A TERRIBLE WRECK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1093, 6 November 1883, Page 4

A TERRIBLE WRECK.

The Royal Adelaide, a splendid clipper of 2,000 tons burthen (an emigrant ship, bound for Sydney), had been driven ashore on the West Bay at Weymouth, jus between] Weymouth Jand Portland —on the natural bar of shingle which forms one side of the harbor —a wall, of safety to those within, but a tefror to the poor souls outside in the open sea. In the present instance the vessel was driven,, in* broadside on the beach, and hurled by the waves to within twenty feet of the [crowds who had been watching her for hours, and who wohld fain have helped her had Help been possible. Now the breakers had if all their own way, and played with her as a cat with a mouse —sometimes receding, so as to leave her almost dry, then dashing right over With srich violence as to threaten to wash off every soul of that agonised multitude which crowded her decks. Torches and tar-barrels blazed upon the beach, and brilliant blue-lights threw their strange, ghastly glare upon that terrible scene, revealing each figure in clear-relief,' with the background of mad curling waves, andjthe white spray dashing far above the masts. Strong willing arms were there, ready and able to help; but their good purpose was in a great measure frustrated by the stupidity cf the bewildered wretches on board. When a successful rocket was fired (a fiery messenger of hope, bearing the thin cord to which were attached the strong hawser and cradle that should have brought all safely ashore) its’use was not understood, and a long interval of precious time was w|st£d' ere anyone was brought to land, But f6r those no lives need have been sacrificed at all. As it was, the number of those who perished was variously calculated at from ten to fifteen, mostly women and children, who by all laws of the sea, should have been the first to come ashore Ere these, however, could, be -'rescued, the vessel broke asunder with - a crash like thunder, which thsounded loud above the roaring |of the waves—a terrible sound, which-for days afterwards seemed to re-echo in the ears of all who heard it. Straightway the whole sea was full of floating cargo, passengers’ luggage, masts, spars, planks, stores ; and every wave that dashed Upon the beach hurled up . some fragment, as if in defiance, till the whole shore was heaped with goods of every sort and kind—as if some merchant’s vast stores lay piled in wildest confusion. Among the salvage was a pig, which reached the shore alive, and was at once appropriated by a bystander, who, however, was detected, and marched off to the police station with the pig on his shoulders. A racehorse which was likewise on board fared less happilybattered and bruised by one shock after another, it was washed ashore dead. As the vessel finally sank, one old wofnan was left standing on her alone. She had been too terrified to take her place in the cradle, so had to be left to her, fate. One passenger who was carrying a large sum of gold perished in the attempt to save it. Another lost a sum of four hundred pounds—the precious savings of a life time—but he himself escaped. And now that nothing more could be done to save the livipgj a terrible scene commenced, a thousandfold more horrible than the- terrors of the previous hours. The ship carried large quantities of spirits as part of her cargo, the- 'strongest form of old Hollands.. and whisky, from forty to fifty,, above proof. Soon the shore was, strewn . in every direction with ;'spirit casks and cases. Men chilled With working in the bitter cold and-wet of that piercing winter night, werpmot slow; to yield to the temptation thus thrown in their way. Casks were broached—in-some cases the tops knocked off—and men and boys drank the fiery spirit as though it had been a draught of Water, and when they had drank till they could no longer discern one barrel from another, many of them turned to the casks of paraffin, and drank from them; then, utterly helpless, they lay down, wherever they chanced to be, and soon the whole shore was streWn ,with scores of corpse-like wretches, who lay all night in the bitter cold, some so near the waves that the spray dashed ■ over them and they narrowly 'escaped being swept away altogether. .Multitudes were rescued in the morning, chill and cold, but still alive, and were carried home by friends;*who strove to bring them back to life. Seven were actually dead, and their.’bodifcs lay waiting the coroner’s inquest, arid other deaths were reported later. It is said that even some of the soldiers and Custom House officers who were placed in charge of the shore joined in the dismal revelry; certainly the drinking went on all the next day, and the wide-awake old hands con T trived to bury casks and cases ford future rise. At length the Chief Cus e tom House officer, despairing of pro- 6 tectingvthis part of the cargo, went; along fhe ebast and stove in every cask" that wriie .?tshore, and then only was the hideous carnival of drunkenness stayed. Not that the spirits were the sole temptation to the harpies who crowded the shore. Multitudes were there who .had not forgotten the wrecking instincts of their forefathers, and who had assembled only to see what they could pillage, and thus vast quantities of goods : which might otherwise have been saved for the use of the luckless emigrants were deliberately carried off, and were told that many of the low shops in the neighboring villages were full of the stolen goods. These robbers lost tio time in helping themselves to all they could carry, for, so soon as the authorities came to their senses, the beach was guarded so strictly, and all dubious-looking characters were so rigorously searched, that not even an old rusty penknife might- be carried of as a relic.—C. F. Gordon Gumming, in the “ Gentleman’s Magazine.”