TERRIBLE SHIPPING DISASTER

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13338, 29 March 1911, Page 5

TERRIBLE SHIPPING DISASTER

LOSS OF STEAMER YONGALA.

WITH ALL ON BOARD.

ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY PERISH.

Press Association.—Telegraph.-Copyright,

SYDNEY, March 28,

The Adelaide Company’s steamer Yohgola, 3664 tons, bound from Mackay to Townsville, was three days overdue on Monday, and some anxiety was felt. Two steamers were sent out to search, but returned without any tidings of the missing vessel, which had nearly ISO souls on board. Information is now to hand that wreckage has been discovered at Cape Bowling Green, which proves beyond doubt that the ill-fated vessel has been wrecked, and there is too much reason to believe that all on board must have perished.

SYDNEY, March. 28. Cargo from, the overdue steamer Yongala is being washed ashore, at Cape Bowling. Green, consisting of bags of chaff, pollard, bran and 'pumpkins, recognised as part of the cargo shipped in the steamer’s lower hold at Brisbane. A later message reported that further wreckage, including oil drums, baskets and timber, has drifted ashore at Cleveland Bay. The worst is now feared. LIST OF CREW AND PASSENGERS. SYDNEY, March 28. The Yongala’s crew (71) consisted of: Captain Knight'; first mate, Williams; second mate. Harden; third mate, Cameron, purser, Roberts; carpenter, Miller; boatswaiMj Mackenzie; seamen McGinnes, Jones, Baylon, Woods, Gale, Lewis, Freeston, Johnston, Walshj McDonald, Merchant, McDonald, Eaton; engineers: Parsons, first; Hamilton, second;' Donaldson, third, Miller, fourth; Lawrence, fifth; Nelson, donkeyraan; firemen: Galvin, Donachi, Yogiht, Uggdahl, Todd, Metcalfe, Diamond. Gumbleton, Norrie Daveson, Lellioo, Gallaher, Reich, Goldsmith;; stewardesses—English, Lambrick, Andrew; stewards—chief steward, Mawley; second steward, Harris; stewards—Rintone, Sheplin, Reid, Cross, Morrison, Sullivan, Ward, Craig, Finlay, Armstrong, Costello, Rankin, J. Cook, Gordon, and Fox; storekeeper, Emmerson; pantryman, Elliott; cooks—West (chief), Guneval (second), Robertson (third); butcher, McPherson; boker, Marah; ~ soulleryman, Houston; boys—Howard, McNamara, Dayle. Passengers froth.'Sydney:—Messrs Mainwaring,. Carraroo, Kearesos (the fatter two are Italians), Misses Buxton and Butler, Mrs Murray, three children and main. From Brisbane—TMesdames Reath, Davids, Rooney, ElsdalCj Woodward, Lin and Mar by; Missc s v -Sdoney, Murray;, Buxton,, Uhr, Carroll,. Shannan and McGee; Messrs Reath, Rooney, Settle, ; Parton, Stack, Elsdale, Voney, Fulton, Must. Lin, Schneider, Buckenridge Davis, Barclay, Jolley, Manmey. Real, Bonnarder and 31 in the secondclass. ’•

awaiting tidings. Pathetic Scenes. ■.BRISBANE, March 28. Throughout the day crowds of relatives of those aboard the Tonga's, besieged the Adelaide Company and ne'Asnaper offices awaiting tidings. When news of the finding of wreckage was posted, some pathet’c scenes were witnessed.

