LOSS OF THE CLANRANALD.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12455, 3 February 1909, Page 3

LOSS OF THE CLANRANALD.

stmyivos^ at;bdituburq; DBTAIfcS OF THE" DISASTER. TH& OAUBE UNKNOWN. [Puk A»«baATioN <; -CrtPTßiaHt.l Adelaide. Feb. 2. The Bumvora of tde CUnranald •wived; at Edithburß this evening The mite states that all. went well till two o'clock on Sunday; afternoon, when the vessel took » sud- * den list and became unmanageable. All bands: came on 'ileolr, and_ remained on the high part of tho ship. They lost two : boats, and the other : two could not be launched. The vessel, drifting towards shore, foundered at 10 at night. All bands were thrown into the water. The second mate was in charge of the vessel when she listed. The crew consisted of Captain Gladstone ; Mr . Rose, first mate ; Mr Campbell, second mate ; Mr Wilson, third mate; Mr. Stewart, chief engineer: Mr Fdrdyce, second engineer; Mr Walls, third engineer; Mr Patterson, fourth engineer; Mr Stewart, chief steward; Mr Shaw, carpenter ; and 54 Asiatics. The names of the sum vora .are : Captain Rose, Mr Fordyce, Mr Shaw, Mr Wilson, and 20 Asiatics. Heartrending cries were heard as the men -were cast into the sea. The Ulanranald was bound for Durban as her first poit of call, and carried the Sonth African mail. A feature of the disaster is the; fact that only those members of the crew who could swim reached the shore. 'The first mate and the second engineer were an hour in the water before they reached the shore. The latter came across an upturned boat, and clung to her. -•■..- "_ . . One of the Lascars stated that -.'•■ six or seven persons died during the ' night after landing. " Carpenter Sha?, who is 60 years of age, awam ashore with the aid of a life belt. He states that the vessel was about five miles ofl the shore ' when the waves struck her. From the time she took the first shear till she sank, six or seven hours elapsed. Two boats were washed away with the stays, and two others were smashed m the effort to launch them. -It was impossible to get at the other boat on account of tho extreme list, of the vessel. Ample warning was gi'en of impending danger to averyone on deck whenthe ship took her final plunge. He Had been eight yeare on the ship, and had never known her to behave . Jm such a fashion before, lie could not say whether shifting *"c argo caused the disaster. . Certainly there was not bad weather, ana the steamer was a splendid -sea boat.: On approaching the beach thu surf carried him 300 yards, and three others were carried up the beach in a similar fashion. Some people a3hore, when the survivors got there, had a fire burning to warm them, and tney had plenty of water, bread and butter, ■; ana , brandy. The residents made the shipwrecked as comfort- "■■-' able as possible. He bad noticed the captain on the rail of the vessel just before the. ahip went under. Several of the coloured crew clung tenaciously to a rudely constructed raft, which was put hu r riedly to - , gather, and reached shore by ita means* • .'- --■ Mr .Fordycestated that the third engineer had proffered him a life belt, ) but he had declined it, as he was a strong swimmer. He .endeavoured to tie a belt round the third engineer ; but he would not acaept it. At that moment the ship Bank in a whirlpool, and that was the last seen of the third engineer. • The : vessel ia completely out of sight, as she went down in fourteen • fathoms. . ' . „ The .Lascars of the crew dis-■'-.-played great calmness. : ; Nautical men believe tbat/thfi. vessel struck a reef, and that- whnn clear of that the water put out the .fires after the vessel beeled over. , The beach at'the. spot T?resented-a ghastly spectacle, dead bodies lying in all directions. Improvised stretchers were used, and the bodies were carried up' the face of the cliff, some 200 feet. All the dead found so far had on life ' belts, and the bodies bore marks of being battered oh the rocks. One body was found on the top iot the cliff. The man ;»bad climbed the ascent, . and died of 'exr haustion at the" top. . .-■•■ '■•■ -.'■■ Thirty bodies already have ; been recovered. r '■..-. ' L ■;■'• ' ' The pilot who took the vessel out ' of port, says that she had a slight list to starboard; but nothing i out of the ordinary, and that she could not nave been lightened by the consumption of. coal. . -^ ■;.;:,