WRECK OF THE WM. MISKIN, AND LOSS OF LIFE.

Otago Witness, Issue 846, 15 February 1868, Page 4

WRECK OF THE WM. MISKIN, AND LOSS OF LIFE.

• By the steamer Wainui, which arrived in port on Sunday, the crew of the steamer Wra, Miskin, with one exception, arrived from Timaru, where the vessel had become a total wreck at an early hour on Tuesday morning. One of the crew, John Macdonald, unfortunately lost hislife by being washed overboard previousto the vessel drifting. The others narrowly escaped when the vessel struck the beach, having to scramble over the bows, as her iron hull was being driven into pieces. Capt. Bain happened to be on, shore at the time, having landed with his. Custom-house papers, and he was the first spectator of the complete destruction of his vessel, about a mile and a-half tothe northward of the landing-place. The following particulars of the passage of the Wm. Miskin to Timaru, and of circumstances preceding the wreck, are furnished by our Port Chalmers correspondent : —

The steamer William Miskin, 115 tons, under the command of Captain Bain, left Port Chalmers, on her regular trip to Oamaru and Tiniara, at 7 a.m. on the Ist inst. She arrived afc Oamaru at 3 p.m. same day, landed passengers and cargo for that port, and left at 7 p.m. for Timaru. She arrived off that port at midnight, but owing to the thick weather was hove to till daylight, and steamed in to the usual anchorage, at 5.30 a.m. On Sunday, the 2nd, she landed her passengers at 7 a.nx r the wind at the time being light, from S.S.E., with fine weather and a smooth sea. At 6.30 p.m. the weather continuing the same, Captain Bain landed with his papers in his own boat, which was sent off to the vessel, the crew having instructions to look out for him, when he returned to the beach. After completing his business Captain Bain returned to the beach, but was not observed by those on board. At 3 a.m. on Monday, the 3rd, hearing the wind, he returned to the beach, and at daylight tried to hail the vessel, but no one on board appeared to hear. He then requested Mr Green, one of the lessees of the Landing Service, to give him a passage on board, but, from some unexplained cause, a boat was not launched. Afterwards he requested the Harbor Master to put him on board, and the Harbor Master replied that the lifeboat was at his service, and remarked that he did not think the weather would become any worse. Shortly afterwards, Pilot Morjrison requested Captain Bain to accompany him, as the lifeboat was ready. The same luck attended him in this quarter, as, from some cause, she was not launched, and Captain Bain was doomed to remain on shore. The S.E. gale afterwards increased so that it was imprudent to launch any boat. On leaving the vessel he instructed the chief officer (Mr Ross) to keep a strict look out,, and to move further out if the weather appeared at all threatening. The following is the statement of the chief officer, Mr Roas ; —

