TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

Waka Maori, Volume 11, Issue 12, 22 June 1875, Page 134

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS.

Auckland, 18th June. The floods in the Northern Wairoa River, caused by the recent heavy rains, were higher than for many years previous. Nine hundred logs were washed away from Te Kopara mills alone, and many from higher up the river. Induced by a reward of 20s. for every square and 2s. 6d. for every log, a considerable number of Natives and Europeans were engaged in the work of recovering the lost property, which is worth thousands of pounds. They have succeeded in securing nearly all. The floods in the Kaipara inundated a large extent of country, and drowned cattle. Auckland, 19th June. The " Cyplirenes" arrived about 11 last night, two days under contract time. She' left San Francisco on 25th May, Honolulu on 3rd June. English and Foreign News. Thirty miners were killed by an explosion in the colliery Talk of the Hill, Staffordshire. A mutiny occurred on board an American schooner en route to London. The two mates were killed, and several of the crew wounded. Eighty-nine bodies have been recovered from the " Schiller's " wreck. The " Schiller " has broken up. Her officers are accused of drunkenness. A large fire has occurred in New York. Twenty-five bags New Zealand mails were recovered from the wreck of the " Schiller." Extensive forest fires are reported in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, with great destruction of property, and hundreds of families houseless, with loss in Osciola of 2,000,000 dollars.

The Pennsylvanian bush fires are still raging. Whole towns are being destroyed. Pour trains with 1,000 people rushed through the burning woods. The following are the particulars of the loss of the Schiller " :—She carried a full cargo and unusually heavy mails; was manned by a crew of 125 officers and men; had 140 cabin and 129 steerage passengers. Total, 394 souls. The course of the steamer was up the English Channel, through the Straits of Dover, into the German Ocean. It is evident that the captain, owing probably to a heavy fog, was considerably out of his course. The part of the coast where the " Schiller " struck is notoriously dangerous, and of difficult navigation, but is abundantly supplied with lights. Of all on board only forty-seven are known to have been saved. The cargo, valued at 150,000 dollars, was insured iu New York aud London offices. She cdLrried also 300,000 dollars specie. The vessel, valued at 600,000 dollars, was fully insured in Hamburg and London offices. The New Yorlc Herald's special gives fall incidents of the disaster as follows:— 4 'The survivors and dead arrived at Penzance as follows : —Eirst a boat with seven persons, then came two boats with women and children, and a ship's boat subsequently picked up the bodies of a little boy and four men. One man was found floating on a piece of wreck, and at a late hour three more bodies were recovered from the sea. "When the boats finally reached the neighbourhood of Retarricimi ledge the last mast of the ' Schiller' went overboard. Scores of people who were clinging to it were drowned, after enduring agonising suspense during the night. The passengers had gone to sleep at the time of the accident. The Retarricime ledge on which the vessel struck is one of the many dangerous shoals, being on Bishop's Hock. The fog-bell ought to have been heard by the steamer. No such disaster has happened on the Cornish coast since the ' John May,' in 1555, when 200 lives were lost. The Herald says the responsibility of this awful shipwreck seems to rest on the officers: there was no storm, but simply fog and darkness of night, and even if none of the lights could be seen, Bishop's Rock bell could have been heard. The passengers are victims of a terrible blunder. It cannot be possible that an event so terrible, and apparently so unnecessary, shall be overlooked. The' Schiller' was wrecked on a well-known coast, not on any new rock of immemorial danger." Additional accounts of the disaster state that, in consequence of the heavy fog, no observations were taken since Tuesday. The engines were at half-speed, and sail reduced. At 10 a.m. on Friday she struck on the ledge. A great panic prevailed. Captain Thomas is highly praised for his conduct during the

terrible scene that followed. Two boats were filled with men, who refused to deliver them to the captain. He fired his revolver over their heads to drive them out, and then fired at them, but without effect. Afterwards all in these small boats perished: the tackle at the stern was released too soon, leaving the boats suspended by the bows. Three other boats then got away. One of them, a lifeboat, was so much injured that she sank; eleven of those in her were rescued by other boats. The fog lights were plainly visible. Two boats were crushed by the falling of the funnel. G-uns were fired from the steamer till the powder became wet. The deckhouse, crowded with passengers, was swept away at 2 a.m. on Saturday. The captain got some of them on to the bridge, and all were gradually swept away by flood tide. The rigging, which remained above water, was crowded with passengers and crew. The main mast fell at 1.30 a.m., with all who had taken refuge on it. Some who were drifted away were saved by a piece of wrecked stuff, and by boats which followed them. One man was rescued after being in the water ten hours. Captain Thomas left the bridge at 3 a.m., when the deck was swept away by a heavy sea. He was not in bed for five nights previous to the disaster. The sea began to break over the vessel half an hour after she struck, and the tide rose 25 feet before daybreak. One woman was saved. The survivors who were landed escaped in the captain of the " Schiller's " own boat. All accounts agree that the panic which followed the striking of the ship was terrible beyond description. Pisherman report the c> Schiller "as firmly settled on the rocks. She will not fall off into deep water. There will be many days during the summer when salvage will be effected. There was a life-belt in every berth when the disaster occurred. Captain Thomas issued orders that one was to be fastened to every woman, but the women were drowned by the heavy seas. Boats cruising in the vicinity of the wreck continue to pick up the bodies of the drowned. Seven mail-bags were recovered two days after the disaster, and contained mostly San Francisco and Auckland newspapers. At the inquest on the twenty bodies from the steamer " Schiller," H. Hall, first officer, testified that at the time the vessel struck Captain Thomas and another officer were on the bridge, and several men were looking out forward. Some London journals attribute the disaster to the recklessness of the captain. The second and third officers are drowned. Divers who have examined the hull found her broken up, and a confused mass of iron and timber. Her lower deck rested on the rocks, her bottom having been torn off. None of the specie is recovered. No cargo is visible. One of the crew of the Schiller has informed the correspondent of the Standard that the officers were drunk when she struck. Several passengers lay helpless until they were .swept away by the waves. One hundred and thirty bodies have been recovered from the wreck —many much mutilated. The passenger list published does not contain the names of any New Zealand passengers.