MYSTERY OF THE SEA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15301, 24 August 1920, Page 5

MYSTERY OF THE SEA

, c ..Hu-i-ING AUTHORITIES

j Sunday night's shipping sensation still remains an inexplicable mystery of the sea. Nothing whatever has'come to light which would afford any clue as to the identity of the unknown vessel. Mean- . while, local shipping authorities are com- ' pletely baffled by the puzzling circumstances of the case. First impressions gathered yesterday were, that the people on Rototahi station had obviously been mistaken m their observations, and that they must have sighted some water-logged object which they had mistaken for a vessel m distress. This opinion, of course, was naturally strengthened by thc complete absence of any wreckage being found either along the coast or by the boats which were dispatched to search tho locality indicated. Thc emphatic statement made by Mr. S. MeCrae, of Rototahi station, published m our last issue, confirmed as it is by an equally definite statement made by I»lr. J. F. Graham, manager of the station, only serves to deepen tho mystery of the whole affair.

Mr. Graham's statement is that, having " been informed of the report of a vessel i being m distress, he went up the hill-side i on Sunday accompanied by Messrs. McCrae and F. Williams and his two sons. Ho distinctly saw a vessel, apparently four or five miles out to sea, obviously m ; distress. Judging by the look of ihe hull the vessel appeared to be a steamer, but they could discern no funnel. The bridge, however, was quite discernible, • and showed up m contrast to the rest of the ship. It was quite evident the vessel was a. large one, and that she was deep m the wafer, as the waves were breaking continuously over her. The vessel was scanned from stem to stern with the aid of binoculars, but they failed to see any sign of life aboard. Wallowing m the trough of tho waves, the vessel appeared stationary, and did not seem to alter her position. Mr. Graham said they viewed the strange craft from a hill at an-alti-tude of about 1500 ft., and the long range of view obtained at this height probably accounted for the Monowai and Arahura failing to observe the vessel when passing. Going back again after dark he failed to observe any lights, and he concluded that the vessel must havo sunk during the night. : The opinion expressed by Captain Norton, of the s.s. Monowai, that the people •at Rototahi staion must have seen the Shaw, Savill steamer Kias Ora standing out to sea was discussed to-day by a Herald representative with Mr. Bourgeois, local manager' for Messrs. Murray, Roberts and Co., the local agents. Mr. Bourgeois is of opinion that it could not hr-ve been the Kia .Ora, as it is understood that vessel had been sheltering round East Cape. Further than, that, the Kia Ora had an exceptionally large smoke stack which tho watchers at Rototahi could not fail to have scon, so ; it was obvious the vessel seen could not have been the Kia Ora. The mystery has proved of absorbing local interest, and m view of tho emphatic declarations made by the eye-witnesses at Rototahi the whole affair has so far baffled nil attempted explanation^ The opinion is firmly held by some that an! ill-fated vessel has struck tho dangerous Ariel **eefs and disappeared from sight/ emphasising once more 'the great .need for the immediate- establishment of a light at Gable Foreland to indicate the locality of this dangerous menace. On tho other hand, the question is discussed: What has become of the crow, the ship's boats and the. wreckage and dunnage that are bound to follow the foundering of a vessel of the size indicated? Then again the presence of a partly submerged derelict some miles seawards may possibly havo been missed by the Monowai and Arahura on Sunday afternoon, " but the existence of the masts as described is almost certain to have attracted some attention and to have been seen by those on the lookout. The reported whistling is also a puzzling circumstance of the case, as. it would seem to indicate there must have been life aboard the strange craft, and yet the great distance from the shore and the apparent absence of .any funnel point to the possibility of a mistake having been made m this connection. Having weathered through the storm until Sunday afternoon the sea conditions : by then -had certainly moderated considerably m comparison with those obtaining on Friday night and throughout Saturday. It is well known that there is a- northerly drift along the East Coast and the complete absence of any wreckage having come ashore, only tends to deepen ono of the strangest happenings m connection with shipping on tbe East Coast. -■'.'