WRECK OF THE MANUKA

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1929, Page 11

WRECK OF THE MANUKA

300 SOULS ABOARD ALL RESCUED STRUCK ROCKS NEAR THE NUGGETS LIFEBOATS TOSS AT SEA ALL NIGHT By, Telegraph.—Press Association. , Dunedin, Last Night. The steamer Manuka (4534 tons), which left Bluff on Monday at 5.30 pm. for Dunedin, struck the rocks on Long Point, at The Nuggets (87 miles south of Port Chalmers) at 11 p.m. and, being in a hopeless position, at once became a total wreck. The vessel was on her way from Melbourne to Wellington by - way of South Island ports and carried about 300 souls, including a crew of 120, and 1700 tons of general cargo. A heavy sea was running at the time and the vessel began to bump heavily on the rocks. A thick fog obscured the land. The passengers and crew were transferred to the boats, the best of order being maintained, and were obliged, as land was invisible, to pull about all night until 5 o’clock, when they found their way to the shore. A large number of them were still in pyjama suits, and men as well as women and children spent a most trying time during the chilly night on a rough sea.

STEAMER ROLLS ON SIDE NO PANIC IN FACE OF DANGER. VALUABLE PAINTINGS LOST. Shortly after striking the vessel rolled on to her side, and late this afternoon she was practically submerged. Only a portion of the stern was showing above the water. The passengers’ luggage and all the cargo are lost. Fortunately the mails were taken off at the Bluff and forwarded to Dunedin by train. No time was lost in getting to Owaka, the nearest township to the disaster, and the townspeople rose to the occasion splendidly and cut a track through the bush to make way for motors, trollies and other conveyances to bring the people to the little town, where they were shown greatest kindness and clothed and fed. They were later conveyed to Dunedin by a train which had been chartered by the Union Steam Ship Company for the purpose. The steamer Kaiwarra and the tug Dunedin left Port Chalmers early this morning for the scene of the wreck. They will return to Dunedin late to-, night with the captain, a portion of, the crew and a number of elderly people who could not make the rough overland journey to Owaka. Passengers’ accounts of the mishap agree that there was no sign of panic, and they speak highly of the behaviour of the master of the ship, Captain Ross Clark. Among the passengers were the members of a theatrical company which was to open in Dunedin this week. The principals of the company.came to the city this afternoon by motor-car. This, they say, is their first visit to New Zealand. They are quite cheerful, though they frankly admit that they spent an anxioue time before they reached the chore. - -- One passenger states that the look-out gave the warning of “Rocks ahead!” just before the Manuka struck. The engine-room was at onee signalled for full speed astern, but before the order could be carried out the vessel struck the rocks hard. The vessel struck at five minutes to 11, and 15 minutes • later all the passengers were safely in the life-boats. The men waited patiently until the women were in . the boats. The only persofifl who remained on' board.were the captain, two officers and the wireless operator, who stayed until the last min-

ute, eventually, having to jump into the sea to save their lives. By the time the passengers came on deck the Manuka had a heavy list and it was almost impossible to launch a boat on the port side. About 1 o’clock the vessel slipped back and as she sank into deeper water a column’ of steam and'smoke issued from the boilers and engine-room. Many of the Manuka’s passengers and some of the crew are entirely without clothing. The secretary of the Shipwreck Relief Society ‘ telegraphed Owaka this morning to provide food and clothing The landing from the vessel was made at Jack’s Point, from which they had to climb two miles to a sticky day road leading to Owaka. The steamer was badly ripped forward and only the fact that the engines were kept going, holding her on the rocks, saved her from immediately sinking with all hands. Fortunately the lights kept burning and the crew roused the passengers and got them into the boats. The heavy list of. the vessel made the launching of the boats difficult. The last boat was clear at 11.30 p.m. When the engines stopped the ship slipped into deep water. The Manuka has been engaged in the New Zealand-Melbourne service by the Union Steam Ship Company for several years. _>■ She was built by Denny Bros, at Dumbarton in 1903, and is a twinscrew steamer of 4534 tons gross and 2813 tons net. Her length is 3G8.8 feet, breadth 47 feet, and depth 33 feet.

VALUABLE PAINTING LOST. - CONSIGNMENT FOR EXHIBITION. Wellington, Dec. 17. The steward who brought tea to Mr. E. Murray Fuller, the well-known New Zealand painter, on board the Maunganui this morning, did not realise all the words meant to the passenger when he said: “I suppose you know that the Manuka’s sunk?” Some months ago," in England, Mr. Fuller selected pictures by famous present-day British artists, and after showing aoout a third of them in Melbourne five or six weeks ago, consigned them by the Manuka for exhibition in the Wellington Art Gallery early in the New Year. Except 100 sent direct to Wellington, the whole collection, valued at £25,000, now lies in the water off Long Point.