WRECKS RECALLED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20108, 15 May 1935, Page 10

WRECKS RECALLED

MAYOR PLACES WREATH ON MONUMENT Yesterday was the fifty-third anniversary of the wreck of the ships Benbenue and City of Perth, while riding at anchor in the Timaru roadstead on May 14, 1882. Nine lives were lost, including two of the City of Perth’s crew and five Timaru boatmen. The monument erected at the junction of Perth and Sophia Streets bears the names of those who perished and of those who gave heroic service in the rescue operations. As has been the custom for some years, the Mayor (Mr T. W. Satterth waite) yesterday morning placed at the monument a beautiful wreath of laurel leaves and bronze chrysanthemums in memory of those who gave their lives on that fateful day, the wreath bearing the inscription: "In grateful remembrance, from the Mayor, Councillors and citizens of Timaru.” There is also another who makes a yearly pilgrimage on May 14 to the monument and who leaves there a simple wreath of white chrysanthemums with no inscription. As in past years this token was found at the base of the memorial at an early hour yesterday morning. The Mayor was accompanied by the town clerk (Mr E. A. S. Killick) and Mr I. J. Bradley, one of the two survivors in Timaru of the lifeboat crew. The other is his brother, Mr Phil Bradley.