ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2164, 15 August 1895, Page 19

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

August 9. Mr Crane says that the captain and the first and second officers and Captain Fawke3 surveyed the scene from the bridge, over Which seas stormed from time to time, and

from there direoted the operations with the boats, while men under the direction of the third officer worked to get the starboard boat out, in order to have the women safely got off the vessel, which threatened to go down at any minute. Presently a sea which appeared to tower as high as the top of the mast struck the doomed vessel and swept her from stem to stern. When it bad passed Oaptain Shannon had disappeared from the bridge, washed away by the sea, and with him had gono the first and second officers and Oaptain Fawkes. Of the bridge but a remnant was left. A previous sea found other victims in those who ware clustering round the men employed in launching the Btarboard cutter. This boat was smashed to atoms, and every hope waa fast being abandoned by the few whom the fury of the waves had left in the sinking vessel, when one last desperate effort was made by those of the crew who were left — all the officers having gone — and a determined combined attempt saw the starboard lifeboat safely launched. A second or two later the Oatterthun rolled over and sank. The boat contained some of the Chinese crew, and they pioked up several other Obinese seamen who were floating in the wreckage in the vicinity of the steamer. Mr Crane himself was drawn down by the sinking ship, but soon came to the surface again, and then swam to the boat.

Captain Fawkes states : " The outlook was dirty, the weather squally, and a gale waa howling and shrieking through the rigging with a fury which accounted for the tremendous sea running and breaking over the reef and steamer. Boat after boat was carried away, and the poop and the after part of the vessel were going steadily down, when a mountainous sea swept the vessel from end to end and carried everything before it. The bridge on which we were standing was smashed up. Oaptain Shannon and the two officers and myself were thrown into the boiling sea. All this happened in a few seconds, as it seemed to me, and I did not learn till afterwards what a terrible effect the sea had. It swept away the starboard cutter, which was at that moment on the point of being launched. I tbink this sea carried away moßt of the passengers and crew. The men made desperate efforts to pass the passengers into the boats which were lowered into the water, but the rush of water constantly carried the boats inboard. About this time the port lifeboat was smashed and carried away by a sea, one or two of the crew going with it. Neither they nor the boat was seen again. The sea seemed to rago more furiously as the officers and orew made heroic endeavours to lacnch the boats, and even had they succeeded in this it is doubtful whether any of the smaller boats would have lived ; yet it was a very noticeable feature of this terrible scene that calmness and good discipline prevailed amongst nearly all on board."

Di Copeman says : " When work was transferred to the starboard cntter I went forward and got in with some others, Several attempts were made to get this cutter in the water, but the pitiless seas breaking over the vessel hampered the work tarribly. Ultimately a great wave broke on board and smashed the cutter to pieces. Those who were in it were thrown into the water excepting myself. I managed to cling to the spar of a davit, and hung there in a desperate condition for some time. I judged the time to be hours, but could only have been there a very few minutes. Breakers were rolling over the reef with a terrible roar, and the sea was a seething chasm beneath me. How I clung to the spar Ido not know. But a$ last I heard the boat splash into the water, and heard a hail beneath me. I then let go my hold and dropped into the water, with the good fortune that I sank right in front of the lifeboat. A moment later the Catterthun disappeared entirely. We made a careful search of the wreck before we left, and stood by till daylight."

Mr Fraser was an engineer proceeding to Port Darwin. The Lorings were English tourists. Oaptain Shannon was a married man with two children. The officers were married men, with the exception of Adams, who was to b8 married in six months. The engineers were single.

A local shipmaster says he cannot understand what caused the vessel to be so close to the shore.

Oaptain Craig, an old officer in the China trade, thinks the course must have been altered too soon. Had the steamer gone on for another quarter of an hour she would have cleared the Seal Rocks.

The vestel was a staunch ship. She had no double bottom with modern water ballast tank, but she had a water ballast tank, though not of the latest pattern, and this would probably cause her to sink more rapidly than otherwise. NO TRACE OF THE MISSING PEOPLE.

The tugs have returned after thoroughly searching the vicinity of the. wreck and for miles along the coast. They picked up the cutter belonging to the Oatterthun, but beyond this there was.no trace of the missing people or wrecks ge.

The survivors are doiug well. Among the Chinese passengers were a widow and four young children.

Mr Smith, a passenger by the Catterthun, was late navigating - lieutenant of the warship Wolve^pe. He was going to China to seek employment, and leaves a widow and son in Sydney.

August 10.

The second mate of the ill-fated steamer Catterthun says : " Everyone of us — the captain, the officers, and the men — was perfectly sober, and everything was working smoothly. The captain had not turned in, but was up and down from the bridge to the ohart room all night. After the vessel struck the crew and passengers were orderly and quiet. The boats were cleared in eight minutes. The third mate and the chief steward were told off to assist the passengers. I was washed overboard after requesting the engineer to go to the captain. The vessel lies four miles N.E. of Sugarloaf Point."

