THE WRECK OF THE MAITAI

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2972, 9 January 1917, Page 6

THE WRECK OF THE MAITAI

VESSEL HARD AND FAST FRUITLESS ATTEMPTS TG SAVE HEK t By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, January 8. Early this morning the passengers and some, of the crow from the stranded steamer Maitai arrived at Auckland from Rarotonga. The tide was evidently fairly 'high wlicn the Maitai drifted ashore. The- sea about the vessel is studded with dangerous rocks, which have been the scone of previous marine disasters. The opinion of the captain and officers is that there is no hopo whatever of floating tho Maitai, the position occupied by the hull, which is firmly fixed on tho reef, making it evident that it will break up. The narrow arms of the rock rcacli to within a few foot of tho surface, then suddenly fair into a deptli of id feet. The captain of the rescuing steamer states that ho was unablo to find room for the Maitai , s passengers and crew as ordinary passengers. He took them as people in distress, on condition that ti.ey provided their own bedding, etc. They were mostly accommodated on deck during the voyage to Auckland. A Passenger's Story. One of the Mauai's passengers supplied tho loilowang story: —"us was L/UMstinas Hay. We arrived' at Rarotonjja about -i in tho afternoon, and towards evening wo steamed to tho anchorage. Many of tlio passengers wont asnore in lighters to spend a low hours in eight-seeing. Tho crew were engaged picuing up tho anchor which the Maitai lost tliere ou a previous trip. It'was later noticed that tho vessel was drifting. About 9.20 p.m. all on board felt a tremor run through the ship. Almost immediately after three or four 6hocks were felt. Tho mate ran to the bridge, and tho ship's telegraph sent out tho message, "l''ull speed astern." All efforts to move her were of no avail. Sho had evidently drifted at a good speed, and e.'ae fast on tho rocks. She had been caught amidsliips on the reef. The lead was cast, and 42 fathoms was shown. "Realising that tho steamer wns in a dangerous position arrangements wcro immediately made for taking tho passengers ashore. This work was particularly hard, as thoro was a swell, and tho surf .was breaking near. The mails wero taken off. Tho heavy swell made the steamer roll heavily, hampering tho work of tho crew. The workers wero thrown to the decks each tinio the steamer rolled. On tho port side the sea thrashed against tho vessel, making the task of working the, mails and landing the passengers particularly difficult. The men worked until about 1 a.m. next day,' when the. rising water in the hold forced the firemen to quit. Lighters wcro then used to carry the ship's stores ashore. Attempts at refloating wero abandoned, as tho steamer gradually worked her way further on the reef. "Early next morning natives were obtained from shore, and tho work of removing the strip's fittings and cargo was commenced. The work was slow, owing to thero being no steam in the winches. Afc 3 o'clock in the afternoon of Boxing Day thero was 15ft. of water in No. 3 hold, but most of the cargo had been removed before water gained any ground. Shortly after this tho ship's company was taken ashore, and most of the work was left to the natives."