that fire. The first mate continues : — " I knew we were not past Otara Point, and thought'when I left the deck we were steering the proper course, aud according to my knowledge of the coast she was far enough off land—that is, four or five miles. I have been on the coast 20 years, and served oh years on the Albion. The course we were steering was to bring her to Dog Island, and if the night had not been foggy, we could have seen the Dog Islaud light. That is the light to guide us through the Straits. It is on Waipapa this light ought to be, so as to keep a vessel off that point, and clear of the reef. I saw the land when I left the deck at 4 o'clock, but that is not a sign of being too close. The alteration made by the captain would bring her to shore very quickly. I spoke to the Rev. Mr. Richardson ten minutes before I left the ship. He was perfectly calm, and his last words to me were, ' Have confidence in yourself, and take the boat away safely.' I replied, 'No fear of that.' The captain's conduct was everything that was proper under the trying circumstances, and when I left he was perfectly cool and calm. The sailor who was on the look-out is one of the survivors, and he claims that there was no neglect of duty on his part, but that he thought the broken water he saw was caused by the action of the tide. THE SCENE OF THE WRECK. The Otara reef, it may be stated here, runs out to a distance of six or seven miles from the land. It was on the eastern angle that the steamer was stranded. She was thus miles out of her course, and from being so far

in shore she was shut out from vievr of the Dog leland light, which, had . she been going her proper course, should have been visible. The land at that part of the coast rises to a height of from 80 to 100 feet, and consists of sand hills, coming down to a. sandy beach, in which the reef crops out, and is traceable for a long way out at low tide. The bottom all about is known to be rocky at a short distance from the beach. Hence a vessel once striking is doomed, a heavy ground swell coming in in the finest weather. On the night of the wreck the sea is said to have been very heavy, the wind. having during the previous 24 hours been blowing from the south-east. It is to this cause that the impossibility of lauding the passengers is assigned. The point of the reef on which the steamer struck is not more, certainly, thaa half a mile from the beach, and had she gone on her course, without the reef interposing, she would unquestionably have speedily run her nose into the sand. The Tararua, when she left Port Chalmers, was in splendid order, and it was but recently that she had undergone a most comprehensive overhaul both of hull and machinery. She was well fitted and found, and carried five first-class boats, which would have been sufficient, had proper care been exercised, to have saved every soul on board. SCENES ON BOARD. Mr. Ellen, chief steward, had one of his fingers dissevered while getting out stores. One of the bedroom stewards broke his leg and was attended to by Dr. Campbell, who displayed great heroism in caring for the wounded in the face of the dangers of the situation. This steward was placed on a mattuass and carried to the forecastle head, and a heavy sea came over and took away both him and the mattrass. Men, women, and children, were all huddled together on the forecastle, and Dr. Campbell was attending to Mr. Sutherland, the engineer, who had broken his leg, when a sudden sea struck her, and forced the passengers on to the rail, which broke through with the pressure, carrying some seventeen persons overboard, amongst them Dr. Campbell and liia patient. It is worthy of mention that one of the last things the chief mate can remember as occurring before ho left the ship was one of the Wesleyau clergymen from Christchnrch remarking to him, "Now, do be eareful," referring to the landing of the boat. : It was thought at first to have been the Rev. Mr. Waterhouse, but the Rev. Mr. Buttle ascertained from the description given by the officer that it was the Rev. J. B. Richardson, THE COOK'S STORY. The cook stated that when he was washed overboard the steamer was under water aft as far as the mainmast, her forecastle head only projecting above. The women and children were huddled together right in her bows, aud all were crying. A little boy, who he took to be one of Dr. Campbell's children, was holding out his arms endeavouring to keep his little sisters from falling down to leeivard, and the cook described in most feeling language the little fellow's conduct. The tears were rolling down the poor fellow's face as he related the woeful story of the scene on the deck, and lie became quite interested when our reporter told him that the body of a boy had been washed ashore, and remarked, "Why, it must have been that little Campbell. He worked like a man to save his little brothers and sisters." As has already been stated, wave after wave swept them one by one away. The men on board, who -were then up in the rigging, are said to have beea perfectly silent and motionless, and never heeded the cries of