LATEST PROVINCIAL NEWS.

Colonist, Volume VI, Issue 597, 14 July 1863, Page 5

LATEST PROVINCIAL NEWS.

OTAGO

TERRIBLE ACCIDENT NEAR PORT CHALMERS.

COLLISION OF TWO STEAMERS

SUDDEN SINKING OF THE PRIDE OF THE YARRA.

GREAT LOSS OF LIFE,

The Otago Daily Times of Monday, July 6th, gives a particular narrative of a fatal steamboat collision which occurred in the neighborhood of Port Chalmers on the previous Saturday night. Two of the Port Chalmers steamers, the Favorite and the Pride of the Tarra, while proceeding at full speed in opposite directions—the former towards Port Chalmers and the latter to Dunedin, came into violent collision and, says the Times, " amid the darkness, confusion, and general terror which prevailed, the more tender of the two (the Pride) filled and sank, taking down with her many of her human freight, and leaving others waifs upon the waters to battle desperately for life —some with success, others with helpless effort to avert their fearful fate." According to first accounts, and as telegraphed from Lyttelton to Christchurch, the number said to be drowned was 32. This appears to be an exaggeration, as up to Tuesday, the 7th instant, the latest date from Dunedin the number- was believed to be much fewer. At that time twelve bodies had been recovered and " several more " it was feared had fallen victims to the sad accident. Between five and six o'clock in the evening the steamer Pride of the Tarra—a small iron screw boat—took on board, at Port Chalmers, from forty to fifty passengers for Dudedin, and one family (the Rev. Mr. Campbell's) consisting of nine souls from on board the ship Matoaka, which had only the previous day arrived in the port from London, after a short and prosperous voyage of only 73 days. At the hour of starting it was dark, and the evening being peculiarly dull, there was a difficulty in exactly estimating the number on board, or in recognising the persons. The majority were on deck, but the ladies, including Mrs. Campbell, wife of the Rev. Mr. Campbell, Principal of the High School, Dunedin, sought what proved to be the fatal shelter of the cabin, along with her husband and her five young and interesting children, attended by two maid servants, Fnnny Finch and Mary Roberta. In the same place was seated a Mrs. Henderson, an engaging young person, who had arrived in the colony by the Chili on the occasion of her last passage, and who had only lately married. Its other occupants were several gentlemen, all of whom have been saved, with the exception of one, who has been recognised as Mr. Somerville, a station holder at "Wanganui, but his identity is not sufficiently established. The night being an unpleasant one, some of the pas-sengers-of the William Miskin, steamer, which had come in from Invercargill the same evening, and others—five altogethersquatted themselves in the partially occupied hold, the hatches being left off, and it is supposed that there were some in the small lore-cabin. In the cabin there was a light and the party in the hold had been furl nisned with a candle: those in the fore-cabin it any, were in darkness. ' Thus freighted, the Pride steamed on going at her usual speed, and she had the reputation of being about the fastest boat in the port. Captain Spence was personally j m charge, and at the wheel was an experienced and steady steersman, and it so happened that one of the Port Otago pilots was a passenger, though of course not interfering with the guidance of the vessel's course. As sKev steamed on, parallel to Sawyer's Bay, the lights of the Favorite steamer were recognised, as that vessel was on her way down from town, and, as the two vessels approached, the Favorite seemed to be steering right down upon the Pride, and occasionally keeping so much of a starboard course that her port lights were concealed. This course being apparently preserved, the Pride's helm was ported, and she was kept W?- £ Ver to the starfcoard side of the channel, which at that particular place, is defined by a bluff rocky headland, but there appeared } £ f° re °ecessity for porting the helm, and "Port» "Hard a Port," a?e alleged to have been the orders. A collision being now almost imminent, there was a cry of " For I G-od'a sake, reverse the engines," and simultaneously with this they were reversed, but all too late. Both going still at a considerable rate of speed, the Favorite ran stem on *q the P«d.e, qatchiag js;>«sa p,okt about a ,

