THE LOSS OF THE BLUE JACKET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 332, 7 June 1869, Page 3

THE LOSS OF THE BLUE JACKET.

H [by electeic telegbaph] H Hokitika, June 5, 4 p.m. H^ The following full particulars are Hxom the Argus: — H Intelligence of the sad calamity was Hwought to this port by Capt. Anderaon Htf the ship I'orkshire, who spoke a Hreasel at sea on board of which were Bphe captain, chief officer, bix of the Hrew/and all the passengers of the illHated ship. The Blue Jacket was a Harge clipper of 1442 tons, well known ■nrhile sailing to this port under the Hw lute Star flag. Her commander, HDaptain White, was also well known Hind esteemed here. Of late years the ■voyaging of the Blue Jacket has been Hvholly restricted to the New Zealand Hrade, in which she acquired great Hopularity amongßt passengers and Hhjppers. On her present voyage she Had a large valuable cargo of wool, Hjojd, flax, cotton, &c. She left LyttelHoji on Eeb. 11 with a number of Baloon and fore-cabin passengers. .For Hbjout four weeks she sped on her Hoarse without anything occurring to H)reak the ordinary routine of the voyHge. On March 9, however, when in Hat. 50deg. 2Gmin. S., long. 4Gdeg. Bpßrain. W, that direst of visitations Ht sea — fire — was discovered on board, Hnd notwithstanding the intrepid Hfforts of the captain, passengers, and Hrew to subdue the conflagration, the Hallant ship was utterly destroyed. H All on board were speedily transHerred to the boats, which had been Ho some extent provisioned, and where Home hurried preparations had been Hnade in anticipation of the worst. The Bbassengers and crew were divided imong the three boats, the captain, :hief officer, and all the passengers, tojether with six of the crew, being in ;he cutter, while the remainder of the rrew were in the life-boats, which were n charge of the second and third >fficers. The boats kept company for ,wo days, but afterwards got separated, md concerning the fate of the two life)oats there is no record. The cutter, lowever, was more fortunate, and after i period of seven days' anxiety and I buffering, the castaways were picked ip by the Hamburg barque Pyrmont, rom Iquique bound to Falmouth. Svery attention which the limited reources of the barque could afford to o large and sudden an increase to her lomplement was freely given, and just is the fresh water of the barque was jiving out, they providentially fell in vith the Blackwall liner Yorkshire, )ound to this port. On ascertaining he. state of matters on board the mrque, Captain Anderson, with characteristic and praiseworthy humanity, (upplied the Pyrmonb with 6000 galons of fresh water, and a large quan;ity of stores. In the good work of jontributing to the necessities of the ihipwrecked passengers and crew, Mr.< Anderson and the passengers on board ;ho Yorkshire took a very active part, md all the sufferers, from Captain White to the cabin-boy expressed theinlelves glowingly and most gratefully or the kiudness manifested towards ihem. Two of the passengers of the felue Jacket and one of the crew came H>n by the Yorkshire to Melbourne with Hhe intention of returning to New ZeaHand. The fire is supposed to have ftrigiflated among some damp wool. H^Captain "White's account of the loss Bpithe Blue Jacket is as follows : — On ■March 9, at half-past one o'clock p.m., n lat. sOdeg. 26min. and long 46deg. 57min W. (wind W.N.'W.), smoke was )bserved issuing from the fore-hatch ; lad the fore-hatch opened, and started )oth fire-engines, with crew and passengers. After pumping some two hours md a half we seemed to get the better A the fire, and made an attempt to >reak out and put overboard the burnt )ales, but could not succeed, the flames jursting out with greater fierceness. We again closed the hatches and kept :he engine going ; then had the first :utter got out, the two life-boats laving been previously got ready with vater, provisions, &c, in them. We loped to remain on board till morning, >ut such was not our lot. The men vorking the engines could not stand he great heat, and had to leave at ten ).m. The flames by this time had ■cached the topgallant forecastle, and •ushed up the foresail and forestays.

Before this we had got the ladies and all the passengers on board the cutter. The fire still raged with unabated fury, when we left at half-past ten p.m. The foremast went over the side about half an hour after we left the ship. The mast being made of iron, the fire rushed through the tube, making it red-liot and burning all forward. The flames then rushed up the mainstays, setting everything on that mast on fire as rapidly as if by electricity almost. The ship was hove-to on the starboard tack, drifting to the S.E. Soon after the mainmast took fire, but both it and the mizenmast held on until morning, when we saw no more of them, the fire still doing fearful destruction. Our boats, three in number, were lying close by at the time, the crew being in the two life boats, myself and chief officer, with six of the crew and all the passengers in the cutter. Mr W. J. Bell, second officer, was in charge of one of the lifeboats, while Mr "Webber, third officer, was in charge of the other. They both had strict orders to follow and keep company with the cutter. We kept company for two days, working our way to the westward, and burning rockets and lights all night. On Thursday morning, March 11, they came up as usual. Mr Bell, the second officer, asked if I could take two seamen out of his boat, q& she was leaking ; I told him I could not, because at that time I had thirty-seven people in the boat, but I requested him to stay by me. There was a heavy sea on at the time, and he ran to leeward. After this the third officer's boat came up and asked where Bell, the second officer, was. We told them not to run ahead, but to keep by us, and that the course was W.S.W. He also ran to leeward, and both lifeboats came together, running well and free. "We lost sight of them during the afternoon. Before sunset we ran down to see if anything could be Been of them. A man was sent to the masthead, but he could not see them. We also sent up rockets at 8 p.m., but there was no response, although they had rockets on board the boats. I have omitted to say that each boat had a box of gold by way of ballast. I have seen nothing of the boats since. For five days out of the seven we were in the boats, strong westerly winds and | gales prevailed, the sea running very high all the time we were in our little frail bark. At half-past five on the morning of March 16, in lat. 50 deg. 55 mm. S, and long. 53 deg. 51 mm. W, a sail hove in sight, running down upon us. She proved to be the barque Pyrmont, of Hamburg, Capt. Nicumayer, bound from Iquiquo to Falmouth for orders. The Captain very kindly took us all on board, and gave us all the hospitality he possibly could under the circumstances. The same day we were picked up, and soon after we had been taken on board, Mr Farrington, the fourth mate, Mr Ellis, a second class passenger, and Thomas Apsey, the third steward, died from the exhaustion and exposure they had undergone. It was a great miracle that more of us did not die, considering that for the seven days we we were in the boat our allowance was two tablespoonsful of water and one of soup per day. I cannot speak too highly in praise of the Captain of the Pyrmont, who gave us all his vessel possessed. On Sunday the 28th, we fell in with the ship Carricks, of Wokington, the Captain of which gave lis all he could spare, together with a hearty welcome. By this time, we had run short of water on board the Pyrmont ; but on April 1, we had the good luck to fall in with an old friend, Captain Anderson of the ship Yorkshire, who gave us hearty cheer, and Mrs Anderson, I am proud, to say, supplied us with lots of clothes/