the cook for a line when he was endeavouring to rescue the Hobart girl. The cook had been wrecked once before on the West Coast. He was a " O od swimmer, having practised it from his infancy at Malta, his native place, and he swam from the Tararua to the shore, having his full clothing—coat, vest, and trousers— upon him at the time, though, as he observed, he had lost his slippers when he was in the breakers on the beach. He said that he had intended to have given up the sea after that trip of the Tararua, and have gone into business in Dunedin in conjunction with the chief steward, of whom he spoke in most affecting terms. He also said that it was, after all, a pity that Captain Garrard had not sent everybody out in the five boats which were on board, and let them keep at sea until picked up, instead of looking for a landing-place. The water was pretty smooth from 5 a.m. to 8 or 9 o'clock, but then the sea began to rise. The captain was, he said, fully persuaded that the steamer would hang together until assistance came, and so were the passengers. The girl the cook tried to save so pluckily, but in vain, was a Tasmaniau native, Mary Kelly, known to the chief mate as hailing from New Norfolk in that: colony, and a3 having come on board at Auckland. The purser and his wife were amongst those so washed off, and the cook states that just before the wave came the purser was kissing his wife and consoling her, telling her that if things came to the worst, and they had to go, they must bear the knowledge bravely. It was after the big wave that the people took more generally to the rigging. The cook was transferred to the Union Steamship Co's. s.s. Taiaroa. He asked the manager of the company to give him a trip up to Wellington to enable him to see his friends there, aud the request was freely granted. RESCUE FRUITLESS. It is difficult, however, to resist the conviction that a terrible error of judgment was committed in not placing the women and children, and as many of the passengers as she would safely carry, in the life boat, which might then have stood out to sea, as the boat in charge of the second mate did, with the certainty of being soon picked up. As it was, the life-boat was fitted to carry 30 or 40 persons, but was so much damaged ou her first trip as to be of no use until repaired, and then it was found impossible to launch, her on account of the heavy sea. It was then suggested that she might be launched from what is known as Boat Harbour, abont a mile to the westward of the reef. Bullocks and a sledge were available, but it was considered, after looking at the place, that it would be impraticable there, owing to the heavy sea. Those on the beach were thus rendered powerless to assist. Could anything have been done it would have been attempted, for among them was Captain Matheson, of the schooner Pioneer (then lying at Fortrose), aa experienced seaman, well acquainted with the coast. They could only look on in sickening suspense. Those who were there say they often wished to leave, but were bound to the spot by a species of fascination. A man from the second mate's boat tried to reach the shore from the reef, a distance of 7 yards, but could not for the floating kelp, and had to swim off to the boat again. AN AFFECTING INCIDENT. The boats of the Hawea, under Mr. Hansby (the chief officer), and the ship's carpenter, were busily engaged in recovering mail bags and other property, and while doing so they picked up the body of a female infant, apparently some fifteen months' old. The poor baby had received some severe abrasions about the head and face, and after it was laid on the quarterdeck, Mr. Carson, the chief steward, called Mr. W. Hill, the steerage passenger, who had come on board by the Tararua's boat, to see if he could identify it. Here a harrowing scene occurred. No sooner was the infant uncovered, than Mr. Hill recognised it as his own, and, falling on the deck, elapsed the little creature to his arms. The poor man's

agony was so great that he fainted away, and was conveyed to the torecabin. THE LATE CAPTAIN GARRARD. Captain Garrard was a. son of Mr. Joseph Garrard, an officer in the Revenue service at Home, and ■was born on March 2nd, 1852. When about eleven years of age he entered the Royal Naval School at Greenwich, and here he studied so successfully that at the age of fourteen he was admitted to the Nautical Schools to receive a course of instruction in navigation and nautical astronomy. At the final examination he came out at the head of the list, and received a special recommendation of the Admiralty for six months' further tuition. When he left the schools he was head captain of his company, and carried with him the respect of all who knew him, both masters and boys. He entered Lidgett's line of vessels, and served five years' apprenticeship, visiting during that time the principal commercial ports of the world. During his career as third mate he was wrecked in the ship Humber on an island in the Bay of Fundy, but fortunately no lives were lost, and this may be attributed mainly to his exertions after the crew had