WRECK OF THE CLYDE.
EIGHTEEN LIVES LOST.
Captain Fox this morning received the following telegram from Duvachelles Bay, near Akaroa Heads: "The Clyde is ashore near Akaroa Heads. Only myself saved as yet. — George Gibson." The vessel was a barque of 582 tons. She left Dunedin yesterday for Lyttelton with 150 tons of sugar (part of her original cargo from Mauritius) consigned to Wood, Shand, and Co., Christchurch. Captain Culmer had his wife and three children on board. He was well acquainted with the coast, having for years commanded the schooner Edith May. The Clyde belonged to the fleet of J. C. Ellis and Co., of Newcastle (N.S.W.) The following were the crew on board: — William Currie (mate), H. Ferdinand (second mate), Richard Marney (A.B.), Herbert Bohle (boy), Ah Lah (cook), Ah Ling (boy), David Murray, H. Sampson, W. McLean, P. Soderquist, T. Smith, Charles Brown, Andrew Christopherson (A.B.s.), George Gibson (apprentice).
LATER INFORMATION.
DUVACHELLES BAY, 12.15 p.m. The Clyde struck on a reef at Horseshoe Bay, near Akaroa South Heads. The apprentice who was saved fears that the vessel has broken up, and that all lives have been lost, except the mate and the boatswain.
These two men he saw on the bottom of a boat that was drifting towards the land. The SS. Akaroa left Akaroa an hour ago for the scene of the wreck.
AKAROA, November 6. The following telegram was received at 10.26 a.m. at Akaroa, from Duvachelles: — "The barque Clyde is ashore at Horseshoe Bay, four miles S. W. of Akaroa, with nineteen souls aboard. Only apprentice ashore as yet. Rather heavy sea on. Assistance wanted at once." The s.s. Akaroa started at 11 a.m. for the scene of the wreck. She took the Government boat and boat's crew, and is expected to return to Akaroa this afternoon. The Hawea left Lyttelton this morning for the scene of the wreck. Captain Ticehurst, the representative of the Underwriters' Association, is a passenger.
ALL HANDS BUT THE APPRENTICE LOST.
AKAROA, 3.30 p.m. The steamer has returned. All hands drowned, except the apprentice. The vessel has broken up. 4 P.M. The Akaroa has returned with Gibson, the apprentice, and the corpse of a boy aged fourteen years. The vessel has broken up. She went ashore at one o'clock this morning. -Evening Star, 6/11/1884.
The Fatal Shipwreck. — In common with those who came in contact with him elsewhere we are certain that those who had the pleasure of'making the acquaintance of Captain Culmer in this locality will feel genuine regret that he could have been cut off in his prime by the disastrous wreck of the Clyde, reported elsewhere. As master of the barquentine Edith May, Captain Culmer made several trips to the Bluff, where be was always welcomed for his courtesy and frank seamanlike manner. He was probably the last man who saw the ill-stared Aberdeen clipper Min-y-don at the entrance to Foveaux Strait on the voyage she never completed. The barque Clyde was at our port about two years ago, and was then a substantial-looking vessel. The gravity of the disaster is deepened by the sweeping away of Captain Culmer's wife and family with himself. -Southland Times,7/11/1884.
The body of Captain Culmer, of the barque Clyde, which was wrecked at Akaroa, has been recovered. -Taranaki Herald, 8/11/1884.
WRECK AT HORSESHOE BAY.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
(PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.) CHRISTCHURCH, November 7. The s.s. Akaroa returned to Akaroa at 4 p.m. from Horseshoe Bay, where the Clyde was wrecked, with the sad intelligence that nothing but wreckage was to be seen, and that all hands were drowned except an apprentice, George Gibson, who swam ashore. The body of a boy of fourteen years of age was recovered. The ship struck about 4 a.m., and immediately on receipt of the news of the wreck Messrs. Kinsey, Ward, and Co., agents, despatched the Akaroa to the scene of the wreck.
The Clyde was a wooden barque, of 552 tons register. She was built in 1874 at Williams Kiver, New South Wales, for Mr. James Brown; but is now owned by Mr. E. G. Ellis, M.L.A., of Newcastle. Captain Culmer was fairly well known in Dunedin and at the port, as he commanded the Edith May when that vessel was trading here some time ago. The vessel arrived in Dunedin on the 29th ultimo from Mauritius, after having made a rather long passage of 40 days. He had visited this port on a previous occasion about seven years ago. She was consigned to Messrs. W. Scoular, and brought a full cargo of sugar, 11,714 packages in all, of which 7449 were for Lytellton. She was re-consigned to Messrs. Wood, Shand and Co., of Christchurch, and had on board about 150 tons of sugar, (this being the 7449 mats mentioned before). It is expected that on leaving Lyttelton she would have sailed to Newcastle in ballast. The following are the names of the crew who were on board the vessel:—Wm. Currie (mate), H. Ferdinand (second mate,) Richard Marver (A.B.), Herbert Boble (boy), Ah Lab (cook), Ah Ling (boy), David Manroy, H. Sampson, P. McLean, T. Smith, P. Soderguist, Charles Brown, Andrew Christopherson (A.B.'s). In addition to the crew there were four passengers on board, viz., Mrs. Culmer (the captain's wife) and their three children, Misses M. E. and E. Culmer. The Clyde was a very strongly-huilt and well-appointecl vessel, having orioginally cost L13,000. It is understood that Messrs. J. and W. Ellis bought her very cheap, and her present market value would be more than £600. The Sydney office of the New Zealand Insurance Company hold a risk of £l000 on the hull, and the South British and Union offices also have £500and £250 respectively on the hull. The remainder of the of the insurances on the hull in all probability are with some of the Sydney offices. The cargo is valued at £6000. Most of this amount, however, is reinsured in the New Zealand, South British, and Victoria insurance offices. There is a deep and widespread feeling of regret for the untimely fate of Captain Culmer and his family. While he was in Dunedin he made many friends, and all those whose business brought them in contact with him speak highly of his good nature and genial disposition.
