SEARCH FOR THE DUCO.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 631, 7 October 1909, Page 8

SEARCH FOR THE DUCO.

THE ARRANGEMENTS. MISSING BOAT MAY BE AT PITT ISLAND. - The - Harbour .i'erries .Company,: owners of the missing steamer Duco, arid the. Marine De« partment, completed arrangements yesterday ; aiternoon for the. search.. ■ The steamer Gertie, chartered by the Fences Company, arrived from Foxton at noon, and; a gang of :mon at once , set to work-putting 150 tons - of; coal on board her', nnd ! storing provisions for. a month s cruise, although the vessel \rill only be away; for about ten days. She was dispatched last night, and will take, a 60-mile course to the eastward from .Cape Pal-, liser, thence steaming, to the north-east for 600 miles. JThe -Gertie's course * will take«her, in all,. about 700 . miles from • the New Zealand ; coast, before-she turns to come back. She mil be under the command, of Captain Whitefir' "steame'r .Tut&nekai; • ; jlhe Government training ship Amokura, which was ..summoned .to Wellington from Picton, v is to work in conjunction with the Gertie in-the seArch,-and she was to get away soon after midnight; and steam-60 milea E.S.E, from Palliser, thence'6oo miles B.N.E. At the • end ok their 600-mile run, both vessels will ,be well apart,, and .will turn,-and head back to .the starting-pcint, each steering azig-zag cpurfio towards a-centre line between the two tracks taken on the outward, journey. The triangle which will thus be covered is, in . p" e -.°pi"ipu .of 'experts* the stretch of water ?n winch the Duco will be found in the event of her having broken down and drifted. This is so because ,of the current Tunning , in this portion of the. ocean.

The- offices of the Wellington . Harbour I,errios Company wete visited by a number of

■anxious.'.inquirers, for news,.of . the ..Drifting steamer Duco yesterday, l but the officers of' the company, were unable to say anything - more than had been announced on Tuesday. Their hands, for the tithe being were full with arrangements, for the dispatch of their search'boat, the' Gertie. . MIGHT HAVE SOUGHT SHELTER. CAPTAIN ■ HOOPER ON POSSIBILITIES.: , The.auxiliary' training ship from'Picton- at ,7., o'clock- yesterday «evenih.tr,' .and immediately: oommenced loading coal and provisions in;iprisp'aratjoa ; for: the, search. Commander' Hooper,' m aster'training. ship. was- 5 seen by a. Dominion representative, 'and questioned • as to: his" views of -what, had hap-' .peried to,the,missing trawler.; He endorsed the opinion concerning' the Duco's excellent sea-going, qualities.. Some years.ago, .he said, he made a trip in the little steamer -ih search of ■the schooner Ronga in Cook • Strait,/ and on that occasion they met with - throe, days vof •very heavy, weather, .during which the little steamer behaved splendidly; Carefully handled, he. thinks she ■ would weather almost. any storm. 1 On the day: the Duco left she ought almost to; have'' cleared the-land before - the-Bouth-oast gale was. at : its..worst, and in .that, case 'she should,have got .through, unless sho I was. taking the sea too much on her.beam, and a "white horso" swamped her. Before-leaving for. the, .Chathams, Captain Abi-am-'had several conversations with Commander Hooper,'and the latter, while not knowing' what arrangements .had. been, made with the Alexander, understood that the Duco was going to make for Starkeys. That vicinity was .swarming with . fish, and ' he', thought ,the , Thico, ,;'intended - ' t0... fill up ' with ■fish there and then make for the coal depot. Had, bad weather been oncountered, the steamer might have sought shelter,' and been unable to get to Port Hutt at the appointed time. Good fishing grounds'."were ..at Kaiangaroa in .the-north of the Chathams, and had the Duco been.there, or at Starkeys, it.was not likely that she would havo been 6een by any of the inhabitants. In the event of-her com,ing. to.-.: grief on .Pitt Island, the survivors would, soon-bo picked up'by the inhabitants, as' the ' shepherds made .frequent visits., to all Sarts.- On Stai key's there were no' inhabitants, langerqus reefs, of course, existed clear of. any land, and' these . might, bring -her trouble. .Commander Hooper- stated emphatically that he did not venture all .these 'opinions for'the purpose of-allaying fear. If the Dnco had a fixed;, appointment 1 with the Alexander, tin position - was serious," but, ■ knowing the Duco, and .having had, a good deal of experience at the: .Chathams' at different, times, he considered that-there was- a possibility that the steamer, was still afloat, or that there might be survivors; of her crew. Had she been wrecked on the first; night near the New Zealand coast, some signs'.of wreckage ought,to have beei. seen ere this.

• NO NEWS FROM PITT ISLAND TILL •• NEXT WEEK.; • -With regard to the possibility, - entertained inVsome quarters, ; of the -Duco being, at Pitt I?land, at the south-east. of the Chathams, it may be pointed out that in the event; of her being there with a breakdown, or owing to bad weather, no news can be had until the return of the steamer Ilipplei to Lyttelton on October 14. .Any wreckage about that quarter would probably ; be seen by the Kipple.

The Gertie and the Amokura, which are to search for the missing trawler Duco, are both being provided with-a quantity of clothing, etc., by Mr. J as. Moore, agent for the Shipwreck Relief 50ciety....,... , Charf. Williams, second mate of the Duco, is U years of age,'and is, it' is understood, a married man. He was with the vessel on her first trip to the Chathams, and has been connected with fishing craft in the South Island. He passed the examination , for mate and for Home-trade master at Lyttelton, and is believed to have resided there. J. Porter, the cook of the Duco,,was, for some time employed in a' similar capacity on the steamer Lady Barkley, trading between Nelson ana Motueka. He was unmarried. Hansen,, an A.8., is said to be a married man, but the whereabouts of his wife are not known to the representatives of the Harbour Ferries,-Ltd.