third of a length from the bow, or nearly on a line with her mast, listing her over to port, and cutting right through her port side. This was the collision as said to have been seen from the deck of the Pride of the Yarra; • ' The Favorite, Avhich is a paddle-boat principally employed in towing, was on her way from Duucdin Bay. She was in charge of Captaiu Adams, steered by C. Murray, both of whom wore, on the. bridge, where the wheel 13 stationed, and it is a coincidence that on board of her also there was one of the pilot .staff, who was witness of the accident. According to the description given, no lights of a steamer ahead were seen from the bridge, and it was a subject of remark among those on board that the Pride of the Yarra did not seem to have passed, when, suddenly, from amidst the darkness, her lights gleamed forth—a mast-head light, and what was apparently the light of her furnace on small cabin, windows. She was at the same moment recognised by the puffing of her high pressure engine, and so close was she that, as had already been perceived from her own decks, a collision was seen to be inevitable, and before the orders to stop the engines of the Favorite had effected any material change in her speed, the collision was an accomplished fact. Such, at least, is the account given. THE SCENE ATJTEE, THE COLLISION. This it is difficult to describe, as the survivors on board were generally too much occupied with their own feelings to note particularly what was goin^ on around. As the water was hoar;l io rush intotlie vessel's hold, and as the. de-jk was felt to subside below the surface, the crowd rushed to the point of attachment to the two vessels. Here the hands on board the Favorite approached, to rescue the many who were struggling hard to get upon the safe side of her bulwarks. There was great hurry and confusion, but all the haste that could be used was needed, for down and down still was the motion of the vessel, and with the exception of the first few who caught the Favorite's bulwarks, all were partially immersed, and, becoming more deeply immersed as the Pride was sucked foremost into the yawning gulf. As the crowd passed forward j to the only place of hope, their aggregate weight depressed the boat still more at the vary point of danger, aggravating the critical character of their position, until at last all were floundering in the water, and were only saved by seizing hold of each, other as one by one, like a chain of living links, they were drawn in over the side. While this wai going on the boat had gradually turned, so as almost^ to lie abreast of the fore-part of the Favorite, and some of those nearer the stern were able to save themselves as the majority had done in the scramble at the bows. Of those who were in the little forecabin, if there were any, the fate must have been sudden and terrible. They must have been stifled in an instant, if not bruised to death in the concussion, and their bodies probably floated out, as the deck became detached and rose to the surface of the water, leaving the hulk to sink. Of those in the hold it is hoped that all have been saved, though their escape must have been narrow. One of the number, a young man from Port Chalmers, who had all his effects and some amount of money with him, was one of the first out, and yet he was up to the neck in water, and was only, like many more, providentially saved. Of those who were aft, Mr. J. Gleadow was one, and as he made for the bows he had the misfortune to fall into the open hatchway, by that time concealed by the water, and to sustain a fracture of some of his ribs, in consequence of which he is now lying at the Port Chalmers Hotel. The worst situated, and, as it proved, the worst fated were those in the cabin. Captain Wilson, of the ¥m. Miskin, and Mr. Thomas Kingston, who were here seated, just succeeded in making their escape as the water was running in breast-high. A lame gentleman, Captain of the cutter Alpha, who was near the door, was also pulled out by Captain Spence. But the family of Mr. Campbell, happy in the knowledge of arrival at their new home, and so happy in their fate at the very threshold—they must have been pressed down < and suffocated by the rush under circumstances of peculiar agony. So thorough was the surprise, and so sudden their fate, that it is said no cry was heard to rise from the lips of the fated family. Another moment, the Pride of the Yarrow and all within her, dead or dying, went down, only a few dark objects—some say swags, some think men— floating over the scene of the disaster. One man, at least, is said to have got separated from the general rush, and to have floated off, crying " Help !oh help!" Courage was given him by those on board—lines were thrown to him and over him, but there was no capacity to seize them—he gave one more, but a weaker cry;, and when the Favorite was so shifted as to approach the position from which the sound had come, the people peered down upon the blank face of the black water. After half-an-hour's delay at the spot, all who were rescued were brought to Port Chalmers,. and towards midnight, I they were shipped for Dunedin. by the I Golden Age. Most fortunate it was the \ two boats clung together even for the short time they did—though that was not more than three or four minutes. Had they driven apart after the first concussion, who can say how few there might have been to tell the tale. RECOVERY OF THE BODIES.—PAINFUL SCENE. On the day after the accident eleven of the bodies were recovered, and on the Monday following a twelfth, a middle-aged man, a carpenter, named Hammond, was brought up by one of the drags of the harbor boats. Iwo divers, named Watson and Wheeler, went down into the steamer's cabin, and the crews of several small boats with drags were employed in the sad work of dragewg the channel. The boat of the water police brought up some luggage, one box bearing the name" Rev. T. Campbell," and another boat hooked a boot at the bottom, which had apparently come freshly off the W of some male body. Ti?f t} mG of terriWe interest to these assembled on the deck of the steamer, and in the crowd of boats surrounding her was when the rapidly ebbing tide slacked, and Watson the driver prepared to go below to bring up any bodies which might be found in or about the wreck. He was assisted by hisbrothe? aiver Wheeler, aud at one o'clock IW* tfefr ti<& sacked, went qy©* tto

