Please note: The newspaper stories presented here are of their time. The public attitude to Chinese people, especially those living in New Zealand, is also of its time and this writer does not agree with or endorse it.
Dunedin, October 19. The bodies of the disinterred Chinese were placed on board the Rimu on Saturday, to be taken to Wellington and transhipped to the Ventnor. In all 265 coffins were taken on board at Pert Chalmers, and the most susceptible could not detect anything to offend the nostrils. -Manawatu Standard, 20/9/1902.
NOTES AND ECHOES. (this piece from a previous period of "resurrection" is included to show attitude towards Chinese people of its time.)
Our new Inspector is a facetious character. In voice, action, and appearance he is an old soldier, and in command he is a strict disciplinarian, but at the same time he is naturally a wag, and it mast be a difficult matter for the rank-and-file to preserve their countenances while he is addressing them. At last evening’s parade he impressed upon the men the caution to be observed when told to order arms. By carelessly dropping a loaded rifle on to a stone they might blow their heads off and hear the report of their own death. But it takes Captain Taplin to tell his men straight what he thinks of them, and his frankness has made them very attentive to his instructions. He addressed them somewhat as follows, last evening: “Men, Major Stapp, who is about to inspect you, and paid a great compliment to the Wanganui men the other day. He said they were a fine body of men; but I believe you are a finer (Loud applause among the men who showed how emphatically they agreed with the speaker.) But there was one thing particularly Major Stapp was gratified with the Wanganui men for, namely, non-talking in the ranks. We have not been so careful that way. We sometimes talk in the ranks, and even — swear.” (Renewed thumping of rifles and murmured “'ear, ’ears.”)
Writing of facetiousness, I have came across the effusions of a Dunedin lawyer, which cannot well be excelled. As a rule, business communications from lawyers consist more of the nature of concealed threats than raillery. However, recently, Chinese resurrectionists have been busy in Dunedin collecting the bones of their defunct countrymen to be sent to their native land. One corpse was missing from its burial place, and the Chinese on enquiry learning that it had found its way to the University, consulted a well-known solicitor who indites a letter as follows to the University authorities:
The almond-eyed bearer of this epistle has undertaken to achieve the translation of sundry defunct kinsmen to the happy land of Pon-Yu, province of Canton. Some slumbered in the Northern and some in the Southern Cemetery, but they have all been “raised,” and now lie (strongly bound in teak) awaiting their departure per sailing ship. But one of the band is missing, and his brethren cannot leave him to languish alone in the land of the barbarian. It is fondly fancied that he is “bellied” (buried) at the University, but I more than suspect that his mortal remains have been sacrificed on the altar of science. He was known in the days of his flesh as Ah Chook, and laboured in his vocation as a peripatetic vendor of vegetables, humble but happy, with a pronounced taste for opium and petty larceny. But de moriuis, &c. He is now a copper-coloured shade, haunting the purlieus of the University and the adjacent sewer in a fruitless search for the disjecta, or rather the dissecta membra, of his whilom self. Pray hand over to bearer as much of the late Mr Chook as is still on the premises,- and for mercy’s sake maintain the pious fiction of the “bellial” at the University.
P.S. — I may add that the bones are essentials, and further that the average Chinaman is not an anatomist. Verb, sap. -Patea Mail, 23/3/1883.
DISINTERMENT OF CHINESE BODIES.
THE CHINESE AT WAIKUMETE.
