MYSTERY OF THE VESPER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11812, 25 September 1916, Page 5

MYSTERY OF THE VESPER.

SCOW'S CREW MISSING. Regarding the forty-seven-ton scow Vesper, of Auckland, which was found capsized lately off thr> Greiit Barrier Island, with no f-ign of her crew, the " Neiv Zealand Ifernld " says: The Vesper, it in understood, leit Wliangarei on Wednesday, September 13, with lime, or cement, for Clevedon. Strong winds prevailed on the day following, but pine© then, it is reported, there lias been no bad weather. Tho Vesper was built in 1002, and has always been considered by her owners as a good sea vessel. Captain Davis has been employed by Messrs Biddick Bros, for about four years. How the accident, occurred is a mystery. According to an official the Vesper is described as a round bilge scow, and therefore less likely to overturn than tho flat-bottomed, square-sided type. A seaman of considerable experience stated*that scows were good sea vessels as 'long as water did not get imide th.em. When that happened there was a tendency for water to lodgo at one sido of the vessel, although this would bo less in the cose of a scow of the round bilge type. The Vesper was not the first 'scow to overturn, remarked tho seaman, and some years ago the late Hon J. A. Millar, as Minister of Marino, had considered the question of limiting the voyages which scows might undertake. Another theory to account for the eapsiao is that the vessel might have been travelling with her centreboard up and that a sudden gust down one or other of the gullies of Great Barrier Island, catching, the vessel unawares, overturned lier. There is a faint hops tnat the crew, having taken to the dinghy, might have bean forced to land at one of tho numerous bays of tho island far from tho settlements. In that case it would bo some time before they could report their safety.