WRECK OF THE OTAGO.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 201, 12 December 1876, Page 2

WRECK OF THE OTAGO.

RECOVERY OF THE GOLD. The following is a portion of the account of the disaster given by Captain Calcler. We omit his description of the loss of the vessel, which is merely a repe-f tition of what we have published before THEY RECOVER THE GOLD. Next day, myself, the chief officer, and six of the men endeavored at great risk to get at the gold on board. The gold-room was right aft under the saloon desk, built in the run of the ship, and at low water the gold was 12ft. under water, and the door of the gold-room five feet under water. We succejded. in breaking open the door, and then secured an auger to a long wooden batten, and boring through the gold-boxes, fished them up and secured the three by five p.m. We landed them safely on the beach, and also a quantity of luggage which we managed to save. I consider thi3 a special service, apart from my duty to my owners, and I expect that the owners of the gold and the underwriters will recognise the claim myself pnd my chief officer has upon them, for we have lost nearly all our clothing and valuables. At nine a.m. on the Bth, a steamer (the Maori) hove in sight, but it being dark and the surf heavy, we did not attempt to board her. On Saturday, at eleven a.m., the steamer Comerang arrived and embarked the gold and passengers' luggage, and lastly the ship's company, and left at seven p.m. One of the Gtago's petty officers and a constable from ihe Bluff were left behind in charge of the ivreck. POSITION OP THE WRECK. The Otago, says Captain Calder, is lying with her starboard bilge on a rock of hard granite:. There is a large hole through her bilge, the after-boiler and cylinder are lifted about two feet, and the smoke stack lifted about two feet. Her forefoot is gone, her stern twisted, and about ten feet of the garboard plates and keel gone forwards. She has a heavy list, her masts a«d smoke stack are standing, and she is in peril of being broken up by the first heavy westerly sea that comes in. A CORRECTION. We inquired particularly of Captain Calder concerning the report about the ill-behaviour of some of the crew. He states that the report was a gross exaggeration. Some two or three of the men did sit down in front of the tent in which th? ladies were, and commenced smoking. The ladies complained of this to the Captain, and when he ordered the men to remove, they unhesitatingly did so. This is a very different version of the affair to the one given by the saloon passenger, whose name we know not. It also agrees with the statement made by several of the firemen. We are glad that- is so, for the credit of the crew. SUNDRIES. According to Mr. Donaldson, thechiei officer, the Otago had very little cargu p,> board when she went ashore. There w i a few bales of wool, a few package' sundries, and between 100 aud 200 b ; 'jl of flax. Touching the reported los£ ".. , one of the passengers, both the f/ ' officer and captain feel convinced's j every soul who left Port Chalmers int.? Otago has been saved. An official inqv | into the steamer's loss will be held to-d. j —Times.