The Chinese who have been disinterring the bodies of their countrymen in various parts of the colony, to be sent on to the Flowery Land, have reached Auckland, and some eight or nine bodies will be resurrected here and sent with the others for despatch to China. The Chinese employed at this gruesome work have to secure the authority of the Colonial Secretary for every body to be taken up, and yesterday warrants from the Colonial Secretary for the removal of eight bodies from Waikumete cemetery were presented to the town clerk. The work of disinterring the bodies will probably start this morning, and for the next few days, until it is completed, the cemetery will be closed every day until noon, when the Chinese cease work for the day. It appears that the whole of the disinterments in New Zealand are being carried out by one party of Chinamen, under some sort of contract with their countrymen. While they are at Waikumete the city officials will see that all sanitary precautions are taken. The Celestial in charge states that the utmost care is taken in the removal of the bodies. When a body is laid bare it is placed at once in a heavy zinc case, which is hermetically sealed, and subsequently immersed hi water, in order to test whether it is perfectly air-tight. The zinc case is then placed in a wooden coffin, or what answers to the Chinese idea of a coffin, and in this manner the bones of the departed Chinese are carried to their Fatherland. The bodies disinterred here are to be sent on as soon as possible to Dunedin, where a considerable number are to be shipped on the steamer Ventnor. It is understood that only nine bodies are to be disinterred here, eight from Waikumete and one from Otahuhu. In other parts of the colony the disinterment of bodies has been going on for a considerable time, and in Dunedin and Greymouth a large number of bodies are awaiting shipment, it being some 18 years ago since a similar wholesale lifting of the bones of dead Chinese took place in New Zealand. -NZ Herald, 26/9/1902.
CHINESE DISINTERMENTS.
A CARGO OF COFFINS.
WHOLESALE EXHUMATIONS BY CONTRACT.
THE OPERATIONS AT WAIKUMETE.
The Heathen Chinee, in common with almost every other branch of the human race, has his strong religious beliefs, and adheres more or less rigidly to the observances demanded of him by the faith of his ancestors. One of these beliefs is that the spirits of the departed can never enter the Celestials' Paradise whilst their earthly remains lie under foreign soil.
As stated in yesterday's Herald, the bodies of a number of Chinese, which have been interred in the Waikumete cemetery at various times during the past 15 years, are about to be disinterred for the purpose of being removed to China, as a portion of a large shipment, in connection with which similar disinterments have been proceeding in various parts of the colony for the past 12 months. Nearly 20 years ago about 200 bodies of deceased Chinese were taken out of their New Zealand graves, and taken to the Flowery Land for re-interment. From that time until the present occasion no further shipment has been made, and consequently the gruesome consignment, for which preparations are now being made, will be a much larger one, comprising in all some 450 or 460 bodies. The work, in connection with which considerable stir has lately been aroused at Greymouth, is now approaching completion, and the steamer Ventnor, which has been chartered to convey the cargo of coffins to Hongkong, is expected to leave for that port from Wellington on October 24.
Authority for the removal of each body has to be obtained from the Government, and on Wednesday last the staff of men engaged on the work arrived in Auckland from the South with warrants for the removal of 11 bodies from Waikumete. Three of the warrants, however, are duplicates, and the number is thus reduced to eight. It was intended to commence operations yesterday morning, and Mr. Erikson, the caretaker at the cemetery, was in readiness at five a.m. to watch the work on behalf of the City Council. The tools and materials used in the work, however, did not arrive until yesterday, and a delay was thus occasioned until this morning, when a start was expected to be made about daybreak, the arrangements with the City Council being that the cemetery shall be closed to the public until noon on each day that the disinterments and packing of the bodies or skeletons is proceeding. Mr. Winstanley, Government sanitary inspector, will be present on behalf of the Health Department during the disinterments, which are expected to, occupy two or three days.
The removal of the bodies and the preparations for shipment are being carried out by a party of Chinese, under the direction of Mr. Mee Chang, who has the contract for the work throughout New Zealand. Two other persons, an inspector and a clerk, also accompany the contractor's party, which includes one European, Mr. Foxcroft, of Greymouth, who accompanies the staff in the capacity of plumber. The letting of the contract and the general arrangements are in the hands of the Chinese firm at Dunedin, which is carrying on the business of the late Mr. Sew Hoy, a wellknown merchant of the Southern city. The expenses, which are necessarily heavy, are contributed to by the Chinese residents throughout the colony. Each Celestial, on making a donation according to his means or his inclinations, receives a pass, which stands him in good stead in the event of his return to China, as the non-possession of such a pass renders him liable to a penalty of £20 before he can set foot in his Fatherland. A payment of an amount equal to about 30s in English money is also exacted from the relatives of each deceased person before the coffin is handed over to them on its arrival in China.
