ships And the Sea CAPE SAUNDERS LIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 82, 3 October 1931, Page 23

ships And the Sea

CAPE SAUNDERS LIGHT

TO MARK OTAGO HARBOUR

CHANGES OF SITE

In a previous article dealing with the lighthouse at Nugget Point it was iitated that the lantern and apparatus installed there had originally been intended for a light on Cape Saunders. As this article is in reference to the light on Cape Saunders it will be necessary to refer to the original light apparatus in dealing with tho circumstances leading to the establishment of the existing light on Cape Saunders. Before proceeding,-it must here be explained that although the site of the present light : has been. called Gape Saunders, the. name originally was applied to the cape or point a short distance to-the north,-wMch was: known, by the Maori name of Eaimata,, whereas the cape now called Cape Saunders was known as Matakitaki Point. • For a considerable time, vessels bound to Dunedin from, England; and arriving round the south of New Zealand' had

occasionally run past the Otago Harbour entrance, and the Provincial Government of Otago decided that a light was necessary on Cape Saunders to warn shipmasters of their proximity to Otago Harbour. The jnecessary light was therefore obtained from England, and arrived in Dunedin in 1863. A Bite of 20 acres for the light had been leased from the Natives, but the erection was not proceeded with for want of the necessary.funds, and the light-, ing apparatus was installed at Nugget I Point. • ' A BEACON ERECTED. ■"■: In 1868 the' desirability of having some means whereby the masters of ships might recognise the cape became "acute, and a stone beacon 12 feet high ahd.lo fbet. in diameter, painted white, was erected on "the site leased for the proposed lighthouse. However, the call for a light was not to be allowed to drop with the provision of the beacon, and on 30th March, 1874, Captain Thomson, harbourmaster at Dunedin, visited the:locality and reported ;on three sites. Captain Johnson, of the Marino Department, •■■. was of opinion, after, visiting the sites in January, 1875, that, on account of the prevalence of .fogs in the locality, a site at a lower elevation than those selected was desirable. . -■,' ■: ■{; .'•, . ;■.,.-.. ,';; "', "HOUSE; WITHOUT A LIGHT." 'In the ."Otago Daily "Times" of 22nd June, 1875, appeared, a letter from • 'Pharos commenting that during a ride down the Peninsula a few days previously, his attention was arrested by. a large white' monument which he considered was erected to the memory of some departed hero, but perched as it was on the out-jutting point of Cape Saunders, it seemed useless to be thore. Captain Tull had, however, enlightened, him that it was Cape Saund-, ers lighthouse—this is the houso without a light. No wonder that tho previous English mail was late when the steamer, in' the . south-west gale and darkness, had run past the Heads so that they did not got the mail until Monday instead of the previous Saturday. Shortly' after this the necessary funds for the light were provided, and tho order for it sent to England. The apparatus, machine, and lamps, were, shipped by the' Timarti, Captain Taylor, in August, 1878, the lantern having beon previously shipped from Glasgow on 12th February, 1878, by the William Davie, under Captain M' Aliater, for Port Chalmers. ■. The lantern was made by James Milne and Son, the machine for driving the light by James Dove and Co., and the optical apparatus by Barbier and Fenestre. With the arrival of the light in the colony it was decided to abandon tho original site on Kaimata Point, and to erect'the light instead on Matakitaki, the site chosen by Captain Johnson, as this site was more dear of fogs. The lease'of the original area was therefore terminated, and the site of the present light was purchased from the same owners. The work of preparation _ of approaches and laying out of sites was commenced in November, 1878, and by the end of 1879 the erection was completed, and the light exhibited on Ist January, 1880. The light is a revolving one of the second order dioptric, attaining its greatest brilliancy once every minute, and is shown from a wooden tower, 28 feet high and 210 feet above sea level. On the completion of the light, the old stone beacon referred to above was pulled down. UNUSUAL ACCIDENT. Tho.first principal keeper at Cape Saunclers was James Nelson. A onetime assistant keeper at Cape Saunders shortly after the erection of the light, recently informed the writer that one day, when pulling down the blinds after extinguishing the light so as to keep tho sun off the lenses, he accidentally pulled the blind roller out of its place and in falling it chipped a. piece out of one of the prisms. For this carelessness he said he was promptly fined £2. However, the gentleman concerned is not aggrieved by the fine, but is able to treat it as a joke . against himself, and being of such a nature, is still hale and hearty, and taking a very keen interest in lighthouses to-day. Though Cape Saunders has & fairly clean record as far as shipping casualties go, it has had.its casualties among the residents of the lighthouse. It is a coincidence that the year 1883 was an unlucky one for this station. After the death of the wife of the principal keeper, there followed a tragic happening in March, when the keepers' children were playing in a cowshed, and a fire broke out, the assistant keeper's little daughter, 2} years of age, and the principal keeper's little son, of 2 years, dying from burns received. Following this it is stated that about _six months later the son of .the incoming principal keeper, a boy ton years of age, .fell over the cliff and broke his wrist, and in the following month the