Dr Copeman says t " The chief officer, Dr Anderson, Mr Crane, and I had been sitting smoking in the chief officer's cabin until about 10 o'clock, when we all retired. Curiously enough, one of the topios^f conversation was the wreok of the Wairarapa, The ohief officer remarked; 'I have quite

made up my mind that whatever death I die I will not be drowned.' "

Further particulars show that the survivors had a terrible experience in the boat, which, on being lowered, was struck by a sea and bad a large hole knocked in h6r bow. As a oonsequence they had to keep baling during the whole time they were in her. They were in a miserably exhausted condition after immersion, and their misery was accentuated by the seas constantly breaking over the boat.

The cutter pioked up yesterday contained the body of a Chinaman with the skull smashed in.

A tug picked up the bodies of two others belonging to the Asiatic crew.

The Chinese passengers included a Melbourne merchant conneoted with the firm of Wing Tye and Co., who was going to China on pleasure.

Great praise is bestowed on the crew for the way they stood to their posts and worked in the faoe of almost insurmountable difficulties.

The National Shipwreck Society have taken in hand the task of relieving any distress caused by the wreck.

Captain Fawkes mentions that when in the water he noticed the rays from the lighthouse.

There seems every reason to believe Fraser and Smith were overwhelmed in the cabins and were drowned while asleep, »one of the survivors saw them from the time they went to their cabins. The ladies were drowned apparently beoause they were afraid to leave the saloon when they saw the great inrush of water which followed the opening of the door by the ohief steward. The Chinese -quartermaster, who took the wheel at midnight, states that the second mate altered the course four points to the eastward. This would show that bis opinion was that the vessel was hogging the land too closely. Crane states that Mrs Matblas asked him for a lifebelt. He went to get it, but in the darkness oould not open the locker. He fastened his own belt on her. When he attempted to leave the saloon door was jambed by the water which was then up to his knees in the saloon. The Chinese steward, after difficulty, opened it, and the water instantly rushed in. The Chinese steward and himself left the saloon, but three ladies and the chief steward did not follow. They found the water on the main deck up to their waists, and had to force their way through it to the poop. He noticed the ship heading for the land, with the lighthouse on the port bow. The vessel was rapidly settling down. After rising to the surface, subsequent to the ship foundering, he got on the top of a meat safe, and was there joined by a Chinaman, who, in bl»nd, persuasive tone said, " More better for you go catchee another piece of box." I replied, " More better you." The Celestial declined the invitation. The safe, however, amply supported both. We heard shouts and cries of distress, but only male voices.

August 11.

The Catterthun survivors have arrived here. Arrangements are being made by the agents for the accommodation of the crew at a Chinese boarding house.

Thß tugs picked up a second empty cntter, also wreckage and another body, some distance from the Fcene. A quantity of wreckage was also sighted in the vicinity off Crowdy Head.

The Chinese are old servants of the company, and they speak English. They had a most thrilling experience. Their boatswain states that three boats were smashed one after another while being lowered, and the people in the one carried overboard by the tremendous seas. He saw one man orushed against the davits and killed before his eyes. No. 1 boat, containing the survivors, got clear of the steamer as if by a miracle. While being lowered the steamer began to heel, and the boat bumping against the side had a plank stove in. The boat jnat managed to escape from the whirlpool in which the Oatterthun went down, but was almost engulfed. Tho boat leaked badly, and the seas were breaking aboard. Sevoral of the occupants were kept constantly baling. They had a continuous fear that the seas would swamp the boat. They pulled round several times in search of survivors. While aboard they caw no parsengers about the deck. When the last boat was ready to be lowered, the captain shouted from the bridge for the crew to clear out aB the ship was sinking. He was positive it was the captain, as he could cot mistake the voice, and he saw the figure plainly. This is important, as it. was previously stated that tbo oaptain was washed from the bridge at the same time as the officer and Captain Fawkes before the vessel sank. The boatswain states that if he had been half a minute later in lowering the boat no one would have been saved. If the weather had been fine all would have been saved, ao there were sufficient boats, and they were ready for lowering. The cvew, he says, simply obeyed orders, and never attempted to save themselves until ordered by the captain.

The narrative of the Chinese steward clears up the fate o? a lady and some other passengers. He states that when he went below after the first alarm, he found all had gone back to their bunks, apparently thinking there was no danger, bat when they saw the water rushing in they appeared to be seized with a panic. The chief steward stayed in the saloon until the water rose breast-high, trying to persuade them to come out. They persistently refused. Finally the stewards had to leave to save themselves. They found the door leadir>g to the deck fast, but after a great effort opened it sufficiently to pass a leg through, and the force of the water burst it open. The steward says he once more returned and called for the ladies and Dr Anderson and Fraoer, who were with them, to come out, but they still refused. He then made for the deck, and the steamer sank as he reached it. Both Langfear (the second officer) and Captain Fawkes state they never sighted the green guiding light on the rocks, which would have warned them of danger. It is believed this will form the defence of the former, who was in charge of the bridge when the ship struck.

