Untitled

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 143, 11 December 1866, Page 2

* AYe fire glad to state that tenders have . fojen accepted for effecting the nccecsuy repairs to the steam-tvg Despatch, and that it is expected the stdamer Trill, be ready for •\v>rk again in a week or ten days.' ■• .: The s.s. Kennedy, Captain Carey, left Nelson on the"'3rd i inst«ant, called at the Bulkier and Fox's to land cargo And passengers on - her way down," and arriyfed at Hokitika on Thursday morning. ' Left' Hokitika on ¥xiday evening arid entered the Grey cm Saturday morning. Left the same evening with upwards of 100 passengers for Fox's Riycr, which she reached at about 2 a. m; on bunday. ■ Landed cargo ' and passengers at 10 ii'dock, and returned to the Grey in the afternoon, arriving off the bar 1 at "about 6 o'clock. She loft again with a considerable number of passengers for Fox's River and Hs jj3-.ill«; last night. ; . '■[' . : -' ."

Melancholy Boat Accident at Hoki- , tika — Loss of , Two Lives. — The following, taken from tMitWeml Coast Time?, arc the particulars of the fatal boat' accident which occurred during the attempt to get the steam- : tug Dispatch off the spit at Hokitika on Friday last :— A'.t about JO o'clock the steam- 1 tug Challenge proceeded down the river to make another attempt to drag the Dispatch off the bank.' The raiirthat fell diiri ng the previous night had very much increased the volume of the raver,' which discharged a strong' freshejb .through botli channels, and over .the middle bank. The surf wits also Eoraewhfljb heavy, rn-l at times rushed fu- • nously piist the stranded vessel," sending every now and then ugly rollers into the river. The occasion .was certainly not one When jih'e services of a' whale-boat could be vied with safety ; but nevertheless the har-bor-boat was in attendance, and when the Challenge backed into the eddy caused by a bight, or rather pjiallow gutway, that intersects the tail of "the 'spit, she attempted to run a line from the -Dispatch to her. The boat, howdvejiV was caught by the current, an d tiie'iiigli.t of the line acting as a drag upon licr, but slow headway was. made, and j't was'yery evident that her position was one' of some danger, She was manned by a evew of five men whose names were Samuel M'Carthy (coxswain), J. Rodgers,' C. M 'Cloud, Mm. Martin, and John Agnew. Observing the impending peril, the Challenge backed her engines and neared'the boat sufficiently to heave a ling on board, and then turned slowly ahead to regain the eddy, But the strain b7,"oji«ht to bear upon the slight heaving line by the weight ' of the boat was nior'e than it was capablp of resisting, for the Challenge had hardly made two 'revolutions wijbh'her eiigines when tjie hemp snapped like ' packthread, and the boat was instantly whirled away by the current towards the surf. M 'Cloud, who pulled the after oar, at once cast adrift the line that should have connected the two steamers, and then out oars Mas the word, and desperate efforts were made to regain the Challenge. But by this time the boat had been drawn to within dangerous proximity of the line of surf, and although "she was magnificently nia ; iiagcd by "i&ijil?" the coxswain, who for a minute or two kept her fairly e/.id on to the sea, she at last took a slight shßer, and being struck at that moment by a heavy sea, turned 1 Completely dver, ''precipitating her crew into the surf ; and so sudden was the shock of her broaching to that the coxswain was jerked by the steer oar some distance from the boat. Opinions are divided upon what followed. Some eye-witnesses of the scene £ha.t all of the crew regained the boat and clung to hot; bottom, whilst others say that only four of them succeeded in so diiiiigi It is, however, certain that the boat was swept with fearful rapidity towards the ggiiddlc bank, and two of the men, na:ned John Agucw anil William Martin were drowned. The survivors state that they were several times washed from their frail ■hold, and as often succeeded in regaining it ; but'at hyst 1 became s.q oxhr.ustcd that they gave themselves up foi lost, feeling confident that they would be unable to withstand another sea. Their only hope lay in the Challenge, which they gazed at with eager eyes, and hailed her in piteous tones to come to their assistance. There was no occasion for this appeal, as directly Captain Wilson saw tlie boait capsized he pushed to her assistance—at no slight risk to his own vessel ; and' the manner in which he handled the Challenge yesterday, when in a position of unusual difficulty, won him the admiration of all beholders "By cleverly steering and working the disconnected engines he succeeded in bringing the boat close under the tug's port bow, and the lines being cast were seized by the three men whe were safely' hauled on board, although nearly at the last i gasp!' ' Martin's body was picked up on ■Sunday afternoon oppositethe Totara Lagoon I ALTEKATroNs.iN* Stkamehs. — The Panama Company's steamer Tararua, which should have arrived here to-day from Melbourne, has been taken oft' the line, for the purpose of conveying the Australian mail from Sydney to Wellington, for transmission to Panama by the Rakia, in consequence! of the Mataura requiring repairs to her machinery, and not being ready fo^r the voyage. On the arrival of the Rakaia at Wellington, on the 23rd ultimo, the Panama mail was forwarded to Sydney by the Phoebe, to give the Rrkaia time to overhaul and get ready for the next voyage, leaving Wellington on the Bth. The Ph 6?be lvad to go on the slip in Sydney. — Nelson Examiner. Dec. 4.