The Wreck of the Penguin

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 8, 24 February 1909, Page 6

The Wreck of the Penguin

DEATH ROLL OF 74

Salvage Operations, > Arrangements have been made with the Justice Department to provide a patrol consisting of a sergeant and four conat the scene of the disaster for 10 or 12 days until all chances of further bodies coming ashore have disappeared. The tug Terawhiti will be kept in readiness. and if any bodies are recovered an undertaker xxith co ft ins will be immediately dispatched to the beach. Following is a list of the passengers and crew whose bodies have not been recovered. as compiled last week: — Passengers.—Mr Holmes. Mr H. J. Underwood. Mr X. White. Mr Coumbe, Mr Johnson, Mr Jas. Collins. Crew.—F. Driscoll (second officer). G. A. T/Josertiore (third officer), C- Alexander ichief steward). T. Hayes (boatswain). C- \ Vesta cot t (A. 8. W. E. Henderson (A. 8. G. GatTra (donkeyman), J. Cdni« ; (trimmer). Edwin Hall (second cook). H. McGuire (scullion). Forth, R. Cooke (mossroom steward), G. Claydon (saloon waiter). Leonard Owens (A. 8. was stated by Mr Young, secretary of the Seamen’s Union. t<» have been on board, but the Union. Steamship Company has no record of hi> 'having signed on the ship’s arti< les. It is stated l»y the police that a mistake has arisen in the list of identifications x\ hereon the name of J. Bates appears. No body was identified under that nam<\ and the Union Company have no reeordjof such a passenger, flic name was inserted in the list of drowned when the identification was reported, so that it should now bp deleted, and the death roll reduced to 74. Lighting of Cook Strait. N’a'utieal opinion fs‘ divided as to the utility of a light at Terawhiti. the question of which has now been brought into prominence by the Penguin disaster. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Hon. Mr Millar. Minister for Marine, who has practical knowledge of the subject,.does not agree with Lieut. Knox and others that a light is necessary at Terawhiti. Tt would only be confusing to seamen to have one there.” said Mr Millar to a “Times” reporter last xvteek. “for the spot is already well lighted. The Brothers light covered the whole of that side of the coast and there is aKo Penearrow. The Brothers light is right in the centre of the stiaii<, and. will serve for Terawhiti, the sounds, and the west coast: in fact, everything going cast’or west. It is only eight miles from the Brothers to Terawhiti. but the range of the light is eighteen miles. T have seen Cape Fan-will, the Brothers, and Pencarrow light" at one time, and this can be seen on any clear night in a particular part • t the straits.” It was explained by Hie Minister that the light formerly placed on Mana Inland wa< found to be t<*o nifUyh inside, ami the Brothers light took its place. If seamen stood out for that mark, they cleared everything. Every year the .Marine Department endeavours to erect a new coastal light. At present Cape Br -tt is bring provided with this much needed facility for mariners, and the light will probably beam oxer the Pacific in June. I he Minister was asked xxhat part of the coast \v«>uld next receive attention, and replied that it xvould bp thp long u alighted stretch between Pa Hiser Bay ami Poitlahd Uland. on the East Coast. “Except for the Napier harbour light, vx hit h is <ml\ -een when you open Cape Kidnappers, ami i- not visible beyond ten mil* -, tut ip is nothing bi t ween those points.'* said Mi Millar. “’There is a lot of broken ground for some distance off tie land, and I Lope to have it lighted in dun course.” Compensation Claims. j Considerable interest is being taken in the question of the Union Steam Ship Company’s liability for damages as a result of injury and death in the wreck, rarhengenf’ claims will all depend upon the final verdict in regard to the cause of the dlsahter, but the crew come under the Workers* Compensation Act.

Many of the deeeased men on the Penguin's crew list seem to have had "total dependents,'’ who can make a claim for compensation, and if their ease is proved the company will be liable to pay tho maximum amount, £5OO, in respect of at least half a dozen victims. At a rough estimate, it will cost the Union Steam Ship Company at least £4OOO to settle these claims. Government Grant to Sufferers. Any private subscriptions that are raised for the assistance of the sufferers by the Penguin disaster will be supplemented substantially by the Government. Sir Joseph Ward has telegraphed to the Mayor of Wellington and tho Major of Christchurch, who, lie understands, are getting up funds, to the foregoing effect. i The Tides in the Strait. ' (.'apt. Fisk, pilot at Wairau Bar, states (according to the "Marlborough Express”) that the Hood tide in Cloudy Bay nn the 13th was the heaviest ever seen bj- him, the current rushing into the river with the force of a flood. When the tide ebbs a ship lying at anchor generally swings, but the Union Com-pany’s-steamer Kini did not swing round with the ebb tide, but remained in the same position as she was during the flood tide. This is an extraordinary circumstance, and goes to show that, as stated by Captain Stewart, of the Pateena, there was no ebb tide. Some of the male passengers who lost their lives on Terawhiti’s inhospitable coast on Friday last were, it is wellknown, excellent swimmers, but their ability in this direction did not save them from a cruel fate in the relentless waves. On the other hand, two at least of those saved could not swim a stroke, and one of them, Ellis Matthews, the lad who was witli Mrs. Hannam tn the upturned boat, confessed this fact to a "Post” reporter this morning. The boy, who was making his first sea voyage, and anticipated that he would suffer severely from sea-sickness, states that there were ten people in the boat up to about 2.30 in the morning, and they, were all alive until she was overturned in the breakers. It was then that he got under the boat, and that the rest of the people, with the exception of Mrs. Hannam, were drowned. Matthews has no recollection of Mrs. Hannam having thrown him a rope, and lie believes that the lad whom Mrs. Hannam struggled to save was Master Maguire. lie also says that he ’kept himself, out of the water by grasping one seat of the upturned boat with his hands and pressing his feet hard against another. A Correction. In connection with the pictures, of the wreck of the Penguin in the "Weekly, Graphic and New Zealand Mail,” the description "A clerk of the Union Company giving a description to an assistant of the bodies,” should have appeared under the photograph adjoining it on the right. The Inion Company also inform us that the reference to a Union Company clerk is also incorrect, as it was not oil one of their clerks that the painful dpty devolved of compiling the death,roll atthe scene of the wreck.