WRECK OF A UNION STEAMER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 8330, 1 October 1898, Page 2

WRECK OF A UNION STEAMER.

THE S.S. MAPOURIKA COLLIDES WITH GREYMOUTH BREAKWATER AND IS RUN ASHORE. STEAMER'S POSITION CRITICAL. PASSENGERS AND GREW SAVED. (Per Press Association.) Wellington, to-day. News lias been received that the Union Company's new steamer Mapourika has been wrecked at Greymouth. The passengers and crew were saved. The Po3t and Telegraph Department has received the following telegram from Greymouth :— )fy "At 1 a.m. the s.s. Mapourika went ashore on the north tiphead, and she now lies on the north side of the north groin/ with her bows on the rocks." -*5¥ It is stated the steamer was approaching the river from the south, and when between the two walls a blind roller carried her right across the bar. Her bows Btruck the north wall, and her stern swung in towards the beach. The circumstances and position are similar to the stranding of the Mawhera some years ago. The Mapourika's position is a most critical one, and it is exceedingly doubtful if she can he floated off, as she has several holes in her bottom forward. A north-west wind -would cause her to break up very quickly. There was twenty-two feet of water on the bar. It was a clear night, and the bar was not rough. \ "v\ All the matte have been saved. I There will be no preliminary CMtoms enquiry into the stranding feMßpilie Mapourika, Mr Stratford, S.AI. -t^wey- . mouth, and two nautical assessors will hpjd the usual Magisterial enquiry. Mr Stratford, S.M. at Greymouth, has wired to the Justice Department:— " Mapourika lins a hole in her bottom ; three feet of water in one hold. There arc fears that she will become a total wreck."