WRECK OF A BARQUE. DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1851, 29 January 1902, Page 14

WRECK OF A BARQUE. DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.

WESTPORT, January 18

Tin' Dani-h steel barque Alexandra, in ballast, bound fiom Sydney to Westpoit, is •<--lore on the Brighton beach, about 30 nuies -ou(h of We-lport. Captain Andersen wired from Cluilc-ton thia afternoon tLuU the crew were saved. Th© ve^iO^ is in a bad posit.on, full of water, with many holes in he bottom and the beams broken. The deck is started. The capta'u say 3 there is no use in sending a tug. No further particulars are available.

January 20.

The Alexandra is- a Danish barque of 650 N>n=. She took cargo to Port Elizabeth from Kurope, and wjs < hartered to carry < oal to a Ucrman order from Westport to the Inlands. Bhe calletl at Sydney on her way here from South Africa for docking. She left Sydney on Sunday, the 12th. The wreck 13 26 miles south of Westport. The captain is reported to have stated when he visited Charleston that on the morning of the disaster he imagined that he was about 30 miles off Cape Foniwind, when what apjreared to ka denee bank of fog appeared

right ahead of the vessel. This turned out to be bu-h. He gave instructions 10 change the ship round, but before this could be done she had run on the r 'ck?. Examination .showed that tho \ essel was making water fast, «o a rope was carried 3 shore and bound round a tree, and all succeeded in getting ashore by climbing along the rorc. The crew camped on the beach. The vessel is practically a total wreck. It is understood that s<he is in =11 red in Denmark, wlie; e (•he is owned. The Alexandra is expected to break up at any tide. The captain and crew are standing by pending a survey by two master mariner*, who leave for the scene this afternoon. The Alexandra struck on .1 rock at Hatter's Beach, three miles south of Brighton, at 3 o'clock od Saturday morning. The weather up till Friday afternoon was \ery fair. When the captain took his bearing =he was then 30 miles oft" the New Zealand coast, and the captain reckoned that he would pick up the Cape Foul wind light during tb° night. Subsequent events, however, showed that the vc~-el was considerably out of her oo(ir=e About 3 o'clock on Saturday morning the vessel, which was undei full sail, struck a rock at the place mentioned. The captain, who was on d n rk at the time, thought he was off Cape Foulwind, and looked up, expecting to find the light. A "eiies of liea\y bump? on the rocks followed, and as there was a strong tea running, the cpptain decided to 11111 the ve=el ashoie. There was no other course to pursue, as there were .several holes knocked in her bottom, owing to tlie repeated bumping on thp rocks. Tt wao pitch dark at the time, and the captain and crew had to remain until daylight. They had no knowledge as to their w hereabouts 1 at the tune. At daylight all hand- left the vessel.

With the aid of a r.ipe. an old miner named Owen Roes, wLo works in the lccal.ty, see^'no; the v e-=el on the bcae'i, went down, and the ca-jtain was immediately informed as lo his v hereabouts. Tl.e l'tter at oi'ce proceeded to Charleston to communicate the new* of the disa- ter to thp r.wners of tho •vessel and others imerc-ted Ihe cievv. numbering 12, made themselves as. comfortable as circumstances would permit on tho beac h.

The vessel, which now lies on the beach, is high and dry at low tide, and a laige number of people visited tlie scene of the disaster yesterday. The p'pco where she s-liuck ii noi altogther a tough '-pot, and it is lTiuaculous that the aefdent occurred there. Had it happened farther c outli it is almcst ceitam that none on board would have boon sa\cd.

The exact point of the damage is not yet asCPrtainabie, but it 1* feared that the \e^el will become a total wreck. Much pympathy i> extended to Captain Ander-cn and hia crew in their mi'-foi tune.

Captains "Kvvan and Price, in rospon-r> to a lequest from the master of the barque Alexandra, v> recked npar Brighton, went clown to-day to take a mai'.ie 'urvey of the position of the vessel. They return tomorrow. The collector of eu:-toms has been in-h-ucted by the Marine Depaituient to hold a preliminary inquiry.