August 12. The quartermaster who was steering the steamer Oatterthun at the time ehe struck was a South Sea Islander, and not a Chinaman as at first stated, He was seen at the

wheel up to the very last, and went down with the vessel, still holding on to the wheel. This man was on the steamer Quetba when she was wrecked, being rescued after having floated for many hours on wreckage. The man who was found dead in the boat died at his post, having been etruok by her while she was being launched. Others of the Chinese crew who had to attend to the launching of the boats also perished at thoir fiosts, some being dashed to death by floatQg wreckage. They stood unflinching throughout.

Vessels arriving report that a strong current is setting northward in the viciuiiy of Ssal Rocks. This is contrary to tho general trend of the current. All the wreckage is found to be drifting northward. Another boat (the captain's gig) has been picked up off Cape Hawke.

Captain Pawkes states that land conld be seen occasionally on the night of the wreok. He oannot understand how the wreck eocurred, as it was only an ordinary pieoa of navigation that was required. The Seal Bocks are well known, and vessels are naturally on the look-out for them. The wind, instead of blowing the vessel on to the rocks, was in the opposite direction. Mr Ooleman sticks to the statement that the captain was washed off the bridge. He says: "The skipper went on the bridge and left me in the chart room. That was- the last I saw of him. When climbing to the bridge he called out to the third officer, ' Look to the lady passengere.' The next thing I noticed was that the port lifeboat, which I had made up my mind to jamp into, was washed away. I then began to look to my lifebelt, but I could not fix the shoulder straps properly, and consequently it slipped off. By this time the ship had a heavy list to Btarboard. Seeing the starboard lifeboat, which was full of people, I sprang into her, and then, as the boat was swaying about a good deal, I got hold of the spar between the davits, and kept a firm grip of it. An officer was standing up, apparently awaiting orders. I said to him 'Goon ; lower away.' But hardly had the words escaped my lip 3 when a great wave came clean over the ship, and the boat was carried away from under me, leaving me and one of the Chinese orew clinging to the spar. This was the sea which swept tha captain and bis officers from the bridge, for the next time I looked at the bridge they bad gone."

The inquast on the victims of the Oatterthnn wreck haa began. Forster Lanfear, in his evidenoe, stated that he was in charge at the time of the Teasel stiikiag, the captain being in the chart room. He saw Seal Rock light, bat declined to give the coarse he was steering. He did not see the green light, which woald indicate danger. He refused to say whether he altered the coarse durlug his watch, or what position Seal light bore at the time the steamer struck.

August 13.

The evidence at the inquest on those drowned by the wreck of the Cattherthun showed that the weather was very thick when the relief tug arrived on the soene.

Another Chinaman's body has been recovered. It was buried at sea.

A small quantity of wreckage is coming ashore, including some of the passengers' effects.

At the inquest the second mate, after some pressure, stated that the course steered was North 40 East when the vessel struck. He bad beaded her out to the eastward three points eight minutes before ehe struck, as he thought they were getting too close in. The course steered from Port Stephens showed that it was not intended to go between the Seal Rooks and the mainland. Either a strong set or a high following sea brought her in. The vessel was steering North 30 East when he took charge.

The wrecked vessel was an iron steamer of 2179 tons gross and 250 nominal horse-power, built at Sunderlaud in 1881. Her prinoipal measurements were : Length, 302 f t; beam, 36£ ft; depth of hold, 23£fb. She was owned by the Eastern and Australasian Steamship Company of London.

Messrs Bates, Bise, and Co., the Dunedin agents, state that the tea ships generally carry some Now Zealand passengers on their voyage to China, but that the Cattherthun bad none en board so far as they kuow — none, at any rate, who had booked in this colony.

Seal Rocks are thus described in the " Australian Directory " :—": — " The northern and larger root, which is 15ft high, has a sunken rock close to the south-east of it, and lies nearly one mile and a-half B.E. £ S. from Sugarloaf Point. The southern and smaller Seal Rock lies two-thirds of a mile B.W. by W. £ W. from the larger rocV, and is a sunken rock on which the sea breaks at a quarter of a mils southward of it." Sugarloaf Point, above referred to, commonly known as Seal Rook Point, is the. site of a lighthouse. It has a white light revolving every 30 seconds, this being exhibited at an elevation of 258 ft above the sea level, aud visible for a distance of 22 miles. In addition to and below the revolving light a fixed green light is shown from the tame tower, visible between the bearings of N. and N.W. by W. i W. for a distance of about three miles. Included in its range are the Seal Rocks and the adjacent dangers, but not the Edith breaker, which is out of the fairway. The instructions are that a vessel when standing towards or rounding Sugarloaf Point f honld keep out of the range of the green light.

It is telegraphed that the Wellington mail of August 1 for Hongkong and the Bluff mails of July 20 and 29 for the same place were on board the Catterthun.