THE FIRST NEWS OF THE WRECK.

Otago Witness, Issue 1795, 17 April 1886, Page 10

THE FIRST NEWS OF THE WRECK.

Wellington, April 12. The steamer Taiaroa, bound from Wellington for Lyttelton, went ashore near Clarence River yesterday. The vessel is on her beam ends. Two passengers were washed ashore. It is believed all lives are lost. The steamer went ashore at Waipapa Point, half-way between Cape Campbell and Kaikouras. The captain of the Taiaroa is supposed to have got away seaward with a boat containing the women. The captain's boat got adrift from the other three boats, which subsequently capsized. These boats were filled with the passengers and crew. SAFETY OF THE CAPTAIN AND TEN MORE. At 2.15 p.m. the Union Company received the following telegram from their Blenheim agent : — "The captain and 10 men (including three passengers) have turned up in their boat at Wairau bai\ lam sending the Waihi down for them."

LIST OF THOSE SAVED, _, „ „ . . „,„,, , . , The following is aIH of those known to have been saved m the captam s boat :— passengers, Thomas Olliver Robert Henderson John Harper (of Christchurch). crew. £,a^T Th °mmPBOU. williaSomn bo? I"**l"** WMua Oain/donkeyman "} W11*"W 11*" Dm?can CaLbeU steward A In addition to the above are the three passengers who got ashore, viz.:— Sergeant Grant Constable M'Quartier Gilbert Hutton. STATEMENTS OF THE SURVIVORS. (Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON April 12 A sensation was c r eated here to.day b tfae arriyal of tho newg that the B<STaiaroa, which left this port on Sunday, had •S.iy.SSs'S, °12 *%» tne available details have been very meagre. I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr Puflett, of the U.S.S. Company, for copy of the following telegram received from their Blenheim agent: — Gilbert Hutton, a passenger from Wellington, formerly in the Government service, says: •' The Taiaroa struck between 7 and 8 on Sunday evening. An attempt was made to get a line ashore, but failed. The boat I was in capsized, and I was picked up. The boat Sergeant Grant was in ajso capsized. All tke crew and passengers had cork jackets on." Sergeant Grant states: —" Four boats started from tke skip's side. I was in the starboard life

boat. She was swamped about 10 o'clock. The captain's boat broke adrift and went to sea. Of the four boats, three capsized. The vessel is lying half a mile to the nerthward of Waipapa Point, her bow about 50 yards from the shore, and her broadside nearly parallel with the beach. She is heeled oyer a little to port. The sea is striking her with great force, but not washing over the bridge or the poop. Three bodies have been found about three miles to the northward of the wreck. One boat with the females is supposed to be at sea." A further telegram states that Constable M'Quartier, from whom little information can be obtained, was washed ashore four miles north of Kekerangu, 16 miles from the scene of the wreck. Twenty-nine persons were in bis boat, including the mate, stewardess, and five women, who were all drowned. He thought the captain's boat must have swamped about half-past 6 on Monday morning, and that all hands were lost. He believes the boat he was in beached at half-past 6 a.m. on Monday, as his watch stopped at that hour. He is still very weak and unable to talk.

THE MAILS AND CARGO.

I am indebted to the courtesy of the Post-niaster-general for the following information as to the Taiaroa's mails: — "There were eight bags of mails in the Taiaroa — six from Wellington and two from Nelson. There were five registered letters from Wellington for Government officers, and the senders have been advised that the letters were in the Taiaroa. Special search is being made for the mails, and the steamer will be boarded as soon as the sea goes down and the mail-room examined. It is believed that the mails are still in the steamer." The Taiaroa took on board at this port the following cargo:— so sacks barley, transhipped from Wangauni by Hogan and Co. ; 50 boxes soap, shipped by Kitchen and Sons ; 2 cases, by Thomson, Shannon, and Co. ; 1 case and a quantity of iron for the N.Z.S. Company. She also had a small quantity of cargo from Nelson.

