SUNK IN HARBOUR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22976, 2 March 1938, Page 12

SUNK IN HARBOUR

SHOWBOAT CABARET BALLROOM UNDER WATER DELIBERATE ACT THEORY EVENT OF 1936 REPEATED Well down in the water with an acute list to starboard, the floating cabaret "The Showboat," moored at the eastern reclamation, was discovered in a parlous condition yesterday afternoon. The lower dock ballroom was flooded with thousandis of gallons of salt water, on which floated a mass of debris. It was suggested by a debentureholder that the occurrence was the result of a deliberate act, similar to that of November 27, 1936. when augur holes were bored beneath the waterline. The damage on that occasion cost the proprietors about £2OO to rectify. At about .'3.30 yesterday afternoon a passer-by noticed the peculiar position of the craft and he advised the proprietors. The situation was the mory critical because of the rapidly rising tide. By five o'clock the water had risen to within six inches of the ceiling above the lower deck, and was rising at the rate of about two feet an hour. There were then two hours to go before high tide. Rapid Inflow of Water Men from the Harbour Board staff arrived with a motor-pump to draw off the water, but so rapidly was it flowing into the craft that the pump could not cope with it, and the men had to wait until the turn of the tide. One of the square glass windows built into the seaward side of the boat was smashed and the frame floated on the water. It seemed likely, from the rapid inflow of water, that some, or all, of the windows on that side of the ship had been deliberately broken, or that between Tuesday of last week, when the cabaret was last inspected, and yesterday someone had bored holes in the hull and the resultant pressure of water as the ship canted had broken the windows. Grand Piano Submerged Tops of trestles, the covers from gramophone records, a collection of flotsam which had come in with the tide, and small fitments from the interior of the cabaret, floated and bumped against the ceiling of the ballroom. A .grand piano was submerged in about 10ft. of salt water. By seven o'clock the water had risen to the top of the stairway and lapped over the upper floor, but the proprietors had taken the precaution of lifting the chairs and. anything else which might have floated to places beyond reach of the water. At the turn of the tide the pump was brought into commission, but it was clear that, although it made good headway, about ; two days would have to elapse before the ship would be emptied. Last oven- ! ing the vessel settled on an even keel. Three Previous liftidents

"The Showboat" was to have been put up for auction on Friday of this week, but the incident yesterday may force the debenture-holders to alter their plans. If, as one of the debentureholders suggested yesterday, this was a deliberate attempt to damage the vessel, it was the fourth within less than 18 months, as between the beginning of October and the end of November, 1936, three other attempts were made. On the first occasion one of the forward mooring chains was released from the capstan, but although the tide movement snapped a steel hawser, a thick rope held. A month later someone endeavoured to floor! the craft, but the rising water was detected. A fortnight afterward 11 augur holes were bored below the water'ine.