succeeded in effecting a landing upon a most inhospitable shore. The disaster occurred in the depth of winter, and the men suffered considerably from drowsiness, caused by the intense cold and the drink taken ashore with them. Ciptain Garrard, who then wa3, and has always been, a total abstainer, appears to have been in a better position to withstand the cold. He succeeded in making his way over the frozen cliffs and through the snow drift 3 to a fisherman's cottage, where he gave information of the accident, and the men were rescued. Captain Garrard subsequently gained some experience in steam navigation in the Mediterranean, and came out to this colony about five years ago in the Dilawar to Wellington. He went with the vessel as far as Adelaide on the return journey, but there he succeeded in obtaining his discharge, with the intention of finally settling in the colonies. He joined the Hawea as second mate, and obtained rapid promotion, being shifted from one boat to the other at frequent intervals. It may be mentioned that Captain Garrard brought the lady in Australia to whom he was engaged over to New Zealand in December last, in the Albion steamer, when that vessel was under his command. THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE REPRESENTATIVES. The late Rev. J. B. Kichardson was the son of a well-known Wesleyan minister in England. The father (the Rev. H. Richard-

son) is yet alive, and is stationed at Apperley Bridge in Yorkshire. Mr. Richardson, after passing the usual curriculum at school and ebllcge, was accepted by the British Conference as a probationer for the ministry in 1864. In company ■with three other young ministers he arrived at Christchurch in the following year. He began his ministry in New Zealand at Timaru, which was then a new station. He leaves a widow and four young children. The late Rev. John Armitage came to New Zealand, from Lends, in the year 1562. He was then a very acceptable lay-preacher. He was for some time engaged on the staff at the Lyttelton Times office. His Sundays were fully occupied in evangelistic labours in connection with the Wesleyan Church. Po3ses3ing gifts beyond the average standard, the opinion became general that his vocation needed a wider range. Accordingly, after the required examination, he was received into the Wesleyan ministry in 1574. Previous to this, his services had been utilised as a Home Missionary in the Leithfield district. His first ministerial charge wa3 at Oamaru. The late Rev. Joseph Waterhouse was one of the sons of the Rev. John Waterhouse, who in IS3O came from England as General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Missions in New Zealand and Polynesia. Three of his sons became ministers of the Wesleyau Church, and two of them missionaries in Fiji. Joseph entered the ministry in 1549. After a short period of labour in Tasmania he offered his services for Fiji, and there, in those early days, he was "in perils oft" among the heathen. Those who heard him lecture on the Fijian Missions in the Wealeyan Church, Durham-street, in 1575, will never forget the tragic scenes which he pictured. Failure of health required him for a time to return to Australia. On Sunday, April 24, he preached at the St. Alban's Wesleyan Church in the morning, and at Durham-street in the evening. On the following Tuesday father and son went on board the Tararua, and both perished in the wreck. Mr. E. Mitchell, schoolmaster, arrived in this colony from Victoria about 14 year 3 ago, hisfirstappointment wasat'Heathcote Valley. There he laboured for some years, and was afterwards appointed to the St. Alban's district school, where he continued successfully discharging his duties until 1879. He then retired to private life, his chief amusement being in the production of spirited water colour drawings of marine subjects. He leaves a wife and one married daughter to mourn his loss. Ebenezer Connal arrived in this colony from Stirling, in Scotland, about 24 years ago. He was a partner of the firm of Wood and Connal, Painters, Marketplace, Christchureh. During all these yeara he had been a prominent member of the Wesleyan Church, and has held the office of lay preacher, Sundayschool superintendent, and cliss leader. He was also a very able advocate of temperance reform, and in the early stages of the movement in Canterbury he was a very prominent actor. His wife, a daughter of Mr. Dewsbury, of thi3 city, lived but a few years after his arrival, leaving him with one son. According to the law 3 of the Wesleyan Church, Mrs. J. B. Richardson will get a pension of £70 per annum, but as the Rev. Mr. Armitage's connection with the denomination was not so lengthy, his widow will only receive £30. A public meeting was held in the Durhamstreet Wesleyan schoolroom, Christchurch, on the 3rd inst., for the purpose of taking steps to show some practical sympathy with the bereaved families of the late Rev. J. B. Richardsonand J. Armitage, who were passengers by the ill-fated Tararua. There wasaconsiderable attendance of persons representing all denominations. Amongst those present were the