Latest Intelligence.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 223, 2 November 1894, Page 2

Latest Intelligence.

(By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (Put P&e*s Association.) Reeecived 10.30 p.m. Sydney, November 1. The city is profoundly agitated by the W&irarapa disaster and the railway accident of the previous day paled into insignificance. Flags were lowered to halfmast and most anxious enquiries were made at the office of the Union Company by those who had friends on board- The newspaper offices acd the office of the New Zealand Press Association were besieged. The J. C. White who is missing is eighty-five years of age and is father to the Hon R. H. White, M.L.C. Mrs Waterhouse is the wife of a school inspector in the country districts. Received 1.10 a.m.

As soon as the House of Assembly met : 3-day, Mr G. H. Reid said it was a matter of great regret to learn of the disaster cn the coast cf New Zealand to a steamer from Sydney, acd he expressed himself confidant that members of ike H-use would join with the Government spirit which prompted the dispatch of a message to the relatives ef those who had lost their lives. The following passengers m the Wairarapa were transhipped in Australia from London :—By the Austral—l*r and Mrs Harris and son. Mrs West and family. Misses Perry. Whealey and Dunn. Meedames Stuckey. Dixon, Gordon, Johnson, McKenzie. Come and Bowker; from Naples by the Austral—Mr and Mia \ ella. Messrs Melicie, Terraboceie; transhipped trout the steamer Rome—Mr Spvacer; Transhipped from the Ger man mail steamer—Messrs Berejat. Maiun and Davis, and Miss iiichie.

Mr J. C. White had attained his Both , birthday ou the day of the wreck. Mr Dry borough was well knewn in business circles, and was a member of the :irm of Sandcman Jc Co. He leaves a wife and family. Mr C. 8. Smith was an articled clerk ; and resided with hie mother at Manly. Miss Kowbotioui had recently arrived from Tolana on a visit to her brother, who accompanied her ou the New Zealand trip. Mrs Waterhouse was the neioe of Mr Forsyth, who many years ago was a member of the New .Zealand Government. Mr Geo gage u resided at Berrv. Mrs Stewart, who had booked to Wellington, was a resident of Peiersham. Melrouuns. November I. The news of the loss of the steamer Wairarapa created immense t xciieuMni and fiags wire at once lowered so half , mast. Messrs Yarley and Charleyer and Miss McLeilan wc r e restdem* of Hawthorne. IIoRASi, November 1. The news of th( disaster to the Wairu* rapa caused a gloom OTer the city, and fiags were dipped out of respect to thoee who lost their lives. >Y* lung ton. This DayMrs Amelias Smith was net aboard the Wairarapa. havia g changed her plans and come across iu tiiele Anau. The Governor has banded a letter to the press, expressing his deep svmpalky and-ihut of :he Gowute*s of Glasgow with / those who an' now in mourning for rels tions and friend* lost on the Wairarapa. Of the passengers for Woilingtou by the Wairarapa. liies Annette Panl. one of live saved, is the lady who endowed ta# Pauline Home. Cuba street, opened by tnc \\ i ’ton '.alvntionieti ' few day* ago as . a ho; fallen WsumD. M Paul lias for (he »..»( u* yrar* detoled a large part oi her means to the phiiantkropkir work of the nrtin . and is uow just returning front a trip to England. Auckland, Thu. Day. Information us* been received that the -apply nf iaJ in possession of the natives was I.lulled owing to the eticroacheaienl* made upon u by tne survivors from th wreck. Instructions have accordingly been given (e send a supply to the natives of provisions iu place of ihos* which were form:lately at hand for the sur v ivors to exist uoen.

yesterday afternoon, when the following statement was drawn :—“ In connection with the disaster, at the request of many ethers, a meeting of six passengers, whose names are appended, was held this Ssrnoen, and although not official, wo isTS that the great majority of passenfere will cordially endorse our action. We oowmeud the coolness and self-corn-mandof the passengers which resulted in the entire absence of undue excitement or panio, but feel it necessary to record our regret that the discipline at the boats was not better, and that orders to lower them were not given more promptly." Many passengers aver that during the hours spent on board ship until daylight they never heard any orders given from the bridge, and there was no signal of distress except the patent life buoy.

The stewards rendered great assistance to the passengers in adjusting the lifebelts, and the stewardesses, the loss of whom we have to deplore, did their utmost to get all the ladies and children on deck and into a safe position.

A party with a diver and postal and customs officers have gone down to th e island to sndeavor to secure the mails, which are in a steel room near the forecastle. If the wind be from the northeast or south-east it will be impossible to get at ths mails, and there will also be additional danger—the boat may slip off the ledge on which she is at present resting.

The newspaper offices have opened subscription lists for the relief of the distressed sufferers.

