STRANDING OF HIMITANGI

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12705, 7 March 1912, Page 5

STRANDING OF HIMITANGI

JUST GLIDED ON TO THE, SANDS

ALL HANJ&S SAFE- j

VESSEL IN GOOD POSITION

''£';''•'.'"• V (Pe'rV'P^esß^AJw^ciation.) *- ' i.^' W!_ECfJi|KGTON,ithis, day. Anxiety ih W^^ttgit^h. , regarding the overdue vessel Hirriila'flgi was ended at 3 o'clock y ester da^. afternoon', when the Mar ihe Departing*) received a message from? Cape Palliser, . stating that the steamer Gertie:- liitd 'just reported that the Himitangi waU strarided at. the Chathams, and that the crew were standing by. her. ,

.At. 6;46"p,rii. the Gertie berthed at the \Vool wharf, and landed four of the Hiniitarii^i's passengers, Messrs Foster, ElgaVj Cannon, and Regnault. Th*en'the : 'brief' signal" was supplemented; and ''anxious waiters Were told that the stranding. ha\l not been sensational, nor attended with" any fatalities.

-"-The Gertie left , Wellington on the search on Tuesday night, February 27, and called ofi\ Lyttelton Heads the following evening for- instructions. She was ordered jto proceed direct to the group, and arrived at Wditangi on Saturday last, anchoring 'in., the roadstead. The Himitangi could v bg' seen lying stranded on the east side" of Petre Bay at. a point about 2£ milfes? 'from Waitangi landing place. •:■.!•■,'.'■"'"'.*■' .'''•-, WHEN THB SttDA^tlß" WKN T T ASHORE.', Captain Rodger," wh'^. $erit : do\vn with the Gertie as mat"**-., mforibed' a ; "press Reporter just after the return' of Bis •vie'^el last night, thftb he had asc r ertamed p th'at the Himitangi "wept . aeliore^bnt'the rhoriiing of SundaJ/' FebrukrV 11. ' Slie l_w3 arrived at W;aitahgi at) 2 o'clock that morning. After wdrMhtf airother landing. places she; ' wrfs sche_-yie,d' to call thei*e, anchoring girt aVri-vaJ ' iri' the ■■: road- ( stead. She wa^three ftmir«r later found to be on the bea^chj having* dr^jgfed her anchors. Imiriediately her powiion was discovered, steps we're taken by Captain J. C. Cowan and his crew, with the view of trying to get, her off,, These, however, were unsuccessful.' The rHimitangi was standing upright ahd ■ broadside on to a level sandy beach. It was consider, ed there were prospects of getting her off with the aid of gear and suitable weather.

The captain and crew are standing by her, and are being well treated by residents of the island.

After getting the mails aboard the Gertie left Waitangi for Wellington at 2 p.m. on Monday, and passed the Amokura, which v was also sent m search of the missing ship, about five miles ouh from Waitangi, inward bound. Cape Palliser was passed at 2 p.m. yesterday, and the news was. signalled by flag to the lighthouse for transmission to Wellington. "

POSITION NOT DANGEROUS

Captain Mat-ley, who took charge of the Gertie for this trip, did not think that the position of the Himitajigi at all serious. She lay on soft shifting sand, and had lain since February 11 without.sustaining any damage, or going further ashore*,' so that her position could not be considered dangerous. At half-tide one could walk right round her. All she wantI ed now was? power, with a little heavier gear and favoring tide and wind, and she, could be got off easily. Her engines aiid propeller were all ' right, but the. fislf cargo was likely to be ruined, as 'the w&er pipes being blocked with 'saY-d, tHfe temperature could not be kept down. The hatches were of course kept shut down, but the temperature had risen nevertheless, to 38deg. F. The Gertie could not render assistance m the direction of helping the. stranded ship off, but it was quite safe to leave her as she was. She had three anchors out, and was making no water. All that a relief vessel could .do was to take] down a little heavier gear. Ii might he necessary to do some digging out, but she might come off even without this.

A PASSENGER'S NARRATIVE

"We were getting quite anxious about you," said a bystander to Mr 1-lgav, who had been down to the Chathams on a h^hing*-* -excursion, and was about to return m the Himitangi when the vessel went ashore. • ' •■

"You would not have been anxious if you had seen how we went ashore on Sunday morning," returned Mr E-gav. According to Mr E-garj' there was nothing m the nature of excitement about the occurrence. The. boat just went quietly on to the sands. Mr Elgar himself was m his bunk at the. time, having had a very busy day. They had been right round the islands, and completed their trip.

Mr Edgar was enthusiastic about the fishing; m fact, it quite put the wreck m the shade.

THE SALVAGE OPERATIONS

The local agents of the Himitangi last night stated that no course of action had yet ' been decided upon. It is understood that a vessel with necessary salvage gear will 'have to be despatched; but the agents can give no information even on this, point.

SIX DEATHS AT THE. ISLAND

Early m the afternoon of the day when the vessel was stranded, J. Merritt, ship's cook, died suddenly from natural causes. He was buried m the icemetery close to where the vessel lies on the beach. At the 6a me time the body of Captain Hood, a yery old resident of the island, who died a day or two before, was interred. There were altogether six deaths on the island between the time of the stranding of the Himitangi and the departure of the Gertie for Wellington.

THE SEARCH VESSELS

H.M.S. Pioneer, which left Lyttelton jon Tuesday to assist*- in the search, . was stopped m mid-ocean last night, and is now returning. She was m touch' with! the wireless station of the General Post Office, Wellington, all day yesterday, and as soon as the Gertie's report was received a message was despatched to Commander Stopford, informing him that the Himitangi was found, and that there was no need to search further.' Soon afterwards a message was received from the commander, stating* thht' the Pioneer had turned back, and was making for Lyttelton, where- ©he evpected to arrive on Friday morning. The Amokura. would discover that her search was ended on Monday evening last. She will not return direct to' Wellington, as she was on her periodical visit to outlying ""islands m search^f castaways. If the wind was favorable she would go on direct to the Antipodes, but if unfavoriable she would return to Akafoa, thence proceeding to Stewart Island, the Snares, the Auckland Islands, Campbell (-roup, the Antipodes, and the Bounties. INQUU7RY. K A Magisterial inquiry* into the stranding •of the Hirriitahgi will be held when the necessary witnesses are available, probably m Wellington. It is likely that t a preliminary inquiry will be dispensed with. .