Rev. J. Buller, who occupied the chair, the Very Rev. the Dean of Christchurch, the Rev. Mr. Aldred, the Rev. H. C. M. Watson, Mr. C. W. Turner, and other prominent citizens. The Rev. Mr. Baumber acted as Secretary. Mr. Booth moved, and the Dean of Chriatchurch seconded, a motion expressive of sympathy with the relatives of the Revs. J. B. Richardson and J. Armitage. It was resolved also to raise a fund for the families of the deceased clergymen. £200 was at once promised. Mr. Turner expressed the hope that special offertories in the Wealeyan Churches all over the colony might be arranged for an early date. MISCELLANEOUS. The passenger Lawrence was the first man ashore with the tidings of the disaster, and had, it is stated, hie message and instructions from the captain. When he reached Brunton's no lives had been lost, and therefore the disaster was not fully realised. Tesi minutes after the station-liand, Gellies, had ridden off to Wyndham telegraph station, with the tidings that the Tararua was ashore, but passengers safe, news reached the house that three of the passengers had been drowned in landing from the chief mate's boat. The first message, therefore, unwittingly, deceived everybody.

At the very earliest opportunity after the arrival of the s.s. Hawea at Port Chalmers, Captain Cameron, the marine superintendent of the Union Steamship Company, supplied both the rescued passengers and many ol the crew with an outfit of clothes, oilskins, and blankets. Mr. Adam Gardiner, the Secretary of the Seamen's Union, gave the shipwrecked men a full supply of all necessary clothing from the store of Messrs. Robertson and Noble. This, of course, was supplied by the Seamen's Union. It has been suggested that the boat-har-bours on the coast of New Zealand should be marked on the Admiralty chart. The necessity of having this chart improved for seamen has been too frequently illustrated. There are two boat-harbour 3 near Otara reef, and a large number of them along the coast. However, nobody on board knew of them. One of the stewards and one of the engineers who were drowned in the wreck of the Tararua, had effected insurances for £500 each in the Australian Mutual Provident Society's Office in December last. It is a singular circumstance that Mr. Cook, Dunedin, wished to insure his life in favour of his' uncle, Mr. Smart, but Mr. Smart would not allow him to do so. Mr. John 0. Eva's life was insured in the National office for £500, and only oae premium had been paid upon it. The following passengers had insured their lives in the New Zealand Government Insurance Department:—The Rev. Mr. Richardson, Dr. Campbell, Messrs. William Stewart and Young. The late Mr. Robert Wright was lately out of tlie Dunedin Hospital, and recently in the employ of Messrs. Kempthorae, Prosser, and Co., and formerly with Beaver Brothers and Co., of this city. Mr. Wright's wife is at Auckland staying with her sister. The Tararua disaster adds a black number to the black list of wrecks which belongs to the New Zealand maritime record. That list, as compiled by Captain Fairchild for the 30 years between ISSO and ISSO, is a long and" sad one. It comprises C"2 steamers, of the aggregate value of £520,000, and 77 sailing vessels, collectively worth £503,000, making a total loss of 139 ships, worth over a million of money. Amongt the whole a melancholy record of lives lost is made up. The sailing vessels contribute 544, and the steamers cannot be put at less that 550, giving a total of some MOO lives in 30 years. Such is the New Zealand black list. The Tararua's story has come to swell it. The I only parallel in Australasian maritime history is the story of the Admela, a steamer lost many years ago on the voyage between Melbourne and Adelaide. On that occasion crowds assembled on the beach unable to do anything for the hapless people, who for days were buffeted by an angry sea. One of the Fishers was lost with many unfortunate companions. Mr. J. O. Eva's untimely end will be regretted greatly by his numerous friends. As manager of the New Zealand Hardware Company Mr. Eva was very well known. He was a native of Cornwall, and nephew to the Hon. R. Oliver, Minister for Public Works. At the time of the melancholy occurrence which has been the cause of his death he was on his way to Melbourne to see his mother, who is dangerously ill. He leaves a wife and two children—a girl 13 years of age by his first wife, and a boy of 10 years by his present wife. A strange fact is, that it occurred to him to make his will before he started on his trip by the Tararua. Mr. Maloney, second mate, sayti that Mr. Eva, on going oA beard, expressed himself to the effect that they would never reach Melbourne. He mentioned that they had sailed together before, and, pointing to a box, said, "Sir, you see that box ; it will never reach Melbourne. Now, you mark my words." A.n opinion prevails, and it seems not without foundation, that had the course of the vessel—erratic as it must have been—not been altered, she would have gone ashore in the surf, and, probably, many of the p.issengers would theu have been saved.