The passengers are particularly loud in praise of the chief engineer who not being rung off after the vessell struck, remained at his post down below and was the last to leave the ship. Indeed he did not leave it until the bursting of the steampipe and the comple hooding of the hold compelled him to make his escape through the skylight into the ssa, where he waspieked up. A police detachment left by the Argyle last night for the Great Barrier taking tents, tools etc and timber for 50 shells to bury the dead. Each shell will have affixed a number corresponding with a number giving a description of the body so that relations can in future lemove those buried on the Island when identified. The Church of England Diocesan Missionary Canon Haselden will conduct the burial services. The survivors were about town most of the dav, some of them presenting a curious eight in the morning as they gathered at the telegraph office to wire news of their safety to their friends. Their next business was to procure clothes for themselves the Union Company having given the unlucky crew and passengers orders on local firms. Some of the premises in Queen Stree6 were crowded for a little while during the forenoon by the recued seafarers. Some had no boots, others were without coats or waistcoats and some had comparatively nothing in the way of clothing saved from the wreck.

Miss Jane Williams, one of the sur- I vivors, had a most thrilling experience. She was in the water for twelve hours. ; * For part of the time she was clinging to a j spar with her hair wound round it, and j during the remainder of the time she lay ! C on two buoys. She states that while she j lay in a Maori whare after reaching the j * shore she heard some painful stories. In ; , one case a husband had witnessed his wife and four childreu drowning. Women | had been left husbandless and childless. One boy, about 11 years of age, who had j C lost his father, mother, and two brothers, j was taken in charge by Mr Ferguson, of j Wellington. The little boy only came j ( out from London by the s.s. Austral lately. |

Miss Williams says the women who had | babies in arms were drowned, for they had j no chance of saving themselves. The vessel had 230 souls on board, the j passenger accommodation being fully occupied. i As the bridge gave way the captain had a lady beside him, it is said. Neither he nor the lady were seen again. After 1 various ineffectual attempts the line was secured shortly after dawn. The first t lady to go was Miss Diokenson. Another lady, Miss Williams, was not so fortunate. She became entangled in the lines and appeared to be strangled. A Salvation

Army Uss was drowned in making the attempt. The ropes were subsequently worked upon a more satisfactory plan, j and the remainder of the passengers got ! ashore safely. Joseph Wright, a passenger, says the steamer steamed all day through fog. Towards the evening he got rather j anxious about the distance and kept looking at the log every half hour or so. He j got the deep sea leads out and ready, one j forward and one aft. The passengers ;

began talking in groups by the ship’s side, noticing how thick the night was, and the j speed the vessel was going. They had a presentiment that something would hap | pen, as there was no fog horn going, and j the steamer’s speed did not appear to be j lessened. Some of the passengers, until nine o’clock, were singing hymns. Captain Johnston, of the Northern Company’s steamer Argyle, whieh brought the survivors to Auckland, says be examined the coast all along to see if there were any more survivors. Numerous dead bodies were seen Hosting about, nearly all having life belts on. Mr Chadwick, of Kew, Victoria, should be added to the survivors of the Wairarsps. An inquiry is proceeding. The press is not included. Dunedin, This Day. The Wairarapa was valued at £30,000, wholly uninsured. Captain Mclntosh was a bachelor, and had been in ibe Company’s service sinen 1879. Among the drowned are W. Scoular, merchant. Bond street, his wife and two daughter*, and Mitt MsQuaid, daughter of a fruiterer, of George street. 1 he news caused a .i it een at >n. M Maeikunld, tk* stewardess drowned, lived at Port Chalmers, and leaves four children. Mr Mills, Managing Director of the I nion Company, cannot account for the accilimit happening under the circumstances reported. Every officer is provided with regulations which set forth in 1m i i language the precautions to be ut • td in weather or when in

doubt regarding the ship’s position. Napier, This Day. Several of the passengers booked for Napier by the Wairarapa are not on the list of those saved. Skewes, a local cab man was expecting his brother and family but only the name of Skewes is mentioned as saved and it is feared the others were drowned. Another sad case is that of Mrs Holies, of Adelaide, who was coming to see her son who had not seen her for 20 years. Mrs Hollos was sister of a well-known Puketapu farmer, Mr John Bennett. Received 10.45 a.m. Sydney, This Day.

The Sydney Morning Herald, commenting on the Wairarapa disaster, says: “That so far as it is possible to learn from the particulars that reached Sydney it appears all on board behaved well and courageously in the face of the direst peril and imminent death. We have at least nothing to blush for in the bearing of the officers, crew and passengera in the dread hour of catastrophe. The Rev. Mclvor, who is supposed to be drowned, was a member of the Passionist Order, and recently resided in Hobart. Miss Sullivan was a Sydney girl. Mr McKenzie is supposed to have been representing the Graphic and collecting information respecting the passenger accommodation on Australia bound steamers. He was en route to Samoa, and leaves a wife in Leeds. Melbourne, This Day. Bunting was the son of a well-known aecount&nt. Whaley was a representative of Norton & Co., Wolverhampton. The Revs. Peters and Hotake were on their way to conduct a mission among the Maoris on behalf of the Lutheran Church. Dunckley was a member of the firm of Thompson and Dunckley, dry salters. Mrs Raymond was on her way to join her husband in New Zealand. Adelaide, This Day. A ticket issued in the name of Miss Kelne was not used by that lady, but was availed of by Miss Dickenson.