Two of the party of workmen now in Auckland were seen by a member of the Herald staff yesterday, and supplied some interesting information as to the method in which the exhumation of the bodies is carried out. Briefly described, the modus operandi is as follows: On the graves being opened, the bodies are removed from the coffins, and those on which any portion of the flesh remains, after being washed, are wrapped in linen and placed in a zinc coffin, which is made on the ground by the tinsmith, and which, before being used, is immersed in water to make certain that it is perfectly airtight. These coffins, after receiving the bodies, are at once soldered down with great care, and then placed in a wooden coffin made of 1 1/2in kauri timber. When the remains consist of bones alone, they are washed, dried over a fire in a riddle, then tied together in a bundle, wrapped in a cloth, and placed in a wooden coffin only. Each bone, before being thus disposed of, is carefully labelled, and the name of the deceased is in all cases attached to the body or bundle of bones, as well as to the coffins. The coffins are then ready for removal or storage in readiness for shipment when the appointed time arrives. The old coffins are replaced in the graves, which are then filled in.
The various members of the party go about their peculiar work in the most businesslike and matter-of-fact way. Each man has particular duties assigned to him. Thus several open and refill the graves, one gets the wooden coffins ready and does odd jobs required, another's special duty is to wash and dry the bones, another (who is known as the clerk) writes the labels and keeps a record of all bodies, bones, and coffins another affixes the labels to the coffins and cloths, the tinsmith makes and solders down the zinc coffins, and another man exercises a general oversight over the whole of the operations. Our informants state that an ample supply of strong disinfectants is always kept on hand and freely used. One matter, which is apt to cause one a somewhat disquieting reflection, is the fact that in the top of each zinc coffin a small screw is placed to serve as a safetyvalve, through which the gases may escape should they be generated by a decomposing body in a quantity sufficient to threaten to burst the coffin. We are assured that the chances of this screw being required to fulfil its function are very remote, as in most cases in which the flesh, or a portion of it, remains on the body, it is quite dry, and beyond the period at which gas is generated. The possibility of gas escaping and polluting the atmosphere, however, remains, and a knowledge of this contingency seems to have had. something to do with the adverse comments lately made in the South regarding these wholesale disinterments.
The soil in certain localities appears to possess chemical properties which have a wonderfully preservative effect on the bodies. In one cemetery in Southland, a body had been buried 19 years, and was in a perfect state of preservation, resembling a mummy, when exhumed. At Greymouth a body was in a similar condition after 16 years' interment. On the other hand, nothing but bones were found in coffins which had been interred only two or three years. The contractors, during their past year's work, have been engaged in upwards of 30 cemeteries, and after completing their labours in Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, and one or two other towns, the number will have reached nearly 40. From seven cemeteries on the West Coast of the South Island, some 190 bodies have been lifted, including 120 from the Greymouth cemetery. The whole of the 190 coffins are stored in a shed erected for the purpose in the Greymouth cemetery, and it is the existence of this charnel-house in close proximity to their dwellings that has lately aroused the indignation of the people of that town. In the Otago and Southland districts toll has been levied on no less than 24 graveyards, the result being an accumulation of upwards of 200 coffins, which are stored near Dunedin, in a shed similar to that at Greymouth. Christchurch has contributed about five bodies, and Wellington will add some 30 to the list. As already mentioned, eight bodies are required from Waikumete, and there may be possibly two or three from other cemeteries in this district. The Auckland coffins will be taken to Dunedin for storage, and subsequently the entire shipment will be collected at Wellington for despatch to China.
We understand that a difficulty may arise in regard to some of the disinterments at Waikumete, as, so far as was ascertainable yesterday, the cemetery records contain the names of only four of the deceased persons in respect to whom warrants have been obtained. The other names do not appear on the books, but whether they will be found on the coffins when the graves are opened remains to be seen. Another difficulty also seems to have arisen in regard to one of the bodies for which inquiry is being made. Three Celestials, including the one in question, were drowned in the wreck of the s.s. Wairarapa, in 1894, but the body of only one was recovered. The three names were known and published at the time, but owing to the similarity of all Chinese, the body recovered could not be identified by name, and it has been since reposing in a nameless grave at Waikumete, or one of the other Auckland cemeteries. Thus it is uncertain whether the body interred is that now required, as its identity has remained a mystery to this day. It will be noticed that only a certain number of bodies are being taken from each cemetery, and that it is not a complete disinterment of Chinese bodies that is taking place, as some people suppose. For instance, only about one-third of the bodies. at Waikumete where there are about 22 Chinese graves, are being removed. In the case of each exhumation a request to that effect has been made by the relatives of the deceased, and it thus appears that the remains of these Celestials who have no solicitous relatives, will be allowed to rest in peace. -NZ Herald, 27/9/1902.