steamer's side He was not many minutes down, when by the motion of the surface water, bubbling hither and thither as he moved round the wreck, it was distinguished that he had readied the cabin. A minute or two later there was a twitching of the signal rope, and a spare line having been attached and hauled down by the diver, the first body of eleven rose to the surface. It was Mrs. Campbell; the features placid, and a little changed, the hands as if crossed upon the bosom. The same arrangement of ropes repeated, and there rose the body of a handsome young woman (Mrs Henderson), even yet more life-like. Nest came the broader figure of an aged and bearded man, and as it rose the attention of the spectators was momentarily directed to a young man who, with the words, "My father!" fainted away, and fell upon the steamer's bridge. The body of Fanny Finch, who was in the service of Mr. Campbell, and who was one of a large family who were passengers by the same vessel, came next; and she was followed by the dead forms of two of her youthful charge—an infant and a little boy—both so fair, so young, and absolutely so life-like that it was difficult to believe they were not in full life as they appeared to be. Poor Mr. Campbell whose family with himself had thus perished at one fell swoop, seemed by his attitude to have most appreciated what had come upon them, —stretching out his arms; as if alarmed and stunned by an impending danger. The old maid-servant of the family^; Mary Eoberts, a second boy, and another phild, completed the sad catalogue. One byone the dead had been placed in boats alongside and covered until the diver completed his examination of the wreck, which he soon did, moving round her as far as her bows; but there was none loth to hear that he could discover no more. By the deck being off, the interior of her hulljwas perfectly exposed to view, and thera was no one there. The melancholy work over, the steamer lifted anchor, and with the boats containing the dead, returned to Port Chalmers. All the bodies, covered by British ensigns, were conveyed to the large building recsntly occupied by the Messrs. Mains, where they are to await the inquest. THE SCENE IN THE CABIN OP THE WRECK. The Times of Tuesday says:—His (the diver's) picture of the scene in the cabin is one in reference to which we can scarcely venture to be minute. It is enough that there were all its inmates, in almost every position, but forming a picture of life most, affecting in its character, by the clustering of the children round the mother, the mother's firm hold of the infant, and the father as the centre of the little hope that remained. In removing the bodies of this group, so patient was the diver that he wrapped the infant in a shawl which he found before sending it to the surface, and was otherwise most careful in the handling of the bodies, as Wheeler was in the assistance which he rendered from above. STATEMENTS BY SURVIVORS. Captain Wilson, of the "William Miskin, did not think the results of the collision likely to be serious; and when those in the cabin rushed to the narrow doorway and blocked it, he went amongst them and persuaded themto ue^calm; pointing out that they could only pass one by one. His impression was that in tins way all but four or five had left the cabin ere he himself found it necessary to leave. He had lighted his cigar after the collision, in order to aid in restoring confidence by showing that he did not anticipate great danger; but he was completely water-borne by the time he had forced his way to the deck. Then began his own danger. He cannot swim, but he managed to keep himself afloat for a time. He says, however, that he owes his life to his steward; for while he was all but exhausted, the steward, a capital swimmer, came up, and in a few strokes helped him to the side of the Favorite and to safety. "I spotted you out by your hat," taid the steward, subsequently. Mr. Thomas Fisher states that after the collision he scrambled on to the top of the cabin and began to strip, calling to those near him to do the same, as thus increasing then- chance of safety. He got off his coat and waistcoat, and then found himself afloat. Almost at the same instant his right ami was tightly clutched by some one. He asked "Who's that—a woman?" The reply left no doubt as to the fact. He managed with difficulty to support himself and the woman untilhe floundered to the Favorite's side; for, though a good swimmer, he was terribly hampered by his burden. Giving one desperate plunge, he caught the sponson with his left hand; and so he hung until the strain could no longer be endured. He then asked, " Can you hold yourself for a minute while I get on board to help you ?" and the woman replying that she could, at once released his arm, and was by him helped to a grip of the sponson. Then Mr. Fisher got on board the Favorite, rushed at a rope, and returned with it to the woman's help. Not a minute had passed; but the place was vacantr-the woman was seen no more! _ Immediatelyon the collision occurring, Mr. Pilot AUardyce, who was passenger by the Favorite, went to the bows, with the hands.belonging to the vessel, and, by a nappy expedient, assisted much in rescuing the escaping passengers. Reaching one of ins legs over the side, it was immediately seized by a person in the water, and, as he climbed up, the others on board assisted to pull him. Attached to him was another, and so on they came until there were altogether eight drawn up in this way. Mr. Ross, of Ross and Glendinning, was one of the passengers. He soon got to the bow of the Favorite; but while he hung there he was, so to speak, "walked over" by a number of others, and his clothes—even his trowsers—were torn into strips. Mr. Koss had arrived as a cabin passenger by the William Miskin. All his fellow-passenger m the cabin were on board the Pride, and all are saved. Their names, as supplied by the agents, are Messrs. Ross, M'Crae, Miller, Kennedy GUeadow, Lilley, and Learey. i, Ti? WM? Ot ft the Peerage passengers by the William Miskin were on board the Pride. Messrs. Thompson and Peters are certainly saved. Of the others, nothing can be^tated with certainty, at present. The mquest, which was to be held in Dunedm, would be a very lengthy one, as numerous witnesses present on the fatal occasion were to be examined. Of the survivors^, ten had up to Monday night communed the*? B a&ty kumfoj^ 8,M.,

