THE DISASTERS AT NEWCASTLE.

Grey River Argus, Issue 85, 28 July 1866, Page 3

THE DISASTERS AT NEWCASTLE.

(From the Sydney Empire.) * ■ The arrival of the Morpeth steamer, yesterday, putus in possession of full particulars of the melancholy disaster which took place there in connection with the late storm. The Newcastle papers are. in mourning in consequence of the fearful loss of life "recorded in their columns. The "Standard" says : — The fearful disasters that have befalleru the shipping on tin's coast within the short srwee of twenty-four hours are the one subject which absorbs the attention" of every inhabitant of .Newcastle — the one topic of conversation among them all. Between the" hours of two in the afternoon of Thursday ancl the same, hours on Friday no lcau-vhan five vessels' were wrecked ■within sight of Newcastle, and more than a hundred sotils suddenly called to their eternal, account, besides many minor casualties which are now sc-ireely thought, of, but at any other time would occupy a considerable, share of public attention. Tha singularly beautiful weather we have so long onjoyed changed on Wednesday ; ancl tho sky. that for weeks had been almost cloudless became overcast. Towards the afternoon slight showers of rain fall at intervals, and a3 night closed came down . heavily. About nine Cclock at night it. rained in torrents, and continued' with scarcely an intermission the whole night. The wind in the meantime had changed from west to about east south east, and increased .during the night to a gale, bringing up atroincndous sea, wliich broke with irresistible forco upon tho coast. The' reaf outside Nobby's was one sheet of foam ; and a heavy surf rolled into the Oyster Bank, one of the most dangerous bights known to the navigator on -any coast. About eight o'clock in the morning of Tuesday, the' keloh Frince Patrick worked into the harbor beautifully, but the gale had not attained that terrific force it reached at nuon and at a later hour of the day. Contrary to expectation Capt. Adams, of the Cooi2ambarra, resolved to leave for Sydney, and sailed about 11 o'clock. On reaching the breakers at the entrance of the harbor' a sea struck the vessel on the starboard bow and seemed to spin her round liko a top, but she righted immediately and recovered her course, leaving the harbor without further impediment to her progress, but witli a frightful sea and a terrific south-easterly gale to encounter on her pasgage to Sydney. 'No telegram had reached Newcastle up to last night of her safe arrival in Sydney, but it is hoped that she .put in for shelter to Broken Bay. Shortly before noon a brig was signalled from the' light-house, which, upon Hearing the harbor, was discovered to bo the Victory. The rain was coming down in torrents at the time ; but the interest excited by the brig's approach to the port, and a fear that she might not enter it in safoty, were so great that large numbers of persons crowded to the wharf and on aboard the shipping anxiously watching' the result. For some time she appeared, as seen from" the shore, to be in most imminent danger, but was evidently handled with consummate skill. Just as she had arrived at that point when the least thing might have caused her inevitable loss J a squall of rauf came on, which not only totally obscured her from view, but rendered the vessels in the harbor almost invisible. " When it cleared off, the gallant craft was safe inside, and came to anchor off the North Shore, near, Scott's patent slip. Up to this time in the clay the two vessels that entered the harbor had triumphed over all danger and found security ; but a catastrophe was impending, which, with the exception of the loss of the Dunbar, has not only cast a gloom over the whole of the citj r , but completely paralysed all branches of trade. Nothing is though of or spoken of but the event, which will henceforth stamp the 12th of July, 1860, with such melancholy celebrity in the history of Newcastle. The Cawarra, almost a new boat, of. 500 tons, belonging to the A.S.N. Company, left Sydney at 5 p.m. on . Wednesday, with a full cargo and a large number of passengers. She was signalled between 12 and ■1 p.m. on Shursday, well away to the eastward, and steering for the port, when Mr Jesse Hannell, superintendent of the Hghthouse, spoke her ; showed a signal of " bar dangerous ;" ancl warned her not to try and enter the harbor. She, however, made the attempt, but instead of pxitting all steam oil which' she should have done, her engines were stopped, ancl when near Nobby's a heavy sea struck her on the port quarter and- sent her nose towards Nobby's, leavinp. her right across the entrance of the "harbor. Her stayforesail, which appeared to have beeiv unshackled before, was set, and she then went astern some distance towards the Oyster ~Bank,~ close to the mast of the Eleanor Lancaster, where she remained- a Ml quarter. of an hour, as if she were at anchor, the sea going completely over her all the time. The forctrysail was tl\en set, and ohe" forged ahead, apparently coming out of all danger, when she was suddenly struck by a heavy sea, and she settled down forward; hsr head then turned to, the eastward, the seas then went right over her, and at length an immense wav,e struck her on the quarter, turned her head to the northward, and she began to settle down. It is thought that at tin's moment the fires in the, engine-room were extinguisned, as ini.niediately the last wave struck her a jet of steam was observed to rush from her steam pipe." Immediately afterwards the sea struck her again, and carried away the funnel. ' At this time people could be distinctly seen grouped together on the poop, and the rigging, particularly on -the mainmast, was also crowded with people. Successive seas continued to break over her, and the mainmast soon went by the board, carrying with' it those who were clinging to the yards and rigging, and others were washecl off the poop. The ship had now become a total wreck 1 , and sea after sea struck her, each succeeding one carrying off some of the unfortunates, who, it appeared, still held on with desperate tenacity; until entirely exhausted. The only one at length visible was a man in the foretop, who signalled in vain for assistance to the crew of the lifeboat. Twice was the mast swept by the waves, and still he held on ; but as he was in the act of waving something he had in his hand as a signal for the third time, a monstrous wave engulphed him, and lie was seen no. more. Soon after this the vessel appeared to part in the middle, the foremast went down Avith the fore" part, and within >an hour after she became disabled not a vestige of her was to be seen. As soon as her position became known, the town almost emptied itself tq see the result, but with-*

