QUITE HELPLESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13234, 20 July 1906, Page 5

QUITE HELPLESS.

. DRIVEN 50 MILES IN A GALE. [Br TELEGRAPH.—OWN* CORRESPONDENT.] • Gisborne, Thursday. .tl,•After the Sir Henry got clear of Tolago Bay site was seen at nightfall to be standing eiuuth, towards Gisborne, but must have been caught by the storm, and driven northwards to the East Cape. \ •So far as can be gathered from the Maori eye-witnesses, who ur» not too coherent chroniclers of an event of this kind, the wreck occurred an hour after daylight on Yffii Tuesday, so that the schooner which was 'V last seen from Tolago Bay, standing away ; --towards Gisborne, must have been driven /V- 1 during the night 50 miles to the north- . * Witrd. , t The Maoris state that the ketch was Sir'- quite helpless, and the wavee were breakover her. The state of the sea was , . such'that it was quite impossible for the Sij crew to get ashore, or for the Maoris to ' help them. ' { No bodies have been recovered. ' There , was a wreck at the East Cape '■M, some four years ago, when the scow Wha0s i^ a pae, driven up the coast by a storm in Zi \ » "imilar manner, crashed on to the rocks ' ' 'V between the island and the' mainland, and t/V.'I'*1 '** 8 os '> Captain Bonner and the crew \i <• Wag drowned..' ijfffeC'apUiin Goomea was very fond of his liLtle vessel, and liked to sail in her. ajgty it is interesting to note"that her skipper, fs|s r Goomes, was part-owner of the tchoonei ' Rangi, which, as reported in,to-- ■ y' a telegrams, has lost ■ several of her ' crew by a boating accident, on the bar at ||^fe|^!i!aniea. : Captain Goomcs was also interigpdyn;,the: missing scow Haeremai. ■ ' 9 "The weather as been very rough off the Pltpe for several weeks, and List .Saturday there weix- a. number of coastal craft '®^ otllt ' to' the northward of the Cape, % ' la been sheltering for some gyjpe time'.. Hie «eas • are. still i unning very heavily »li^;^;coa being kept up by the north*'*tcriy wind, and Waipiro Bay is reported , unworkable, and likely to be so for two

THE CREW. Besides the men whose, names are mentioned above, it is believed that another seaman,; was shipped,, but as he wa* in excess of the statutory complement he was not entered 'on the ship's articles. The name of this seaman could not be as* certained yesterday. The vessel was required to carry a master and two A.15.V and one ordinary seaman. V Captain Goomes, who was a Portuguese, and a native of Bravo, Cape de Verde Islands, had the reputation of being a skilful and careful seaman. He was well acquainted with the coast, having been engaged in the Auckland Coast trade for over a-quarter of a century. He first came to New Zealand between 26 and 28 years ago, when lie arrived at. the. Bay of Islands in a whaling vessel. Amongst the numerous coasting vessels on which he has served are the cutters Gipsy, Nellie, Start, and Tokerau, and the scow Bravo, of which , lastnamed vessel he was part owner. He had been ashore for three months, and the present trip was the first since returning to his vessel, of which he took command about the end of last year. He was a very powerful swimmer, and when the cutter Nellie went ashore at Whangapoua, some years ago, he succeeded in reaching land with a. line through a terrific sea. This line was subsequently the means of getting the vessel afloat. Ho was ft married man with eo children.

Quimar, who was a Frenchman, had been in the Sir Henry for some time. He was formerly in the scow Bravo with Captain Goomes. Richter was on the scow Hikusangi before joining the Sir Henry. He was a. native of Germany. Callas, who was a Portuguese, was a native of the Azores. He was formerly on the scow Hero.

HISTORY OF THE VESSEL.

The Sir Henry, which was formerly a brigantine, was built at Terrigal, '-NewSouth Wales, in 188?. She was of 95 tons gross- measurement, unci was 90.1 ft in length, 23.8 ft in width, and 6.7 ft deep. Some years ago she was purchased by Messrs. H. L. Michel, J; S. Dawes, W. Iveecli, and L. Skene, of Hokitika, and for "a time she was running in the Hokitika, Lyttelton, and Kaipara timber a.ml produce trade. In March, 1899, she went ashore neair Cape Farewell Spit, but was floated off without any material damage. In January, 1903, she was purchased by Captain Goomes and Mr. A. F. Jagger, of Auckland, and placed in the Auckland, Whangarei; and Gisborne coal trade. In April of the same year she was converged into a ketch, and remained in the same trade : for some time, and was oiftenvards running between H&rekino, Whangap'e, and Dunedin, and between Kaipara and Dunedin. She was placed in the Auckland, Gisborne, and Napier trade in December last, and has remained in that running until the present time. Quite recently Mr. Jagger disposed of his interest in the vessel to Captain Goomes, who thus became sole owner, the transaction having only been, completed a few days before the vessel left on her last trip. Her last survey took place at lyttelton in July of last year. She was valued at about £1400, and there was, so far as is known, no insurance on the vessel.

The Sir Henry left Auckland on Thursday morning of last week for Napier with a cargo of timber and pipes. She left about the same timo as the schooner Aotea, the wreck of which has been already reported.THE CARGO. [BY TELEGRAPH." ASSOCIATION'.] Pamierston North, Thursday. A local firm of sanitary engineers, Holben and Kirk, had 150 tons of drain pipes on board the Sir Henry. The loss will not fall on them, however, for the consignment.was f.0.b., Napier. Messrs.. R. 0. Clark and Sons, of Auckland, were the consignors.