HOW STEAMER OHURA CAPSIZED

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 191, 9 May 1940, Page 10

HOW STEAMER OHURA CAPSIZED

Wanganui River Tragedy STAMPEDE OF CATTLE IN MIDDLE OF TORRENT Dominion Special Service. WANGANUI, May 8. “Because the Wanganui River is in flood and is very discoloured, it will be impossible to recover the bodies of the victims of the river tragedy for some days,” said Inspector .1. A. Dempsey tonight, when interviewed about the capsize of the steamer Ohura on Monday, in which an engineer and two deek-hands are thought to have been drowned. Inspector Dempsey said a river steamer put out today from I’ipirikl and took two and a half hours to travel the five miles to the scene of the accident. The current is too treacherous to permit a small boat being used to make a search for the bodies. lie said the Ohura had negotiated one rapid and was on the second when a tethered cow broke loose and stampeded the rest of the cattle, which rushed to one side, capsizing the vessel in the middle of a raging torrent. One of the victims was last seen struggling in the midst of the maddened animals in the river.

Captain Anderson, who managed to get ashore, has been associated with river craft for 25 years, having been in the employ of A. llatrick and Co., Ltd., before the service was taken over by Wanganui River Services. Ltd. He had a thorough knowledge of the river and had captained vessels carrying hundreds of tourist parties, as well as vessels carrying live stock and freight. He is a son of Captain Andrew Anderson, who was drowned in the river when working for the Wanganui River Trust.

Mr. R. Gray, the engineer who is missing, had also been iu the employ of the Wanganui River Trust before joining Wanganui River Services Company. It is feared that he was trapped in the engineroom.

Constable S. 11. Cave, Ohakune, and Constable R. 11. Beaton, Raetihi, arrived at Pipiriki last night and went upriver at daylight to make a search for the missing men. The managingdirector of Wanganui River Services, Mr. F. llatrick, who visited the scene of the capsize, returned to Pipiriki today and said he saw no sign of the missing men. The Ohura is lying upside down in the river in deep water. First Loss of Life.

In its 60 years of operation the Wanganui River Service has transported thousands of passengers between Wanganui and Pipiriki and beyond, without loss of life. Accidents of varying severity have occurred at times, caused mostl.y by striking rocks or submerged logs, and vessels have beeu holod and some sunk, but these mishaps have beeu singularly few considering the length of river traversed and the difficulties of navigation encountered.

The Ohura was' the third steamer acquired by llatrick and Company (now Wanganui River Services, Ltd.). She was built by Simpson and Strickland, Dartmouth, in 1897, and came to Nqw Zealand in sections shipped in boxes. Before leaving Dartmouth the Ohura reached a speed of 13 miles an hour on a measured mile. The Ohura was acquired by the company because other vessels could go no further than 20 miles upriver iu low water and mails and passengers had to be transported in Maori canoes. The Ohura, however, was able to negotiate shallow reaches and go all Ute way to Pipiriki in dry seasons.

On her maiden trip the Ohura left Wanganui at 7 a.m. and arrived at Pipiriki at 1.20 p.m., making two stops on the way and towing a canoe from Ranana landing. She drew only nine inches and was able to go beyond Pipiriki as far as Tanga rakau. It is stated that she burnt only 15 sacks of coal on the trip from 'Wanganui to Tangarakau and back to Pipiriki, but after she underwent structural and mechanical changes and her weight was increased the vessel used from 24 to 26 sacks. When she was converted to burn oil the Obura was again lightened and is known to have taken seven hours on the trip from Wanganui to Pipiriki without stoppages.