FOUNDERING OF THE VENTNOR.

West Coast Times, Issue 12346, 30 October 1902, Page 2

FOUNDERING OF THE VENTNOR.

584 CHINESE BODIES ON BOA&D.

SEVERAL PASSENGERS AN$ CREW DROWNED.

CAPTAIN AND THIRD MATE - t

OUMP OVERBOARD. >

~ Auckland. Cct2§

The steamer Yentnor, loaded with Chinese bodies bound for Hong Kong; foundered off Hokianga. The * crew aJsj safe.

Ihe Yentnor struck off Cape, Egmon* on Sunday- night and foundered oft , Hokianga-.. Two boats with officers ajrici . part of the crew have landed. The rein; of the crew were seeu in two boats seve*n miles out. The steamer. Energy has bfcen sent to their assistance. - Wellington, Oct 2$ " Of the coffins carried by the Venthbr 489 are insured in the Alliance Coy. for * £5490 and the remainder are insured for about £320 in various offices in Welling , ton. ' - \' - - ' The Yentnor was four inches light oE her marks as'not sufficient coal ■ had. arrived, from Westport, . and as she was on time charter, the agents despatched her - without waiting for more. .

• ( Dtjnedin, Oct 29 . The Alliance Assurance Co had a risk" of £4650 on the Yentnor's bodies which number 580, and of thta amount £1860 was re-insured in the South British. Cos office.

Ihe bodies came from Dunodin, Greymouth, and Wellington: .

The Ventnor was under charter to the > Admiralty to take coal from Westport-to Hongkong. She belonged to the Venfcnor Shipping Co of Hongkong where she was built in- 1901. The steamer is of. 6961 tons gross.

Auckland, Oct 29 The third boats crewjf rom the Venter ' 13 reported sale

The Yentnor had 6,400 tons of coal aboard.. She struck the rocks south of Cape Egmont at 12.30 a.m. on Monday. She managed to get off and proceeded on her 'voyage. • ' ?<_ The j water gained, in No 1 hoW wl Tuesday, when the ballast tanks' wera found to bo full of water and the steamer' ' was^going down by the head. ". On Tuesday evening she became <^jn- ,• manageaMe and was found to be graduiliy sinking. * " ' ' -

About 9 p.m. she was going down fast and all hands wer<) ordered to'the boat!*/ > which had barely time to clear before tne steamer sank.

The Hokianga Heads light was seeto ' about ten miles off. " J£ Two boats containing the chief officwand second and third engineers, and 14 o£ the crew landed on the Omapere beach t& daylight. Another boat is now coming in. ' Wellington, Ocfc 29 The fungus is insured in various offices in Wellington.

The steamer "Energy" rescued! i r , third boat from the Ventnor, with &ix Europeans aud four Chinese. The bdat was half fnll of water. The men w&revery exhausted. They believe the f ourfhi boat capsized, and state the captain and! third mate jumped overboard whsn the. Yentqr was sinking. It is believed both were dt owned. • , Hokianga Heads, JL.3O p.m.

The s s Energy has just returned with the Ventnor's third boat's £erew t con—' sisting of ten men (six Europeans and four Chinamen). The boat was picked, up two miles past Whanhangape (north ' of Hokianga). The crew were making for Cape Maria Van Dietnen. , The boat was half full of water when picked up and the men were very exhausted. They had to be lifted on board the' Energy. The crew suppose that the fourth boat was capsized. They state that the last they saw of the captain was when he aud the third mate jumped - overboard together from the sinking steamer. Both are supposed to have been drowned. There are stated to have been eleven men in the missing boat. ' • , , ' Opononi, 3 The Ventnor sunk at 9 p.m Tuesday, When it was found the steamer was siukmg all hands wera 'ordered into the boats but had barely time for clearing before the vessel foundered. One of the boats containing Captain Ferry and two officers, who were the. last to leiva the steamer went down alongside tha ship, only two of her e.ew being regened. Two other boats landed at the Pilot station. They contained the first officer (Mr Cameron), second and third engineers and 14 of the crew. The third boat was picked up by the Energy and ! contained the third officer, five seamen and four Chinese passengers. £-" Gkeymouth, Oct 29|£ > One hundred and seventy one, Chinese? bodies; or the remains qt same, were shipped at Greymouth. Sbfj£e had beeo 7 in the cemetery for 20 years, while others* had never been,. interred. The'JChineaa

community here is in a' great state of excitement over the foundering of the Ventcoi- with the bodies aboard.

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