LOSS OF THE TAIAROA.
A COMPLETE WRECK AT WAIPAPA POINT.
Great Loss of Life.
Safety of Captain Thomson and Thirteen Others.
The following was issued as “extras” during the day: — Intelligence has been received by the Union Steam Ship Company that the Taiaroa has been lost.
The place where the steamer has gone ashore is Waipapa Point, at the entrance to the Clarence River, and almost midway between Kaikoura Peninsula and Flaxbourne.
The telegram states that the vessel is lying on her beam ends. Two passengers have been washed ashore (the telegram does not say whether dead or alive), but it is supposed that all on board have been lost.
The Taiaroa was on her way from Wellington to Lyttelton, having left the former port yesterday afternoon. The Company have ordered the Penguin to proceed from Wellington to the scene of the wreck; also the Wanaka, from Lyttelton. The Blenheim agent proceeds overland to the scene.
It has been rumored about town that a number of racing men and horses that had been taking part in the Wellington races were on board the Taiaroa, but this is improbable, as another race meeting is to be held at Wellington on Friday and Saturday next, and the racing people would in all probability stop there for it. The horses, at any rate, would scarcely be shipped in the Taiaroa, because the Te Anau — a much larger vessel — was to leave Wellington for Lyttelton to-day.
Officers and Crew. George Thomson, master. R. B. Monkman, first officer. James Powell, second officer. R. Spooner, purser. James West, carpenter, D. Hill, lamp-trimmer. John Jones, A.B. R. Williamson, A.B. P. McMillan, A.B. James McGonagle, A.B. John McCay, A.B. Peter Hansen, A.B. W. Quinn, boy. T. Dalrymple, chief engineer. K. T. Stratford, second engineer. W. Cain, donkeyman, G. McDonough, fireman. R. Irvine, fireman. R. Morrison, trimmer. R. William, trimmer. J. Fielder, chief steward. O, Whybrow, bedroom steward. D. Campbell, pantry-man. T, Delany, fore-cabin steward. R. Bathgate, mess-room steward, M. A. Brown, stewardess. F. Gallichan, chief cook. W. Kellin, second cook.
In our first “extra" the names of J. Hunter and J. Munro appeared by error, their places having been taken by Morrison and Whybrow.
The Passengers. The only passengers known at present to have been on board are as follows; Saloon: Mr Ward, Mrs Fitzgerald. Steerage: Constable McQuarrie, Sergeant Grant, Mr Anderson, Other passengers booked on board at Wellington, but their names are not yet ascertainable. Mrs Fitzgerald, who was a passenger, is the wife of Mr G. G. Fitzgerald, ex-M.H.R. for Hokitika, and now editor of the ‘Timaru Herald.’
Mr R. H. Vallance, the well-known racing man, was one of the passengers. Another passenger is stated to be a Mr Hawkins, a bootmaker.
Some Details A telegram has been received from Kikirangu station, the nearest station to the scene, and only eight miles distant, as follows: — A station hand coming from the Clarence River reports that he met a man on the beach, who told him he was a passenger by the s.s. Taiaroa, and that the vessel was ashore about a mile to the north of the river. They both immediately went down to the scene of the wreck, and on their way met another of the passengers who had got ashore. The three went together to the wreck, but they could see no one on board, or anyone in the vicinity. The two passengers know of no one else that had been saved, and they believe all on board have perished. The names of the two passengers saved were not telegraphed till late in the day. News has just (11.30 a.m.) been received that a third man has been found alive on the beach, but he is cramped with cold and exposure and unconscious at present. One of the men saved is Sergeant Grant.
A strong sou’-westerly gale, with foggy weather, was prevalent at the scene this morning.
If required there are twenty men available in the vicinity of thewreck.