THE VENTNOR.
The steamer Ventnor arrived from Java this morning, and anchored in the stream. She brings a large cargo of raw sugar, and will berth at the Chelsea Wharf tomorrow morning to discharge. She is quite a new steamer, having been built as recently as 1901 at Port Glasgow by Messrs Russel and Co. for the Ventnor Steamship Company. The vessel is an iron steamer of 3960 tons gross register, and her principal dimensions are: Length 344ft, beam 49ft, depth (loaded) 29ft. The master is Captain H. G. Ferry, and with him are associated the following deck officers: — Chief, J. Cameron; second, Q. Lamson. The chief engineer is M. McCash. The master reports: The Ventnor left Java on September 10, and had fine weather to entering the Torres Straits, thence strong south-east winds and heavy seas until the New Zealand coast was sighted at the Poor Knights yesterday, followed by thick, rainy weather down the coast to arrival as above. The Ventnor will remain in port about nine days, sailing hence for Newcastle and the East. It has been also arranged that the steamer will convey to China the disinterred Chinese bodies from the Waikumete Cemetery. -Auckland Star, 2/10/1902.
DISINTERMENT OF CHINESE.
A VISIT TO THE DUNEDIN STORE HOUSE.
THREE HUNDRED ALREADY RECEIVED.
On the banks of the Kaikorai Stream, midway between Burnside and Messrs Ross and Glendening's factory, stands an unassuming shed of galvanised iron. This is where the bodies of the Chinese who are being disinterred are stored till they are removed to the land of their fathers. The approach is along a road knee-deep in ruts in dry weather and mud in wet, the improvised mortuary being in the centre of a big field. To look in the door, unaware of what was going on, one would never guess it. Four or five business-like Chinamen, each smartly hammering and screwing away at long boxes, a double tier of the same along the walls, with the fantastic hieroglyphics of the Celestial painted at the end of each box, and a double-decked pile at one end of the shed — that is all one sees. But in the building — which is about 20ft by 60ft in breadth and length, by about 7ft in height at the walls — are stored at the present time the remains of some 300 Chinamen. The collection has been going on almost unobserved since last April, and all that time the workmen have been busily engaged packing up their deceased countrymen into boxes made of kauri of l 1/2in thickness. There is not the least sign of odor, unless maybe it is either from the damp ground or the seed-packing, or of the faint smell of burnt incense.
These are the remains of certain Chinamen who have died in the colony during the past twenty years in the Otago, Canterbury, and Auckland provinces. Twenty years ago a similar exhumation was made in New Zealand, and last year a general disinterment of Chinese took place in New South Wales. It is necessary for the peace of mind of the families of the deceased that they should be taken to the home of their ancestors, and a society called the "Chong Shin Tong" (which, being translated, infers to some extent, a philanthropic institution which sees to the interests of the poor) undertakes to see the bodies returned to their native soil from New Zealand. Of this society Mr Kum Poy Sew Hoy is the president and Mr Sue Shea the secretary. Their philanthropic work only applies to the former residents of this Pong Yee and Far Yep district's (adjacent to Canton), and in many cases work is done for a merely nominal fee, the rich men paying more than the poor. The Chinese are the most intensely patriotic nation in the world, and to allow their poorer brethren to have quiet and decent sepulture in their own villages the richer sacrifice to the poorer!
The enterprise involves the large sum of £5.000, which will be the total cost of their exhumation, carriage to China, and reburial there, the average cost for each corpse being about £20. This average includes the exhumation of the body, the enclosure in a special coffin, and the reburial. Otago will provide the greatest number of corpses, our quota being about 290 (which is inclusive of Southland). Westland will contribute 170, Wellington 40, Auckland 12, and Canterbury 7 — a total of between 500 and 600. There are three, collecting centres — Dunedin, Greymouth and Wellington. The main centre is the local one, and Canterbury, Auckland, and Southland have sent theirs to the local depot. The arrangements for the removal are complete. On October 11 the steamer Rimu will call at Greymouth to load the coffins prepared for transit, and coming to Dunedin will take on board the local cargo. They are to be taken by dray to Burnside, and thence by rail to Port Chalmers, where the Rimu takes them aboard. She then sails direct to Wellington on October 18, and tranships there to the steamer Ventnor, which has been specially chartered by the society for the purpose. The Ventnor sails direct to Hongkong from Wellington on October 25, and we believe, will distribute the bodies at that port to their different owners.