The wrecking is something shocking ; as fast as the trunks, Sec, come ashore they are rifled. The police, eight or ten in number, are now on the ground, and will prevent it.

A box, evidently a seaman's chest, was after much difficulty broken open ; the box was strong, and the lock had to be burst. When opened, to the surprise of all, it proved to be quite empty. Some difficulty was felt in accounting for this, and it was carefully examined, to ascertain if it had previously been opened by force, and it was quite clear that it had not been. There can be hardly any doubt that it belonged to a seaman, and that the owner, in the hope of being able to fetch ashore on it, or to enable someone else to do so, emptied it and looked it up for that purpose. A body of a girl, supposed to be Miss Kelly, from Auckland, with brown hair and small dark features, was picked up. The only clothing was a remnant of underclothing when the body was washed ashore. It had on a pair of blue and purple worsted stockings, and leather garfcere lined with red. B. Johnson, one of the crew saved is now at work on board the Taiaroa, and to all appearance, little the worse for his late experience. He was one of those in the second mate's boat, picked up by the Prince Rupert. A passenger by the ill-fated Tararua, named John Gordon, who is numbered with the lost, was en route for London, with the intention of being united in marriage with a lady to whom he had been engaged some time. Mr. George Horan, one of the crew, was a young man of 19 years of age, son of Captain Horan, who took part in the Waikato war. He was a good scholar, having been educated at Helensborough, but the sea had a peculiar charm for him, like many other young men. This was his second voyage. He was very well liked, and his death will be lamented by several friends in Christchurch. Mr. Cook, of Oainaru, was on his way home, to take possession of a sum of money that had been left him. Mr. Bailey, who was a passenger to the Bluff, was going in the Tararua merely on a pleasure trip. He had obtained some employment in Dunedin, and told some of his friends that he would run down by steamer to the Bluff, and come back overland before settling down to work. He accordingly took his passage, and was lost. Ajnongst the lucky escapes was that of Mrs. Brennan, who came from Tauranga. getting out at Port Chalmers at the wish of some friends. She had been very sick on the downward voyage, and they prevailed upon her to defer the completion of her journey to Hobart until another steamer. The reverse was in some instances the case. Thus, Mr. Hardie had persuaded his brother to wait for the Tararua, instead of going by the previous week's steamer, as he fully intended. Mr. W. B. Jones, the purser (who perished with his wife), left two children, who are under the charge of their maternal grandmother, at Emerald Hill, Victoria. Mr. A. Sutherland, the third engineer, leaves a wife and seven children, who are resident at Port Chalmers. The second steward, Jamee Warren, who waa drowned, has a brother holding a similar capacity in the s.s. Hawea. Mr. Ellen, the chief steward, was in Messrs. M'Meckan and Co.'s steamers for years before joining the Union Steamship Company. The chief engineer, Mr. Munro, whose wife resides in Melbourne, was well-known on the coast, having been chief engineer of the s.s. Wellington for some time.