THE STEAMER'S DEPARTURE FROM WELLINGTON. The iJJ-fated Taiaroa left Wellington shortly before noon on Sunday, on her usual run to

Lyttejtcrtl, Akaroa, and Dunedin. The weather was exceedingly fine, and she had a strong favourable breeze from the north. The barometer, however, was falling steadily, and a change was deemed to be impending. The change came on with startling suddenness about 4 p.m., and a severe gale from the south followed, with torrents of rain and very thick weather. The departure of the Taiaroa was attended by several special features. She had to put back no fewer than three times to take late passengers on board. On one of these occasions the warp snapped with a loud report, knocking down and injuring a sailor, and narrowly missing several bystanders ou the wharf. Several passengors missed their passages or decided at the last moment not to go. It is usual to book on board on the Sunday steamer, so that it is hardly possible to tell exactly who did or did not go. Several bookmakers intended to go, but changed their minds at the last moment. Mr Beaver, formerly of Moeller and Co., had his luggage on board yesterday morning, when he received a telegram asking him to wait the arrival of a relative (Mr S. Sclank, of the firm of P. Falk and Co., Adelaide), who was coming up from Christchurch especially to see him. He consequently came ashore again. Mr R. H, Vallauce, the sportsman, was going down to bring up Sju'-wester to the Auckland meeting ; and Inj,, structor Ward, Sergeant Grant, and Gunner M'Quartier, of the Torpedo Corps, - were on their way to Dunedin to bring up the tor-pedo-boat lying there to Oamaru in order that she might take part in the Easter manoeuvres. Mr Galbraith, the well-known patent agent, was also a passenger for Lyttelton, intending to return on Wednesday.

PERSONS ON BOARD. The following is given me as a correct list of

persons pn board ; — Master, Captain G. Thompson; R. Monkman, first officer; J. Powell, second officer; S. Dalrymple, chief engineer ; T. Stafford, second engineer; T. Spoon er, purser; James West, carpenter ; F. Hill, lamp-trimmer ; J. Jones, R. Williamson, E. M'Millen, J. M'Kay, R. Harrison, J. M'Phee, A.B's. ; G. M'Donough and R. Irviue, firemen ; W. Cain, donkey-engine driver; J. Hunter, R. Williams, trimmers; J. Fielder, chief steward; J. Munro, bedroom steward ; D. Campbell, pantryman ; T. Delany and R. Bathgate, assistant stewards; M. A. Brown, stewardess; G. Gallagher, chief cook; W. Kellin, second cook. The passengers included Mrs G. G. Fitzgerald, wife of the editor of the Timaru Herald ; R. H. Vallance, sportsman; E*. Galbraith, patent agent; Hawkins, bootmaker; Instructor Ward, Sergeant Grant. Constable M'Quartier ; Anderson, G. Smith, an>l J. Harbord. It is believed, also, that Mr James Ferguson, runholder, of Tarauaki, was a passenger, as well as Mr J. Harper, of Christchurch, but this is not definitely ascertained. The steamer Lyttelton,, which came in on Monday afternoon, reports sighting the Taiaroa's lights two miles inshore of her. It was blowing a hard S.E. gale, with thick rain and fog at the time.

INCIDENTS OF THE DISASTER. Among the incidents connected with the

disaster may be mentioned the following, which are vouched for by one of the evening papers : A gentleman on a visit here from Greymouth, and residing with some friends at Petone, informs us that he dreamt on Sunday night that the Taiaroa was wrecked. He mentioned the fact at breakfast before several people on Monday morning, and stated that he had seen the vessel lying onher beam ends. Mr /James Smith, draper, of Te Ar • House, and Captain Anderson of the Armed Constabulary, had intended leaving by the Taiaroa, but at the last moment changed their minds, A well-known commercial traveller on Sunday morning tossed up a coin to decide whether he should go or not. Fortunately fate decided against his departure by the ill-fated ship. Another incident was the following : — On her departure from here on Sunday the Taiaroa had moved away from the wharf about 20 yards distant, when an intending passenger put in a late appearance, and in a most excited way hailed the steamer. The captain very courteously gave orders to stop the vessel and sheer alongside again, but in the stiff north gale then blowing thispro ved a most difficult task, and nearly half an hour was taken up in backing and going ahead before the end in view was accomplished, and the passenger was taken aboard, thus going to his death. Mr Levy, traveller for Rothschild, Jacobs, and Co., wholesale jewellers, Dunedin, had considerable difficulty in making up his mind whether to go down by the Taiaroa on Sunday or Te Anau on Monday. At length he decided not to sail on Sunday, several friends having strongly urged him to postpone his departure. The s.s. Penguin left Queen's Wharf at 11.30 a.m. on Monday for the seem of the wreck, having on board Captain Bendall marine surveyor for the Underwriters' Association, and Captain Williams, of the Union Com-

At present only 13 are known to be saved, and it is doubtful whether it will ever bo known exactly who have perished, owing to the uncertainty as to who were actually on board. If I obtain any later information before the office closes I will telegraph it.