station horse fell over the cliff and was killed. CASUALTIES OFF THE CAPE. Shipping casualties which have taken place in the vicinity of Cape Sauuders are:— ■ 15th September, IS6B.—The barque Hydra, 585 tons, struck a rock a short distance- off the cape, but eventually reached Otago .Harbour. ..This, rock was afterwards named Hydra Bock. 25th August, 1886.—The ketch Huon Belle was dismasted during a southwesterly gale when off the'cape. 15th October, 1893.—The sis. Star of England, 2424 tons, stranded in foggy weather and like the French barque referred to below, the casualty was attributed to fog and the inse of the current. 3rd November, 1899.—The schooner Wolverine, 42 tons, and a crew of seven is supposed to have capsized with the loss of all hands off Cape Saunders. The vessel left Whangaroa with a load of timber on 21st October, 1899, bound for Bluff. After putting into Afcaroa for fresh provisions and water she was last seen off Cape Saunders on 3rd No-' vember on which day a heavy southwest gale came up. At the time it was considered that the vessel's cargo probably shifted, and she was unable to right herself. On the following 28th December, the s.s. Nairnshire sighted the dere-

lict some distance to the aaitward lying on her port side with both masts standing without spars on them. The hulk was submerged from the bowß to ,the main mast, and the stern stood about 20 feet out of water. ,•■■■■• 17th February, 1907.—The French barque Marguerite Mirabaud, 1731 tons, stranded on Akatore Beach to the south of Cape Saunders, ; and. became a total loss. The vessel ;had been in a fog for some days previously. Old Wrecks. .■•'-., An old resident of Wellington,,Mr.,E.. Hurlstone, aged 80, was formerly employed by Captain Bendall, Lloyd's Surveyor, in salvaging vessels, and the recent articles in these columns _on .wrecks in the vicinity of Cape Palliser and ; between Kapiti Island and Cape Egmbnt attracted his attention, and in response to his inquiries and with the assistance of particulars supplied by him the following additional facts about' wrecks are given,:—' ."-v. Steamer Mohaka, 20 tons, wag stranded at the Waitara River on 7th October, 1890, and at Awakino oh 17th February, 1894. There is no record of her being stranded elsewhere. . Schooner Forest Queen, 60 torn, was not wrecked when tendering the wreck of the Hydrabad, as is believed generally.' There were casualties to this vessel at Inner Rock, near Jackson's Head, on 7th May, 1880, at Waitara on liti* August, 1880, and at Great Barrier on 23rd January, 1883. She was stranded at Horowhenua on 14th January, 1879, when a life was lost from her. Barque Weattiersneld, 1047 tons, was stranded one mile south of the Ohau Eiver on Bth April, 1888. Ketch Recamia, 69 tons, was stranded one mile insido the Manawatu River on 10th September, 1882., Kate Moynahan, 102 tons, became a total loss on, the North Spit of the Manawatu River on 2nd January, 1876. Poneke, 80 tons, left Onehunga for Picton on 11th June, 1880, and was last seen off Grey mouth. Sho is supposed to have been lost with all hands (6). Hannah Barratt, 07 tons, is supposed to have capsized off Terawhiti with the loss of all hands on 2nd April, 1885. Ship Zuleika, 1017 tons,-was a total loss in-Palliser Bay on 16th April, 1897, and twelve, lives were lost. Addenda, 637 tons, American barquentine, was a partial loss two miles west of Lake Wairarapa, Palliser Bay, on 14th October, 1904. Ketch Emerald, 40 tons, was a tptal loss near Turakira Head, Palliser Bay, on 13th March, 1883. . Schooner Golden Isle, .78 tons, was stranded1- close to Ferry Head, Palliser Bay, on 7th November, 1884. Mr. Hurlstone remembers the Golden Is=lo as being the only sailing ship that was ever taken off the Jl beach after being stranded in Palliser Bay, and it was due to his efforts that the Golden Isle was refloated. While on Kapiti Island Mr.