.". * Enquiries show that, m the absence of any further definite information to go on, it is unlikely that any inquiry will be conducted by tho Marine Department. It is not anticipated that the eye-witnesses from the Coast would be able to throw any more light on the strange affair and. that consequently there is nothing to be gained by conducting an inquiry. \: In conversation with a Herald reporter this morning; Capt. Hawkes gavo it a£ hi*' opinion that thc vessel was probably a Japanese liner Xof which there aro a number about New Zealand waters just, now), aud that sho has struck on the Ariel rocks and been carried In tho direction of Loisel's beach by the set of the weather.' Most ■of - those vessels carried steel lifeboats and these may probably have been swamped and sunk. By means of a nautieftl chart ho pointed out that the Ariel reef was six miles m length and ran m a "north-easterly -direction. The shallowest rocks and pinnacles were m the south end of the reef, 8^ miles east-south-east (magnetic) from Tatapouri beach. The widest part oft the reef is li miles across. The northern end lies east-south-east off Whangara Island, adistance, of seven miles. On the southern end of the reef the pinacles are only four., feet below the surface at low water. On the north-east corner of the reef tho shallowest portion is 24 feet. The current ha* a set to the northward, and to his mind it seemed quite feasible that the vessel when she struck the north end of the reef blew her whistle, and such a sound might easily travel to Puatae hill with the southeasterly' wind. This would enable: 'the sound to bo heard on Loisel's beach and particularly on the higher country at Rototahi. The north-eastern portion of the roef would be visible from Puatae hill, and the derelict might then have lost her funnel and drifted with the set toward the beach Tliis view, he thought, was confirmed by the fact that Mr -McCfae saw the Arahura pass between the derelict and the shore. The coastal boats from Gisborne - passed between the Monowai v rock and the Ariels. The derelict •had then possibly drifted m a helpless cftndition, and the seas breaking overhor. had gradually swamped. her and 6he had sunk. . When he (Capt. Hawkes) was on the Pbherua and cruising about -the locality thc prevailing wind was a light westerly, so that the flotsam and jetsam, while going to seaward, v^ould not go- out very far, as yesterday afternoon the wind coming off the sea would tend to send it in' the direction of tbe shore. Ho suggested that the Arahura and Monowai, on thph; way to Auckland, would naturally have the screens on the weather side >of the' vessel and the look-out would only be kept straight ahead and to shoreward. He considered that all vessels travelling the coast between Tokomaru Bay and Gable End Foreland should' keep a sharp lookout for floating wreckage. As an officer on a steamer some years back he had seen one of the rocks on the southern end of the reef quite distinctly m the trough of the wave when passing near tho point. When the Tuatea used to make fishing expeditions to the reef he had seen oh a fine cfay with clear water, thc patches of rocks on the reef. There wero two or three patches of rock close together on the southern end. The rock was of chalky appearance, with long kelp surrounding it. The southern end of the reef was 11 miles off Tuahine, east by ! north magnetic. A person on Puatae hill could see past Gable End on to the Ariel reef, where he is inclinpa* to boheve tha mishap occurred. . * Sub-Inspector Cassolls was officially advised from Tolaga Bay to-day that no 1 wreckage had been discovered on the ' Coast. „ , t. The Gisborne Sheepf armors' Frozen Moat Co. received a telegram 'this morn- ' ing from Captain Foiyler. master of the ■ -Tiroa, stating that they "saw no sign of 1 wreck or wreckage and after, a search ' proceeded to Hicks Bay."

AUCKLAND, last night. ! Captain Norton,; of tho Monowai, re--1 ports that he passed the spot of the re--1 ported wreck off Tolaga Bay between 1 : and 2 P.m. on Sunday, when the weather ' wis clear. He saw no sign of wreck- or 1 wreckage. At 2 p.m/ he was only*,!, miles * off shd?e. nnd must have seen the wre J ' had there been one. The wind . at that So was S.S.W., which would have driven, at any rate, some of **»-™ e <*; 7 a*c out to sea into the track : of tbe - Monowai. He further rpowtod out that - X?™ro no outlying dangers more .than » Sfle Rowland at that particular spot. f '

He said the Kia Ora was forced to leave Tokcraaru Bay en Saturday owing to heavy TTSither. Ha iz of opinion that the people on who reported the wreck must actually have :oaen::the""KifttOiu I standing up and down the roast, — Press Awn. .-••-- .. „r^-- ■,