Mr Dalymple, who is among those saved in the captain’s boat, was acting chief engineer, having taken the place for this trip of the regular engineer, who stayed in Wellington on sick leave. What may be regarded as a providential escape is that of Mr Alexander Beaver, traveller for D. Benjamin and Co., of this City. He had booked from Nelson to Lyttelton, and advised his house that he would be in Christchurch to-day, but in Wellington, it is understood, he met a friend who was proceeding to Sydney by the Hauroto, and went ashore and stayed there yesterday in order to see his friend off to-day. Another representative of a wholesale house in town, who had booked by the Taiaroa, received orders late on Saturday to stay for the Te Anau, which sails to-day for the South.
Statements by Survivors.
Gilbert Hutton, one of the men who got ashore, states: — “The Taiaroa struck between seven and eight on Sunday evening. An attempt was made to get a line ashore, but failed. The boat I was in capsized, and I was picked up by the boat Grant was in. This boat also capsized. All the crew and passengers had cork jackets on. We could never have landed without this assistance." Mr Hutton is in the Civil Service in Wellington.
Sergeant Grant states: “Four boats started from the ship’s side. I was in the starboard lifeboat. She was swamped about ten o’clock. The captain’s boat broke adrift and went to sea. Of the four boats, three capsized. The vessel is lying half a mile to the northward of Waipapa Point, her bow about fifty yards from the shore, and her broadside nearly parallel with the beach. She is heeled over a little to port. The sea is striking her with great force, but not washing over the bridge or the poop. Three bodies have been found about three miles to the northward of the wreck. One boat with the females is supposed to be at sea."
[Per Press Agency.]
WELLINGTON, April 12.
So far as is known the following passengers were booked at Wellington: — Mrs Fitzgerald, Messrs Ward (torpedo instructor), Constable McQuarrie, Sergeant Grant, Messrs Anderson, Galbraith, and Vallance.
The Taiaroa left here at noon yesterday, and in the evening a terrific southerly gale came up.
The Secretary of the Telegraph Department received the following telegram from Kekerangu: — “The Taiaroa is ashore at Trolove’s, on a gravelly beach free from rocks. One of the Kekerangu hands, returning from the Clarence, reports that he met a man on the beach early this morning, on the north bank of the Clarence. This man said he was a passenger by the Taiaroa, which was ashore at a point about a mile north of the Clarence River. He went down at once to the wreck, and on the way met another passenger. Could see no one on board. The passengers saved knew of no others being saved. The station hands have been sent north and south to search for bodies.”
The Penguin left Wellington at noon for the scene of the wreck. Captain Bendall, secretary of the Undewriters’ Association, is a passenger by her. The captain of the Taiaroa is supposed to have got away seaward with a boat containing the women. The captain’s boat got adrift from the other three boats, which subsequently capsized. These boats were filled with the passengers and crew. Sergeant Grant, who was saved, was a member of the Torpedo Corps.
CHRISTCHURCH, April 12. The Wanaka leaves for the scene of the wreck at 4 p.m., and the Wakatu at 6 p.m. There is intense excitement here, several Christchurch sporting men being on the Taiaroa.
LATEST PARTICULARS.
Safety of the Captain and ten more.
At 2.15 p.m. the Union Compmy received the following telegram from their Blenheim agent: — “The captain and ten men (including three passengers) have turned up in their boat at Wairau Bar. I am sending the Waihi down for them.”
Additional Passengers. Further names of passengers have been received, as follows : — From Wellington: Erskine and Galbraith. From Nelson for Akaroa: Mr Murray. Among the additional passengers by the Taiaroa were a man named James Ferguson, lately on a station at Taranaki, and on his way to Timaru to visit his brother; also, Smith and Harbored, two magsmen who had been attending the recent race meeting.
List of the Saved. Passengers saved in the captain’s boat: — Thomas Olliver. Robert Henderson. John Harper (of Christchurch). Crew saved in the captain’s boat: — Captain Thomson. D. Dalrymple, engineer. William Quin, boy. William Cain, donkeyman. James West, carpenter. John McKay, A.B. Duncan Campbell, steward. Joseph Fielder, chief steward.