out tli3 smailast possibility of being able to render the least assistance - towards saving anyone on board. Although the sea was breaking' heavily over the breakwater, it was completely 'thronged with people in its whole length, exposed to the, drenching rain, and the -waves, which threw their spraj r over them every second, and the new- embankment wharf, and the 'ducks and rigging of 'tho vesselas at' the wharf, and moored in the harbor, were croAvcled with citizens or seamen. Yviien the position of the vessel became dangerous, a universal oey arose of. "Where, is tho lifeboat. '«'" P>\it no. lifeboat was visible, nor were any preparations made for launching 'her. Tho flag for the lifeboat to go out was hoisted at the lighthouse as soon as the Cawarra got into difficulties, but no sign of any lifeboat was to be seen, nor wis she launched until she was not likely to be of any assistance: An intense feeling of indignation pervades the public mind that the "means specially, intended for saving Iranian life in case of shipwreck should not be available at a tiaie of tho most pressing necessity, when the lives of -a hundred fellow creatures were dependent entirely upon the services of the lifeboat, which never went near them until it was too late to be of any use, and for all the good it did it iftitrht as well -have been in a glass case. It is impossible to conceive that men would deliberately stand and see tiioir fellow creatures perish, but that there hss been tho most culpable neglect somewhere in the management of the lifeboat, either individually or by the fault of the system by which it is managed, cannot be doubted. In a matter of such gravity it would be higlily unbecoming to express an opinion reflecting upon any, but we would siiggest the imperative necessity of instituting a most strict and searching inquiry into, all the circumstances connected with the non-appear-ance of the lifeboat a.t a scene where her services -might have been instrumental in saving the lives of so many human beings. The lifeboats octlie Chatswovth and Maggie Van Hugg, and from other vessels were out long befor f e there was any apr earance of our public' costly apparatus being put in motion, ancl they ventured as near the wreck as it was possible for them. Great credit is due to the crews of these boats for volunteering in so dangeroiiß a service, and tlie greater shame lie^s at the door pi those who had tlie direction of the lifeboat. The lion or of faying the life of the only survivor of the passengers and crew of the Cawarra -is due to Mr Harry Han-nell,-son of Mr Jesse Hannell, Mr.H. Johnson,, firs* ?.'?ktliouso 'keeper, -and a fisherman, who went out hi a dingy, and seeing Hedges floating near the red buoy, Mr Hannell got him into the boat in a state of great exhaustion. It is worthy of remark that Mr Johnson is the sole survivor of the I v Vbar, and in some sort hi b clone all in his power to save the life of another placed in similar circumstances. He was conducted to the pilot station, where he was attended tQ with the greatest •oarc; and,- after being rubbed with flannel, and hot bricks applied to his feet, and covered with blankets, he was at. length, brought round, and Mr H. Rouse and Mr Taylor very kindly- sent some brandy for his use. After stopping at the pilot station until he was able to bear removal, ho was taken to tlie Great Northern Hotel, where 119 received, every attention ; anil Mr Gardner being made /acquainted with his arrival, presented' him' with outfit. He had all that tie required supplied to him by Mr and Mrs Winch, and after a night's rest felt quite restored, with the exception of stiffness of the joints and soreness from being so long exposed to the mercy of the waves. - .