PARTICULARS BY MAIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11056, 23 August 1907, Page 5

PARTICULARS BY MAIL.

PATHETIC SCENES AND BRAVE ' -'MEN. . GORMANSTON (Tas.), August 14. A shipwreck attended with greater los S s of life tlian ever previously recorded m West Coast waterways occurred at Maoquane Heads on Tuesday night, at 11 o'clock, when the steamship Kawatiri inward bound, from Hobart, struck' the breakwater training- wall, and- became a total wreck. Six lives were lost. THE WRECK. Tbe Kawatiri left Hobart at 1.5 p.m. on Mpnday fo r Strahan, m charge of Captain G. Crawford, and experienced fairly heavy jweather on the run round to the West Coast. From South-west Cape, where the seas m heavy weather are always violently turbulent, to Sorrell Lighthouse, tho good seamanship of' Captain Crawford was equal to the demands placed upon it, and coming closer m it was concluded to be sufficiently safe to cross the harbor bar. But inside the narrow entrance a tremendous tide was running, at a rate of up to 10 miles an hour, aaid the force of tins, combined with the heavy seas and the westerly gale, carried the ship on to the breakwater- wall, the impact shaking, the Kawatiri from stem to stern. Large holes must have been stove m the ship's bow, for m a comparatively short space of" time the forward part filled with water. After striking the breakwater the Kawatiri appears to have reeled off, for she now lies' upon the northern sand-spit, where she is embedded, with the seas breaking over her. H there.be no abatement m the weather she must quickly go to pices. Only portion of Uie bridge and the masts are now showing above water, and even if the weather were, calm the ship cauld riot be saved. t -i. ' 7 The entrance to Macquarie ,. harbor is narrow. On the north sidf are high, rocky bluffs, and froiri these the breakwater, at the training-walls, stretch seaward and m towards the harbor. The south side is all sand bar, arid the channel between is extensively beaconed and moderately safe to shipping, but m weather and conditions such as. were prevailing it takes a good boat as well as a good seaman to be equal to the occasion. The rush of water over the bar has always been strong, but suice the breakwater was built some few years back the force of the current is so great that it has scoured the bar*, to an additional depth of about sir feet. THE DISASTER. The lost comprise -. Mrs Hooper and her two children. Miss Hogett (stewardess). Two children m arms belonging to Mesdames Gundy and Tennant. , Owing to the heavy Weather nearly all the lines of communication were down when the wreck occurred, and only fugitive and disjointed particulars reached the port. A little while afterwords Mr L. K. Doherty: despatched the small steamers Kathleeri and Nellie to the scene of the wreck, and the Mahinapua stood by the offing to render any assistance which might be necessaiy, but several hours previously the large .boat of tho wrecked ship had been put off with 22 souls aboard. Terrible waves arose and washed some of them away, including the lost stewardess, and tbe succeeding waves enreshed the boat to pieces. A man at the signal station close by waded into thc , almost appalling surf and dragged several, wha» were fighting hard for dear life, to land. How the remainder were saved, and by what • miracle they were brought to land, is not known. Most of the passengers must have been m bed at the time of the disaster, for many escaped m scanty clothing, and all lest their belongings. WHEN DAY BROKE... 7 Daylight revealed a sad scene. Several were weeping for lost one 9, and there was a pathos even beyond tears. The body of Mrs Hooper with one o£ her children clasped to lier breast was found weuged itt between two rocks on the shore. Tho body of the stewardess was found. on the 'beach, but the three children of Mesdames Gundy, Hooper, and Tennant nre missing. Tho bodies were brought on to Strahan to-day, as were the The men behaved splendidly during the terrible ordeal, as diet several of the passengers ; but naturally there was both Eanic and consternation m many. Harormaster Captain Haigh and his Hvife did all they could to succor the almost famished shipwrecked ones at the Heads, and many others behaved m a highly humane and commendable manner. SIX GALLANT MEN. At noon to-day 17 people remained on board the wrecked steamer. When hope of rescuing, had been abandoned, six men manned the lifeboat and made many, and gallant, attempts to reach the Kawatiri on the northern spit, but each time were carried awayVby the mountainous seas, and their own fives again imperilled and almost sacrificed. Yet, like brave fellows, they stuck to it, and once a tremendous wave carried them out of sight. .The subsequent backwash returned them m the trough of the sea, and they made their way to the sunken vessel and rapidly .took off "the well-nigh famished ones who were, awaiting rescue. Meanwhile hearty cheers went up from the shore to encourage the desperate bravery and good seamanship of the men m thd lifeboat. The struggle was long and terrible/and the men were spent when their purpose was accomplished. . ., ,'•„,., When m thc entrance, to the Heads the Kawatiri was caught simultaneously by a. westerly squall and throttled by a terrific sea, and then become unmanageable, the swift ebb tide carrying her on to the breakwater. Much sypipathy is felt all round for the bereaved ones. and sufferers and not the least for Captain Crawford, who is a fine seaman.' Mr Doherty, the Company's manager' at Strahan, greatly modified the sufferings of the survivors, In all the coast towns much anxiety was felt, for it was at first feared that all hands had been lost. . . V ■ A pathetic circumstance beyond the ordinary is lent to the disaster by reason of the stated fact tliat Mrs Hooper and lier children were coming to join her husband who has lately been transferred to the Morell Lighthouse, so that' practically they weie lost m sight of home.