SHIPWRECKED.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13314, 17 June 1907, Page 6

SHIPWRECKED.

THE LOSS OF THE KIA ORA. FATE OF/HER COMPANY. Per Press Association. : AUCKLAND, June 15. The Rarawa arrived at Onehunga this morning with nine survivors of the Kia. Ora. Nothing definite is obtainable as to the actual number drowned. The second steward says that there were on board nineteen officers and crew, thirteen adult- passengers, and three children, and -that the whole of the ship's company except the captain were saved. With 27 •saved, and three known to be drowned, there are several adult- passengers ■still unaccounted for. One of the crew said that he heard Captain Blacklock, call out for a boat thcom*' to him. This was about a quarter of an hour after the wreck. Captain Blacklock was then swimming, and had evidently abandoned his lifebelt in the effort to reach a boat. He was not seen later. _• _ A telegram from Kawhia, timed 12.15 p.m., states that three survivors, nam;<t Pratt, Barraclough, and Henderson, have just arrived there in a sorry plight. With the exception of these and the nine men taken aboard the Rarawa, the survivor:; are still on the beach. SURMISES AS TO NUMBERS. THEORIES ABOUT THE DISASTER. NEW PLYMOUTH, June 15. No further particulars are available regarding th? lo*s of lifv* in the Kia Ora vreck. The slapping office only accounts fyar 32 passengers and crew having Iff*. Waitara, so that if this is correct, five have been lo'ii. Misi liKelVj however, some went aboard without booking, and already one survivor has turned up at Kawhia whose name does not appear on the' passenger list. It may be that the second steward's estimate that there were 55 on board is correct. It is not known whether any, in addition to those who made the shore by the boat and ruit> have turned up. Magnus Forbes, who was drowned while >:s\rimiuing to the boat, was a will-known Taranaki farmer who had also a large holding in the Kawhia district. As offering an explanation of the Kia Ora being closer inshore than she ought to have been, it- is suggested that there is a stronger set towards the shore than there used to be:. This has been noticed lately by Captain Norbury, of the Rarawa, and by Captain Hood, harbourmaster at Ntw Plymouth. The latter also point', out that" contrary to the old theory that the current on the coast sits norhward. the only wreckage from the Kia Ora y< t found was picked up several niiies to th.southward. ' "-"-"* STORIES OF SURVIVORS. A GALLANT ENGINEER. AUCKLAND, June 16. Joseph Morris, an A.8.. whose station was at, the raft, said in un interview respecting the wrtck of the Kia Ora that the chief .mate and himself wei* the last, to be picked up. " When the ship went down," he said, '" I went. down with her. but- the mate and I cfring to a piece of wreckage. I heard tin: captain caltiiig out to fetch the boat alongside. He was then hanging on to the funnel. "Hie I>oat went to him. I think, but I did no,: se: what they did. The raft came to our assistance, and we were taken off. Everyone was more or Lks knocked abou;. When we got on to the raft- the ship had gone. The raft was afterwards taken in tow. There was no food or water on the raft. The chief engineer and myself weie the last to be picked up. The- settle!* treated ras very kindly. We had a hard job in getting to the Rarawa." W. Dunning, a fireman, said : —" \\ e w:re going full speed when she '-trn.k. The ship vras rolling too L.ivily to g L -t tin.- boats out. It was pitch dark. The"" were four of us forward—u sailor named Forbe.-. a passenger of the same name, another passenger named Calve-.;, and myself. Forbes, the passenger, had a life belt. The captain and a pantry- boy were hanging on to the funnel, and when the funnel went over, the captain went with ii. The screams of the boy were '■ dreadful. Some one cried out —' She's going ' Then ..ur part of the ship went down, and v.e were all in the water. Forbes, the p.: - senger, floated about for a lit tip time, and then I him pay "'Good-bye. I'jn «ioiie.' I could see the life boat a lor.g war off because of the- head light in her.

I believe she -was five miles off,, but we made for the light and reached hei— Forbes the sailor and' myself. The former was on a bag of chaif for some time. There were 13 men on board. llien we picked' up Symes and a boy hanging to the fore-and-aft of the main hatch. Then we picked Hodgson. He had a lifebelt, but could not >swim. He was nearly done. Wti came up with the raft and took her in tow. There, were 11 on her. When, daylight came we- picked a sandy spot, and about 9.15 a.m. pulled over thesurf. There were only men on the raft. Wu had no clothes, and it- was very wet and cold. The chief engineer was on watch when the ship struck. He stood' by the -engines till the very last. It was too dangerous to bring the women and childrne otf to the Rarawa. Mrßaggstrom, the chief engineer, deserves great praise for the way he stood by the women and children. He hurt his back working to *ave others. He would not leave with us, preferring to stay behind till he had seen everyone taken away." A PASSENGER'S ACCOUNT. NEW PLYMOUTH, June 16. One of the Kia Ora's passengers, W. Lash, arrived at Waitara on Saturday by the launch Kotalii from Marokopa. In his account- of the> disaster, lie states that on the vessel striking, coffee was immediately ordered to be served to the women and children. There wer? eleven aboard the raft and twenty on the boat.. I hit account:- for three more saved, and would reduce the loss of life to five afc the most. One passenger, Kavanagh, was picked up floating on a bale of chaif two hours after tha wreck. Partridge was the passenger whose • leg was broken. He was picked up in the water, his leg being temporarily set. by the chief engineer, Mr Baggstrom, who w;is also considerably hurt. Ths xTJivivors in the boat sang "Home, Sweet Home" and other songs, the stewardess. Miss Kellar, inspiring confidence and leading them. Her conduct was highly spoken of. She collapsed on reaching the shore. A telegram from Kawhia anticipates difficulty in bringing the survivors there owing to the almost, impassable state of the tracks. No bodies have been recovered. A BARQUE ASHORE. AUCKLAND, June 15. The barque Woollahara, a vessel of 700 or 800 tons, from Sydney, bound to Kuipara in ballast, is ashore on the West Coast .opposite Mangawhare, at a locality which is believed dangerous.