STEAMERS SEARCHING FOR ; SURVIVORS. ’ " Brisbane, March 28. Several search steamers are out. A careful examination of the .reefs and islands has; been ordered in the' l -lxbpe of finding possible survivors. SOME OF THE PASSENGERS. : BRISBANE, March 28 As to the number of passengers aboard, it :s not definitely known how many, if any, landed at Mackay. Thirty-one are given as being in the second saloon whan the steamer left Brisbane. These probably included at least two of those in the Sj dney list. Little is known of the identity of the passengers. Rooney is the head of a Townsville firm of timber merchants. Mrs, Davids is the wife of the general manager of the Mulgrave Sugar Mill. Miss Uhr is the matron, and Miss Buxton a nurse at the Townsville Hospital. Stack is the Ads-, laide Company’s accountant at Townsville,

A SUPPOSITION. - BRISBANE, March 28. ; The fact that cargo is coming from the lower hold is taken to indicate that the Yongala struck a hidden rock and ripped her bottom out. STEAMER VALUED AT £90,000. MELBOURNE, March 28 The general manager of the Adelaide Company states that the Yongala was one of the latest vessels of the fleet. She was valued at £90,000, and the insurances are in the vicinity of £60,000. She had about 1800 tons of cargo aboard, and this is believed to be insured. > WHAT MARINERS THINK. / . . BRISBANE, March 28, The Company’s captains, interviewed, are of the opinion,that the Yongala struck a reef in Flinders Channel. One surmises that the , Yongala intended to make the pasiige between Hilborn Island, and the outlying Nares rocks, when the storm broke. She edged away to, make an outside passage, but the captain did not edge suf-

ficiently or left the manoeuvre too late, and was driven on the rocks There would be no hope of scaring life an such conditions. The cyclonic storm would be of such violence as to smash the boats to pieces before they reached the water. The Yongala would sink quickly in deep water. FURTHER WRECKAGE. BRISBANE, March 28. Further werckage has been washed ashore, including the Yongala’s deck fittings and a bag of mails. FURTHER PARTICULARS. Number Aboard Unknown. Received March 29, 9.35 a.m. SYDNEY, March 29. Up to last night there was a lingering hope that the Yongala was still afloat, but the discovery of the last lot of wreckage on Kepple Reef, consisting of a quantity of cargo and fittings identified beyond doubt as belonging to the missing steamer, shattered all hope, which is now abandoned. The Herald gives the number of souls aboard as 141—73 of a crew and 68 passengers. The Telegraph makes the total 120 —crew 70 and passengers 50. Until the lists are thoroughly overhauled the actual number cannot definitely be stated, but probably the larger number is nearer the mark. AN EXCEPTIONALLY SEVERE STORM. Experiences of Steamer Guthrie; SYDNEY. March 29. The captains of vessels who passed through the storm which the Yongala met describe it as of exceptional violence even for that part of the coast. v The' steamer Guthrie encountered a huriricane so violent that it was impossible to move about the: decks. Two boats were blown clean away, and everything moveable washed overboard; and the tarpaulins stripped off the hatches. A sudden change in the wind caused a dangerous cross sea, and several times the Guthrie was almost on her beam ends. Other vessels had similar experiences. Shipping men are agreed that no vessel in light trim could live in such a storm.

ON WHICH REEF? Search for Possible Survivors. The Insurances. Received March 29, 10.35 a.ra, BRISBANE, March 29. Two passengers, Messrs Greenfield and O’Brien, joined the Yongala at Mackay, and three left—Messrs Must, Real, and Bonner. It is believed now that she struck one of the reefs between Flinders’ Passage and Keeper Reef. If this is correct the Yongala was 20 miles outside of her course. Up to the present little is known regarding the passengers, beyond the names. It is understood that at the last moment some who booked passages changed their minds owing to the weather con litmus and other circumstances. This, to some extent, accounts for the discrepancies in the accounts regarding the number of souls aboard. Captain Knight was commodore of the Adelaide Company’s fleet. He was married, with no family. Most of the officers were married with families. The chief stewardess was the widow if Captain English, who lost his life some years ago in the wreck of the steamer Glenelg. Search for possible survivors is , being continued with vigour. The general opinion, however, is that there is little hope of any escaping such a atom in such wild and dangerous surroundings. The cargo consisted of flour, chaff, machinery, and general merchandise. The Adelaide Company state that the insurance on the Yongala totalled <£90,000, the company holding one-fourth, the balance being divided between the South British and the Union Company of Canton.