There have been protests in some parts of the colony over the exhumation of these bodies, but as far as Dunedin is concerned there seems to have been little to complain about. The collecting of the bodies began at the commencement of April last, and for several months thereafter the exhumation in the City's cemeteries was carried on almost unnoticed. We understand that the Chinese have a special permit from the Colonial Secretary empowering them to exhume the bodies from the cemeteries between the hours of twelve midnight and twelve noon on certain days; further, that while the disinterment is proceeding none but those engaged are allowed within the cemetery. Wherefore, it would seem, that if any shocked European has penetrated to any such cemetery he has himself alone to blame, and the Chinese have the right to expel him from the cemetery. However, we are assured that the most rigid carefulness has been observed everywhere. The method of procedure would seem to bear out this care. Immediately the bodies are removed from the earth they are put in special zinc receptacles ready placed along-side the grave, and the lids are soldered down by a plumber on the spot, carbolic acid being freely used when necessary. Then they are removed to the store, and all traces of the work cleared off by twelve men.
This has been the procedure at Dunedin, Invercargill, Orepuki, Gore, Alexandra, Queenstown, Clyde, Tuapeka, Naseby, Oamaru, Arrowtown, Ophir, and elsewhere in the province, and the plumber (a European) has toured the colony doing the work at every place. The persons engaged seem to have suffered no infection, nor carried it to others during the period of exhumation. However much ground for complaint there may. have been in the North, there appears to have been none in Dunedin. There certainly was none this morning, when our representative paid an unexpected visit to the store house with Inspector Bain, of the Taieri County Council. Everything was clean and tidy in the little shed, and during the best part of two hours spent there, nothing could be smelt or noticed in any way objectionable. Mr Bain says that he has had no cause for complaint during the six months in which the work has been proceeding, and he expresses himself as very pleased with the way in which it has been carried out.
A curious sidelight on this matter is observable at the shed. It is part of the religious ceremony of the Chinese to place edibles and drinkables with tapers and incense near the corpse, so that his spirit may not be weary nor uneasy in the darkness, nor an-hungered. Twice or thrice daily tiny cups of China tea are placed at the foot of the dead, for the delectation of his faithful ghost. Likewise at night tapers, Roman candles, and similar ceremonial lights are lit for the said ghost's benefit. The European is inclined to be irreverently funny at the Oriental's expense, but a more or less true yarn is being circulated against one European. 'Tis said he asked the weird and venerable Celestial in charge of the religious duties (being some seventy years of age, he is inappropriately called Yung Dick) why he left the tea, etc. "Him no come out drink, Dick!" The ancient one smiled, and answered: "You puttem flower on Inglish glave; him come out smell?" Yung Dick is a very venerable man, worthy of the priestly functions he exercises. Clad in soil-be-smirched moleskins, hitched up by a worn strap, a blue flannel singlet showing the yellow, parched skin, with a worn guernsey coat outside, and a hoary cap covering scanty grey hair, Yung Dick is a weird character study. -Evening Star, 6/10/1902.
The Ventnor sailed up the south Island's West coast, loading coal at Westport for the "China Naval Station" - presumably the Royal Navy base at Hong Kong.
THE CHINESE DEAD.
[special to "Star.")
Wellington, Oct. 28.
On Saturday evening Messrs John Mill and Co.'s steamer Ventnor left here for Hongkong carrying 584 coffins containing bodies and bones of Chinamen who have died in a foreign country which are being taken to a last sleeping place in their motherland to satisfy the demands of their religion and a wish natural to men of all nationalities.