\ Hurlstone had the experience of seeing the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's ship Zealandia pass between the island and the shore, the helmsman evidently, mistaking ' Kapiti for Stephen's Island. As soon as those on board realised their mistake the ship was turned for the open isea, and it was fortunate that the wind was favourable, otherwise the ship might have gone ashore. The Holmwood's History. A correspondent, (E. H. Spiers) has requested details of the history of the coal hulk Holm wood, owned, by Holm and Co., and so far as the hulk's connection with Now Zealand is concerned the story is• as follows:—Under the name of Forest Home, the vessel, a four-masted schooner of 773 tons, arrived at Wellington in 1923 with a cargo of timber from America.. Part of the cargo was discharged here, and tho schooner then proceeded to Wanganui to complete discharge. It was at Wanganui that trouble between the crew and the owners arose, and it transpired that the freight on the cargo had been pro-paid and that the owners either would not or could not pay the crew's wages. The men consequently left the ship and appealed to the American Consul to have the vessel sold to settle their claims. In the meantime the ship' was lying at the Castlecliffe Wharf, with the cook as caretaker. Eventually he was also compelled to leave, as he could obtain no further credit for supplies of provisions from the local tradespeople. The. Wanganui Harbour Board ' then entered the argument with a claim for harbour dues, and the outcome was that the schooner was sold. to Messrs. Holm and Co. in October, 1923. Her name was changed to Holmwood, and she was placed in the Newcastle coal trade, her discharge- ports being Wellington, Wanganui, and New Plymouth. Under American articles she was manned by nine mon, but the New Zealand regulations required her personnel to be inoreased to 15. During the three years she was in the service she>wa« under

the command first of Captain Taylor, then of Captain S. Holm for one trip, and finally Captain 0; Stannish. It was eventually found that the coat of running the schooner was too great, and in 1927 she was stripped. of her yards arid relegated to her "present duties as a,coal hulk. Mishap to Golden Cloud. The American steamer Golden Cloud, which arrived at Auckland ftom Los Augelea recently, lost her propeller, in the Pacific when she was returning to America from New Zealand and; Aus ? tralia last voyage. The accident occurred at 1.30 a.m. on 13th July, states the "Herald," when the vessel was 230 miles south-west of Honolulu. The misv hap was caused owing to the'tail-shaft breaking close outside the stern tube the propeller and the end of the tailshaft dropping off. No other damage was done. The weather was fine at the time, and in response to a wireless : message the American naval minesweeper

Sunnadin was dispatched from Honolulu to tow the disabled vessel to port. The minesweeper reached the Golden Cloud at midday on 14th July, after the disabled vessel had been drifting j at the rate of one knot an hour for 34: hours, and no; difficulty was experierieed in commencing the tow. A speed of 6J knots was averaged by the minesweeper during the tow to Honolulu; which was reached at 10 a.m. on 16th July. The Golden Cloud did not have a spare propeller on board, so a new one.was »ent from San Francisco.to Honolulu, and after repairs had been effected the j steamer resumed her voyage to San Francisco. A cargo of 2670 tons of sugar was rocently discharged in the ' London Docks from the'b.s. Blair Atholl in one working day of seven hours, one gang .alone dealing with 600 tons. It is understood that both sets of figures constitute world's records. •.. • ' >