THE RAISING OF THE AUSTRAL.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3651, 28 March 1883, Page 4

THE RAISING OF THE AUSTRAL.

now sire looks,

The Austral is now higli out of water m Neutral Bay, and the water in the hull has been pumped out to such an extent that all but the lowest decks are elenr. An opportunity has now been afforded for inspecting the saloons, .state-rooms, cabins, and other parts of the vessel. _ On descending into the music saloon _or drawing-room, a scene of perfect devolution was witnessed. The walls of this spacious apartment were formerly covered with enamel and gold, and the dome and windows were filled with opaque glass, ornamented with graceful scroll work. The furniture was cushioned with pale blue velvet, the floors wore covered with thick Indian carpets, and the windows curtained with fabrics of white silk with gold threads. Now the walls are black and stained, the windows are broken, the curtains torn down, and tiic velvet coverings and costly carpets rutted m a pulp. Passing down the massive staircase into the principal or dining saloon, which was built to accommodate 120 diners, the same scene of destruction is witnessed on a larger scale. Formerly the ceiling of this magnificent apartment was decorated with whfte and gold, the ends being richly panelled in walnut, and ornamented with carved and emblazoned coats-of-arms_of the European nations and British colonies. _ The revolving chairs were cushioned with ruby velvet, and the saloon was lighted by painted glass panels on each side. Now the decorations are obliterated, the velvet is completely rotted and stripped off the chairs, the coats-of-arms partly destroyed, the windows smashed, and the handsome veneering of the end panels so saturated with water that it strips ofl like paper. In the .state-rooms, which were better fitted up than those of any other steamship in the Australian trade, the same process of destruction is to be seen, books, wardrobes, settees, spring mattresses, electric lamps, etc., all being hopelessly ruined. In passing , through the secondclass saloon and cabins, the intermediate cabins, and the firemen's quarters, ample indications of the force of the terrific inrush of water were to be seen. These apartments arc situated in the afterpart oi the ship, where the water first pouredm as the vessel commenced to sink, stern first. An appalling volume of water must have surged over the' deck, down the stairways, and thorough the cabins, for the doors have been torn off their hinges, the walls smashed in, and the furniture and bedding huddled together in a confused mass. Most of the cabins which thus suffered were occupied, and it is easy to .see that a few minutes delay in setting , out and up on deck would have meant certain death to the occupants. It was in this part of the ship that the refrigerating engineer, Mr Thomas Alexander, perished. He and the electrician occupied the same cabin. The latter was the first to awake after the alarm had been given, and, springing out of bed, he managed to get the cabin door open and make his escape along the passages, but Mr Alexander, who does not appear tohave awoke at the same time, was hemmed in by the flood and drowned. The position of the cabin on the main deck in which the purser, Mr James Perkins, was, is such that one would suppose its occupant would have been among the first to escape, as ho had merely to step out on to the main deck and jump off the ship. According to information which has been obtained since the disaster, the purser's death appears to have been a peculiarly sad one. The doctor, who occupied the adjoining cabin, was among the first to hear the alarm. He immediately ran into the purser's cabin and dragged him out of bed. TIIO3- wore on the starboard side, in which direction the ship was heeling over, and one glance over the side told the doctor than not a moment was to be lost. Ho warned his companion to hasten with him, but the hitter—who was in his night clothes—replied that he would just ha ye time to .snatch up some additional clothing. As the purser rushed back into his cabin the doctor made his escape. The body of the purser, when recovered next day, was found to bo fully dressed, and sitting in a chair in his cabin. What occurred after the docter left him is matter of conjecture. The generally accepted version is that after he went back to the cabin and closed the door after him while he hurriedly dressed himself the water came over the ship's side and jammed up the door, and that when lie made an effort to come out again he found it impossible to move the door (which opened outwards) owing to the tremendous flood. The cabin was watertight up to the top of the door, where there was a small iron grating for ventilation purposes. The .-ipartmeiit "would, therefore, be free from the flood until the ship sank to the level of this iron grating, when the water would force itself'gradually in. There, probably, the unfortunate man, as he sat in his chair, hemmed in by the seething Hood, which was rapidly sinking the ship, saw the water stream in at the grating and rise inch by inch in the cabin, until he was overwhelmed in a liviuy tomb. The three Arabs who, besides Mr Alexander and Mr Perkins, were the only persons lost, also slept in apartments on the main deck. They, too, were probably similarly hemmed in, and unable to force open the doors. When the ship settled down to the level of the ventilators the water would pour into the apartments, and the occupants woidd perish like rats in a hole. Some of the men connected with the ship who slept below the main deck owed their lives in all probabilty to the fact that, it being a warm night, they had left their portholes open. They were thus aroused at the first alarm, and were able to escape before the inrushing- wator flooded the passages and stairways. The general supposition that the magnificent machinery of the vessel would be destroyed is fortunately not borne out by an actual"examination. Much of the machinery may bo somewhat injured, but so far as it is p"ossible to judge it will only be necessary to give it a thorough cleaning and overhauling, and take some portions of it to pieces.— Argus.