Most of the dead that were taken away were members of the Chong Shin Tong Society. The agreement being between the Society and Messrs John Mill and Co. as agents for the charterers, provides that a birth certificate as required by law, and all necessary permits to land the coffins at Hongkong, shall be obtained by the Society The coffins are not to be transhipped or disturbed after leaving Wellington, under a penalty of £1000, unless such transhipment or disturbance shill be rendered necessary by perils of the sea, or unavoidable accident. They must be carried on the 'tween decks of the steamer tier upon tier, and heads to the bow. Practically, the coffins are all placed in pigeon holes, space being left for the body servants, of which there are six, to walk between and to perform rites pertaining to the religion of Confucius. Luxurious quarters have been fitted for the servants on the poop deck. The coffins of the dead outside the pale of the Chong Shin Tong Society have to be stowed apart from the others, and there is a separate compartment for the casket in which is the body of Sew Hoy, a former prominent Dunedin merchant. His son, Mr Kum Boy Sew Hoy, will superintend the stowage of his father's coffin. He is the Secretary of the Chong Shin Tong Society, and has been the leading spirit in the shipment of his dead countrymen. Educated at the Dunedin University he is a cultured scholar, and speaks English fluently.
Captain Ferry, Commander of the Ventnor, has been employed in the transshipping of Chinese bodies from various places in the East, and his vessel is one of the very few which has been permitted by the Chong Shin Tong Society to fly the dragon flag. -Greymouth Evening Star, 28/10/1902.
On Sunday the steamer Ventnor, with the remains Of about 600 Chinese, left Wellington for Hong Kong. Farewell ceremonies were held on board on Saturday by a party of Chinamen. -Star, 28/10/1902.
FOUNDERING OF THE VENTNOR.
With Chinese Bodies Aboard
United Press Association — By Electric Telegraph
Auckland, October 29. The steamer Ventnor from Wellington, bound for Hong Kong, loaded with bodies of resurrected Chinese, struck Cape Egmont on Sunday night, and foundered off Hokianga. Two boats containing the officers and part of the crew, have landed. The rest of the crew were seen in two boats seven miles out. The steamer Energy has been sent to their assistance.
Later. The Ventnor had five hundred Chinese bodies and 6400 tons of coal.
A "Star" special wire states that on Monday at 12.30 a.m. the vessel struck on the rocks to the southward of Cape Egmont. After a short time she managed to get off, and proceeded on her voyage, but the water gained in the No. 1 hold till Tuesday, when the ballast tanks were found full of water, and the steamer was going down by the head. On Tuesday evening she became unmanageable, and was found to be gradually sinking. About 9 p.m. she was going down fast, and all hands were ordered into the boats, which had barely time to clear before the steamer sank. The Hokianga head light was seen at the distance of about ten miles. Two boats, containing the chief officer (Cameron), second and third engineers and fourteen of the crew, landed on the Omapere beach at daylight this morning. Another boat is sighted, and is expected to arrive shortly.
The third boat's crew from the Ventnor is reported safe.
Wellington, October 29
Of the coffins carried by the Ventnor, 489 are insured in the Alliance Company for L5490, and the fungus is insured for about £320 in the various offices in Wellington. The Ventnor was four inches light of her marks, as not sufficient coal had arrived from Westport, and as she was on time, the charter agent despatched her without waiting for more.
Greymouth, Oct. 29 One hundred and seventy-seven Chinese bodies, or bones, the remains of same, were shipped at Greymouth. Some had been in the cemetery for 20 years, while others had never been interred. The Chinese community here are in a great state of excitement over the foundering of the Ventnor with the bodies aboard.
Dunedin, October 29. The Alliance Assurance Company had a risk of .£4650 on the Ventor's bodies, numbering 480, and of this amount £1860 was reinsured in the South British. The bodies came from Greymouth, Wellington, and Dunedin.
The Ventnor was under charter to the Admiralty to take coal from Westport to Hong Kong. She belonged to the Ventnor Shipping Company, of Glasgow, where she was built in 1901, and was a steel steamer of 3961 tons gross, 346 nominal horsepower. -Ashburton Guardian 29/10/1902.