In addition to the above are the three passengers who got ashore, viz : Sergeant Grant. Constable McQuarrie. Gilbert Hutton.
Constable McQuarrie's Statement. Constable McQuarrie, who is the survivor picked up on the beach, states that he got into a boat with twenty-eight others, including the chief officer, stewardess, and five other women. The boat capsized, and he was found on the beach sixteen miles away from the wreck.
A Shore Account. The following is the statement by Mr M. W. Trolove, owner of Kekerangu: — “On the first news that there was a steamer ashore, I and some of my men immediately proceeded down, and found the Taiaroa on the beach. Two of the survivors came up to the station about six o’clock this morning and told us about the wreck. Their names are Sergeant Grant, of the Armed Constabulary, and Mr Gilbert Hutton, a passenger. When we reached the spot we hailed the steamer, but there was no one on board. We then went along the beach, and picked up some bodies. These were all found about three miles northward. We then turned back. Some of our men arc now searching the beach further north.”
The Vessel. The Taiaroa left Glasgow on September 18, 1875; put into Hobart on December 3 to coal. On the evening of November 3, two days after leaving Cape Town, Captain Robert Gilpin, who had been engaged in England to bring her out, and who purposed settling in the Colony, died while dining with his brother officers. The command then devolved on Chief-officer Joanness Spiegelthar. Early on the morning of December 10 she stranded on the Old Man Rocks, a quarter of a mile to the N.W. of Dog Island, the accident resulting from want of knowledge of this coast on the part of Captain Spiegelthar. With the assistance of the s.s. Express she was towed off the same day without much damage, and arrived at Port Chalmers on the 14th, being docked on the 17th. She came out to the order of the Albion Shipping Company. For a time she traded between Port Chalmers and Timaru, under the agency of Mr Keith Ramsay and commanded by Captain James Stewart; and early in 1876 was purchased by the Union Steam Ship Company, and kept in the same trade under the command of Captain Petersen. Since then she has been mostly engaged in the coastal trade, but made one voyage to Fiji. She was of 299 tons register, and was built at Glasgow by A. and J. Inglis for Messrs Patrick Henderson and Co, (Albion Shipping Company). Her dimensions were Length, 189 ft; beam, 23ft; and depth of hold, 12ft. She was fitted with high and low pressure surface-condensing engines of 100 nominal horse-power, but capable of being worked up to 500 horsepower. Her average speed was between eight and a-half and nine knots an hour.
The vessel is a total wreck. We understand that her entire loss falls upon the Union Steam Ship Company. -Evening Star, 12/4/1886.
THE FUNERALS OF TWO OF THE VICTIMS.
The bodies of R. B. Monkman, chief officer, and Robert Morrison, fireman, who were drowned at the wreck of the s.s. Taiaroa, were conveyed to Dunedin in the steamer Omapere on Saturday, and the joint funeral took place on Sunday afternoon. Some thousands of people assembled to witness the procession starting from the Rattray street wharf at 3 o'clock, and the streets all along the line of route were thronged with spectators. A great crowd of people had also assembled in the cemetery, and when the cortege arrived there must have been between 7000 and 8000 people present. The procession was headed by some 200 members of the United Ancient Order of Druids, the various lodges marching in the following order: — All Nations, Port Chalmers, West Harbour, Linden, Royal Oak, Ivanhoe, Enterprise, and Otago (of which the deceased Morrison was a member). The rear of the procession of Druids, which preceded the hearse, was brought up by the past district presidents of the Order (Bros. Moss, Jones, Stokes, and Hutchinson) and the present district president (Bro. W. Baird). The coffins were borne to the graves by seamen in the uniform of the Union Steam Ship Company, the coffins being covered with wreaths and bouquets of flowers by the relatives of the deceased. The joint burial service was conducted at Monkman's grave by the Rev. Rutherford Waddell and Mr Brunton, and the funeral service of the Druids' order was afterwards read at Morrison's grave by Bro. Baird, D.P. Blenheim, April 17. -Otago Witness, 24/4/1886.
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