SHIPPING DISASTER AT NAPIER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1581, 14 May 1887, Page 4

SHIPPING DISASTER AT NAPIER.

Napier, May 11. The greatest shipping d'.saale? which bat yet besn chronicled wit j in this port ooou to-day. As already telegraphed the large ship Northumberland peitcd one of her anchor yesterday, drifted towards the shore, and was pul! 1 up by a «C3ond anchor, i ad a spare anohor w. i alio put out and held. At night ever j thing appear. 1 snug. At four h the movnmg, however, the anchors commenced t'J drtg, t nd about ten o'clock the Weka steamed out to speak the eh ! p, Just c .i she a rived the wire cable atttohed to the spare anohor broke, and a signal was m:;de to shore fo? immediate c Glance. F.ve other email s'tcumerj ia pori at once began tj get up si am, and al! spaa encho:s and cable available were Bb'.pped. They started about one o'clock, but could not make the ship for nearly an hour, owing to the heavy sea. She wei then made f; at by stsrn, he? remrining anchor dragging. The Weka raadj an altompt to tow her off, but the line broke, aud as it was sejn furthor attempts to rare the vci:el were usele«9,laid by while ihe ship's bonis were got out. Just then a terrible cccidentooourred. Ihe ship Boojum, the Union Company's launoh, sf samed under lee of the ship to take the boat's crew on board, bub got iato the breakers, and in a oecand wn tr.rn: \ bofc'.om upwsTdo. Shr was manned by Captain Setter ensheer J. Martia, seaman Keevington, * voluntejr seaman, G-. Bin,a landsman named Arobibald Waddell,a cDrdial manufacturer. The Northumberland's lifeboat, which bed just been manned, pulled to the scene of the acoident, but succeeded only in saving Martin. A rope was thrown from the ship to another mm, who was hiul i half up, when he fell back exhausted, aud we.; drowned olose to the shore. The otboiß ware cot seen. By this time large crowd* as-embled on the ehoi'e, and afctemph werj nude to Bend a rocket line on board, but tho lfrej proved rotten and would not city. By this time she was within a hundred yarui of the beaeh. A plank attaohtd to a light line was floated from the vessel, and scoured after great efforts by two m<-n named Lome and Ljman, who went into the smf with topss round their waists. The light line being landed, it was easy to send a strong cable on bourd, to which uoradle waj rigged. About 4.30 the work of resone coremencsd, there being thi.iy-one couis on board huddled on the forecastle, and there* making clean breaches over the vessel. A difficulty ooourred through , the ore lie lines breaking, acd the darkness set in, making the work e ill more difficult, but by 66ven o'olock all were landed, Captain Todd being the la jt to come on shore. Firts were lighted on the shore and spirits supplied to the men, as they landed exhausted by their buffet'ng with the heavy surf. Tho ship now li p s abandoned to the under, writers. Her boats are smashed, and most of the deck hamper and bulwarks are gone, but the spar f are all standing, and the hull appears sound. She lies deeply embedded in* the shingle, and hardly moves, although the sea breaks over her continually. If the sea moderates, probably a great portion of the cargo could be saved, but the chanoes of fleeting the ship ere very small indeed. She was almost a full ship, having 1000 tons of English cargo for this port, besides 4009 bags of wheat and other produce shipped at Lyttelton. Later. The Northumberland is now breaking up. The musts have {[one, tearing up the deok. Tiia hull appears to have a breach in it. The cargo strews the beach for a mile. Part of the hull of tho Boojum her. also been wa>hed B.borf, but no holies. A great deal of ■wrecking occurred. May 12. Th ? : morning the Nor'humberlf id. vran found fc> bi> oompleiily broken up Far tr.rw mile) fho btach is strewn with wrrok >ga and cargo. A largo number of drnys wrre kept busy carting away the kf,.er, but mas'.; of it, is more or less d&maged. The polioo were bußy trying to stsp pilfeiing, but were not, altogether succassfn], and one man caught in the act W2J arrested. It is said that gome of the wreoker* dmicg tho night buried a considerably quantity of goods in

the loose jhinglf. Only four men were drowned by the tiipiVtg of the ioojum. DuriDg the dny the bodies of Captain Salter, Wsddeil, and Btin wmg wmhei tihore. SoUor sad Wadell leave widows »nd Lrge families. Both men were imsursd, but Dot for largj amounts. Buin left a widow, but no children. H«) wst uninsured. Onchour'a delay in ihe rescue of the Northumberland 1 ! orew would have reiulted in great loji of life, Sulscriptioiii are to be raised for the suffereri ty this eed acoideni.