The foundering of Ventnor with all the dry bones of the Chinese has created a great stir among the natives of the Flowery Land, who look upon it as a sacred duty to see that the bones of their countrymen are carried back to the land of their birth. To Europeans the loss of the "remains" is a small concern; their feeling of relief is found in the fact that the live bodies — the crew — escaped. In all there were 584 coffins containing bodies and bones, 173 of which were shipped at Greymouth. We don't want to hurt the feelings of the Chinese, but from our barbarian point of view the remains are quite as well and quite as comfortable lying at the bottom of the sea as if laid off side by side in a nice Chinese garden. There is, however, a feature of the affair that sound intensely mercenary — the bodies were insured for £4,550 — from our point of view a good insurance. -Greymouth evening Star, 29/10/1902.
WRECK OF THE VENTNOR.
A BOAT MISSING
CAPTAIN AND OFFICER BELIEVED TO BE DROWNED.
(Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day.
The steamer Energy rescued the third boat from the Ventnor with six Europeans and four Chinese. The boat was half full of water and the men very exhausted.
They believe the fourth boat capsized and state the captain and third mate jumped overboard when the Ventnor was sinking. They believe both were drowned. -Poverty Bay Herald, 29/10/1902.
Chinese Ideas as to Burial.
The Motive for the Removal of the Bodies.
Like the Romans, the Greeks, and other nations of antiquity, including the Jews, the Chinese regard the rites of sepulture as of the highest importance. The loss of these rites, while their forms vary in different parts of the country, is held by all Chinese to be a terrible calamity to the dead and to their living kinsfolk. The dead are supposed to be restrained by their animal nature to the tombs where their bodies lie, and to be drawn by their spiritual nature to their children and to the old scenes of their past life. If their bodies are unburied or do not receive full rites of sepulture, their ghosts are thought to be unhappy, to wander from the places where they lie to their former haunts, and to bring misfortune to their descendants and former companions. So great is the importance attached to funeral ceremonies that a native custom, dating back to the beginning of the Christian era, provides for a fictitious funeral, in which an effigy plays the part of a corpse, when the body of a deceased person has been lost by drowning, or for some other reason cannot be found. Tombs in foreign lands — or even in China if distant from the family home and graveyard — are usually regarded as but temporary resting places, and the bodies have later to be exhumed and buried properly if the souls of the dead are to be satisfied, and to refrain from troubling the living. The peculiar reverence the Chinese feel for the dead, and the religious obligation upon the Chinese children to see that their ancestors receive due rites of sepulture and customary worship at their tombs, will indicate the feelings of those who had sent away the remains of relatives by the ill-fated Ventnor. — Post. -Fielding Star, 30/10/1902.
WEEKLY WHISPERS
In regard to the loss of the Ventnor there has been much ignorant hilarity over her cargo of Chinese bones. But if those who thoughtlessly laugh would pause to think they would realise that there is nothing funny about reference for the dead or tender care for their remains. One of the few redeeming traits of the Chinese is reverence for the memory of the dead, and ancestry-worship is a picturesque and by no means vulgar cult. Suppose some of our dear ones' bones had been aboard the ship being removed to the sacred soil of home? Would we have laughed at the queerness of some of the wrecked vessel's cargo? Or rather, would we not have pronounced the tragedy more painful because of its loss? By the bye, it is said that the Chinese intend to do their best to recover the remains of their fellow-countryinen from the wreck of the Ventnor, and the Chinese Government will probably assist with funds to conduct diving operations. (Continued on 4th Page). -Nelson Evening Mail, 1/11/1902.
No remains of the cargo were recovered, except those which were cast up on beaches by the waves. Local iwi, Te Roroa and Te Rarawa, buried the remains in their urupa. One hundred years later, in 2007, the care of the iwi was recognised by descendants of the Chinese miners and memorials to the men constructed. The Ventnor was found in 2012 and designated a National Heritage Site.
In 2021, a public memorial, listing the names of those lying in the Ventnor, was unveiled at Opononi. It also gives thanks to Te Roroa, Te Rarawa and local people for their care of the remains which had arrived those long years ago. Local MP, Kelvin Davis, said to the descendants of the Ventnor passengers, "Your ancestors lie with our ancestors in this soil. There is no difference. They lie with us. They are at home."
As part of the unveiling, a white lion was used for the lion dance and then burned as an offering to the heavens. It was a New Zealand first.