Later. From the account of the lad Gibson, it appears that the barque left Dunedin, steering north-east by north half west. About four o'clock this morning, the weather was foggy and the sea heavy. Gibson had turned in a few minutes later, when the mate told off the watch to be handy in five minutes. The man on watch called out, "Land on the lee bow;" and all hands were called up to put the ship about, but she missed stays. The captain tried to wear the vessel, heading off the wind, but she struck amidships. A boat was lowered, and the captain ordered Gibson and another boy in to bale, and put in his wife and three children. The lee rail of the ship was then low down, and the stern of the boat caught under it and it swamped. The woman and children were dragged on board, and Gibson, seeing the mainmast falling, dived and got to the spanker boom and on board. He saw the captain bleeding and stunned, floating about the deck, which was under water, with his two children. Gibson pulled the children out, and they, with the boatswain, mate, and the others, got into another boat, which was swamped among the wreckage. Gibson again got on board, by the spanker boom, and saw the captain's body and a girl of nine years old float by. Gibson seized the child, but a heavy sea swept over him, and he lost his hold of her. He then got on the deckhouse, drifting by, and was carried into Little Bay, from which he managed to reach the shore. He walked some miles to MacPhaile's house, near Duvauchelles Bay, whence the news was sent. Gibson afterwards returned to the shore, and was taken on board the steamer Akaroa.
November 8. No bodies of those lost in the Clyde disaster have yet been picked up, except that of a boy named Herbert Holbe. This was his first voyage, to see if he should care to be a sailor. -Hawera and Normanby Star, 8/11/1884.
The scene of the Clyde disaster was a long low reef, known as the Snuffle Nose, running out from the east head of Horse Shoe Bay, between that Bay and Long Bay, and about seven miles from Akaroa harbor. The boy whose body was recovered was named Herbert Bohle. This was his first voyage to see whether he would like to be a sailor. A careful search was made for Christopherson and the boatswain, who Gibson hoped had saved themselves, but without success, so that there can be no hope for their safety. This calamity shows the necessity for vessels trying to clear Banks Peninsula from the South to keep well off the shore. The only lifeboat at Akaroa now is a rniserable old boat, which leaked so much yesterday when taken out that the men who had volunteered to man her were up to their knees in water. She rowed so badly that her stern got a severe wrench. Gibson says he was very kindly treated at McPhaile's, the house that he walked to after reaching the shore. A report from the police states that no further bodies have been recovered.
Saturday. The body of Captain Culmer of the barque Clyde has been recovered. -Nelson Evening Mail, 8/11/1884.
At an inquest on the body of Herbert Bohle, aged 14, the ship's boy of the Clyde, held on Saturday, a verdict of death by drowning in consequence of shipwreck was returned. The body of Captain Culmer was discovered in an almost inaccessible place. An effort will, however, be made to bring it to Akaroa. Another body has also been recovered. It has red whiskers and a tattooed arm, with a finger missing from one hand, but it is not yet recognised. -Bruce Herald, 11/11/1884.
At the inquest on the body of Captain Culmer, of the barque Clyde, on Monday, the lad Gibson stated that he saw the deceased bleeding very much about the face. A verdict was given to the effect that the captain was killed by a spar striking him. He will be buried in Christchurch, where his mother resides. -South Canterbury Times, 12/11/1884.
News of the day.
Funeral of Captain Culmer. — The remains of the late Captain Culmer, of the wrecked barque Clyde, were brought up from Akaroa on Tuesday, and were yesterday interred in the Church of England Cemetery at Lyttelton. The mourners were composed of the friends of the deceased, amongst them being also the only survivor from the terrible disaster, the apprentice lad Gibson. At the grave was the mother of the late Captain Culmer's wife, the lady who had come to port for the purpose of meeting her daughter. The Rev. J. Townsend, incumbent of Holy Trinity Church, officiated at the grave. The shipping in Port had their flags at half mast during the day. -Press, 13/12/1884.
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