and it was hoped others would follow their example. CAUSES OF THE ACCIDENT. The question of the causes of the accident is one upottwhieh it is delicate to touch in anticipation of. the inquest and other enquiries which will probably follow. It may be .mentioned, however, that the' Favorite had the usual mast-head, and port and starboard lights. She had not a boat on board, m? r'-^ 0.-, as we are aware, any life-belt The Pride of the Yarra had one light at the mast-head, that lamp, however, having three slides, representing* the usual colors for mast-head light, port, and starboard. The rule of the road is, to allow a vessel to pass on.tb -e port, or left hand side, and it was while this was being attempted by the Pride of the Yarra that the accident occurred At the time of: the accident (says the Tides of Tuesday) it should have been mentioned, it was close upon high water, if not slack tide, and the wind was up the bay driving before it the smoke of the Pride of the Yarra, which it is quite probable, was the cause of obscuring her light from any vessel advancing in the other direction. That some warning must have been given on board the Pride, appears to be the fact from the following statement:—A seafaring man states that he was a passenger on board the Pride of the Yarra; and that some time before the collision, he said to the captain, "There's the Favorite or the G-eelong coming down. I see by her lights that as she's coming she's bound to hit us." So strong was his conviction- that:there would be a collision that he went tola mate and said, " Now, I'm going to be ready for a pier-head jump." He planted one foot on the rail; and at the instant of collision, he leaped and caught hold of the Favorite's bulwarks. FURTHER PARTICULARS. Yesterday (Monday) the identity of Mrs. Henderson was established, or understood to be so. One of the most affecting scenes which occurred in the examination of bodies by friends, was the recognition of Fanny Finch by her bereaved parents and sisters, whose grief for her unfortunate relative and " the master " (Mr. Campbell), was so intense as to necessitate their speedy removal from the scene. The Rev. T. Campbell, his wife, and their five children, came from London in the Motoaka. He was to have become the head master of our High School. They-5 were all more than elated by the rapid and pleasant passage out. Mr. arid Mrs. Campbell came up to town on Saturday morningj went to Park House, and made arrangements for a temporary sojourn there. They, returned to the Port by the afternoon boat.; and out of the Motoaka they obtained not only their luggage, but their five fine children; and they were all drowned in the Pride of the Yarra. Drowned! after their long voyage; after having trod on the land of their choice; and with their little ones clinging around them. Amid the general scramble for life, there were, it is said, some exceptional beings who greatly concerned themselves in the rescue of their swags, and one individual stuck with such pertinacity to two boxes of jewels, or j other valuables as to sacrifice, and almost to tempt those who were helping him out-to i leave him to his fate. ~ .'■■"'