THE WRECK OF THE WALTER HOOD.

Southland Times, Issue 1256, 27 May 1870, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE WALTER HOOD.

1 (From the 1 Sydney Morning Herald.) The Walter Hood left London on the 20th Januarys making a passage Of ordinary' length, and without incident until sighting Gabo Island on Sundays 20th April.' On that night a : fearful pale from the 3.E. sprang up, carrying away ; shriost *n" entire tuit of sailß before there was any'possibility to furl them, and so furious was the*' gale that sail after sail was blown away before they could be.bent to the yards. In this mppled state she was driven nearer and nearer to the land without the possibility, in the exist.'ifi£-: state of the wind and weather, to give the ship any easting. On - passing Ulladulla, on the a'ternoon of .Tuesday, a fnll-rigged ship was observed in this condition, evidently steering • north, but not more 'than three quarters of a mile from fhe land, and it was feared hj many who saw her from the shore that .her fate must, tie sealed:* Tnißproved to be the Walter Hoos, and at 8.30 on that evening she was driven on ... - ihe~ed«e~of-a-reef- about 200 yards- from the sbore x in a bay about nine miles short of TJlla•.'i Jdnlla. Jit was 'not long before the vessel began to brealjt [up; and $he. whole crew, and passengers, of whom there -were, three, remained by the ■ uwr^ck^clinginß to: .the . stern of the ship through .thwfearful, .night, the bow being separated from ,; th» remainder^ of the vessel and submerged in peeper; water. The morning brought no relief, the heavy sea, breaking continuously over the •wreck,. *nd the surf rendering it hopeless to reach: ilfejshare.^ Hopeless indeed it.proved, as in the attempt to do so. nine of- the crew and ; tifr >;Haines (a passenger) were all drowned, .chiefly , owing, to: the. heavy under- . j tow; Qn. the night, on which the vessel struck, Captain Latto broke several of Ma ribs from concussioa, and on the following morning, in the . ( atjenvpt' to reach his cabin to save, some papers, he was, deeply to the regret of those around, carried off by a heavy sea, and sank to rise no more. The body was seen on fr c second day by the sur-vivorson-the wreck, Trat only to be dashed on the tipach and taken back by the receding tide. On Thursday, the boatswain was killed by the concus«ionofthesea,hißßkullhavingbeenfracturedagainst some portion of the ship or standing rigging. On . . JFriday , the cook and a seaman died from exposure and exhaustion ; the weather, however, slightly moderating. The first and second officers, two Messrs. Smith (passengers), and five of the ship's company, being expert- swimmers, made a successful attempt to reach the shore, where they were rewived by several residents in the neighborhood who had gone round to the scene of the disaster to administer to the necessities of the occasion. To such a state had the band of thirteen now left upon the. fragment of wreck been reduced that a dog belonging to one of the party was killed on the evening of Eriday, and its blood was divided amongst, them in their last extremity. Most providentially, the Illalong (s.) arrived at Ulladulla •s>%that night from Sydney, and on receiving intelligence of the catastrophe, orders were at once given by the manager of the company, who hap- j msaster," and^ thifl'w^eicWa^o^miaSJSnT^ lifeboat, fully manned, was lowered, and made a fruitless attempt *at rescue,, and after two hours returned to the steamer. The usual lights were kept burning" on board till daybreak, for the purpose of _ reassuring the poor fellows to whom death "_■ ■was~Bo:imminent,~'aiid as soon as dawn broke the boat was again sent, and after many ineffectual attempts, 1 at length succeeded in bringing all off in safety. Loud were the shouts from their more fortunate comrades on shore when the last man i was safely embarked from the wreck. Their ne- ! cessities were then carefully and amply adminis- { tered to on board, and the Illalong left for Sydney. .• ' . i The following is a list of the crew and pas- ■ eengers :~'Drowned^-Captain A. Latto j Mr j ■.i. HayneSj'passengir j Sinclair, boatswain; Ashton, \ Julian, Branson, Combes, Moyes, Lemon, Davis, ■ ..seaman ; : Harvey, coot. Saved—^Mr Hewison, . . ■ , chief officer,; . Mr . Cullen, . second officer ; Mr ■ .-..,Tickier t . third officer; Berry, steward; Thorn, . , /eaUmaier ; Gray, carpenter ; Turner, M'Pherson, ,•■•.; Wijlittms, Croy, Dunkerton, Parnell, Maul, Scott,- --,.-., Butehard, seamen ; Gale, Sinclair, Lindsay, Wil- .; ,spß, ; ,Fenwickj anda boy, name unknown, apprentices... .■■;■•.■.. The ! bodies of Captain Latto, Mr Haynes '. '(passenger), and three of the crew of this ILL fated, vessel have been washed ashore, and buried near the scene of the wreck. A magisterial inquiry was held, and a verdict returned, in accordance with the evidence of the survivors, by. whonTthe remain's were identified. "