"When Captain Bain went on sKore at lalf-past six on Sunday, tlie weather was Une, and* the water smooth Sefore leaving tke stearaerj he gave orders to move to the outer-roadstead, and to pay ontmore cable, if it came on to blow "before his return. Shortly after the captain's departure, I set the anchor watch, and went below, 1 leaving instructions to be called if it should blow. At five a.m., on the 3rd, I went on deck. At that time there was alight breeze from E.S.E. , but not enough to prevent' the boats "belonging to the Landing Service from •coming "off to discharge her cargo. I waited i^ll half-past seven, expecting the boats to come off ; and, seeing the wind was increasing, I got up steam, weighed anchor, steamed out to the outer roadstead, and let go' the best bower anchor, with sixty fathoms of chain.' At this time, I did . not think the weather particularly threatening. About 10 a.m. the sea began to come in pretty heavy. I then thought it necessary "to let go a second anchor, and veered out the whole cable on the best bower, and 35 fathoms on the other. The vessel continued to ride very well till about 4 p.m. , -when the wind veered ronnd to the S.E., "bringing the sea more on the steamer's "broadside. She then shipped a sea forTvard, which washed away the foregangway, oil-locker, water-closet, and 24 cases of kerosene oil which were on deck. At 6 p.m., I got up steam again, and steamed head to sea to ease the strain on ihe cable, and to keep the ship's head on to the sea. About 10 p.m., the' wind blowing very hard, and the sea running nigh, the steamer shipped a sea which washed the lifeboat from the davits ; but the crew succeeded in securing it again. About half-past 10, another sea broke over the vessel, which smashed the cook-house, carried away a life-boat, and washed off the other fore-gangway, wheelchains, and cover of steam-chest, and started the fastening of the ste^am-cliest through the deck. All this time, finding the water was increasing in the engineroom-, I got the bilge-pumps to work ; but •we could not pump any water out. 5 At midnight, still steaming ahead, another ■sea broke on board, fore and aft, and shifted the ballast in the fore-hold, laying It over on one side, and a great quantity of water rushed down into the engine100m. At 1 a.m. on the 4th, another sea ■washed away the main gangway. At halfpast 1 the fires in the engine-room were put out by the water rising, and the engines stopped. At this time a seaman, named John M 'Donald, was washed out of the fore- rigging, and drowned. All Tiands then commenced bailing the ■engine-room out with buckets, the vessel at the time being quite unmanageable. They continued bailing with the buckets until half-past two, at which time the steamer had parted from both anchors. I then caused the jib and topsail to be set, to help to put the steamer along ■clear of the rocks ; but owing to the length of chain dragging on the bottom, she would not steer. We endeavored to •cut the chain, but d : d not succeed. At a quarter to four o'clock, the steamer struck on the beach. A light breeze which had sprung up from the K. E. kept her head to the beach. There was at the time 4ft of water in the engine-room. All hands got on the beach, and shortly afterwards the steamer broke, and she now lies a total wreck The beach from Whale's Creek to the rocky promontory presented a melancholy scene on the day after the wreck, the entire length being strewn with fragments of the broken-up vessel — iron plates, cabin furniture, parts of doors, planks, tea, chests, bits of passengers' luggage, tins of kerosene, &c, &c., all in inextricable confusion. Of the Miskin itself nothing remains but the

boilers standing upright in the sand, with

a small portion of the vessel's bows; every•thing has been clean washed out of her. Not a vestige of a deck, or an atom of wood work is there — all is completely • destroyed. An inquiry into the cause of the wreck was held on the 7th inst., and after the witnesses were examined, a verdict exoneTating the captain and crew from all blame is said to have been recorded. The inquiry was held before the Resident Magistrate and Sub-Collector of Customs, ' Oapt. Scott acting as nautical assessor. Capt. Bain and his crew desire publicly to return their sincere thauks to Mr Belfield for the hospitality shown to them ; and also to the inhabitants of Timaru for their kindness in raising a subscription to alleviate their necessities. Of Capt. Hepburn's attention and -consideration, they also speak in high ternis of praise. Considerable anxiety had been felt as to the fate of the ship Timaru, which had lately proceeded from. Port Chalmers to Timaru to load wool. It was thought scarcely possible that she could have escaped a fate similar to that which overtook the Wm. Miskin, and the woolladen vessels at Oamara. Most fortunately, however, although 'not without

some difficulty, ! *&llie\ succeeded in riding ; out iihe jtale; k Wef are" ' informed 'that her wiridlass%as carried" * v aWay, ' and -after, driving a snort distance, she held liojHer anchor by \ the bitt-encla of the ' cables being clenched round the foremast. 1 ! If such a precaution. had not been taken, the< probabilities are that she would have gone on shore. Captain Langlands is stated to have been severely injured by a sea breaking on board, after the wind had shifted to the north-east, which would leave the vessel in the trough of the sea. When the Wainui sailed, there was current in Timaru a report that some of his ribs had been broken.

In Lyttelton Harbour, a considerable amount of damage seems to have been done to shipping. The Press of Wednesday reports :—": — " The effects of the late S.E. gale have been seriously felt in harbour. Several valuable and useful vessels have suffered, amongst others the lona, Captain Driscoll, drifted on to the rocks at Dampier Bay, and is a complete wreck, so much so, that nothing of her with the exception of a few stray timbers is ! to be seen. The schooner Sisters lies on the beach at Dampier Bay, having lost her foremast and her bulwarks carried away, besides other damages. The fine yacht Lady Fenwick is completely smashed, as the Mary Ann drifted ashore on the top of her. The I Mary Ann, although high and dry, has received but little damage ; but on drifting ashore, ran foul of the Lady Fenwick, and totally destroyed the latter vessel,' which had been hauled on the beach, and it was supposed made snug. No damage appears to have happened to the larger craft, though most of them dragged a considerable distance. Some of the watermen's boats were damaged owing to the laudable exertions used by that body of men to assist in getting off certain vessels."