STORMS AND SHIPWRECKS ON THE EAST COAST.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 326, 15 February 1868, Page 2

STORMS AND SHIPWRECKS ON THE EAST COAST.

WRECK OF THE STAR OF TASMANIA. AND LOSS OF UFE, (Condensed i^orn the Oaincmt Times.) On Monday last, 3rd inst, it came on to. blow heavily from the E.S.E., an,d the sea rapidly rising, it was soon evident that the roadstead was becoming unsafe. The vessels in the roadstead were signalled to start to sea. The Star; of Tasmania^ with 2095 bales of wool on board, was at. the time riding by her own chain attached,, to the swivel of the Government moor^ ings. This suddenly parted, and she then drifted some 400 or 500 yards. The star^ board anchor wa,s then let go, and thet vessel brought up, but the cable parted and she game ashore on the ghingle beach,, and the masts fell over into the sea. Sha now began rapidly to break up, and hercrew and passengers crawled to the starboard bow, where, to the number of some twenty souls, they were s.gen clinging to a rope, Among them was a lady passenger, a Mrs Baker, supported by Capt. Qulberfc, This lady had two little boys, one aged three and the other Jive year^, on hoard witJi her, who were just previously to this time washed out of tlie forecastle, fa which they had been carried by Mr. Culbert, as the safest spot in whicA. Jhey could be placed, and drowned ; Mrs^algerherself having a very narrow escape. Cap--tain Culbert, tuo, who was upon the ves-* sel's poop at the time she commenced to. break up, had only juat time to clamber forward ere the after part of the vessel was; carried away. The ..position of the crew,was an exceedingly perilous one, the sea. making every now and then clean breaches, over them, carrying with \t spars and timber, portions, of which atruck*.some ef* them very heavily, seriously injuring the-, mate and Ca.p.t. Culbert. Several attempts were made to heave a life-line to the ship,, but they were all frustrated by, the force-. of the wind, ■which prevented the rope; from reaching it ; weighted lines were then, tried with the same result, and all thetime there was no greater space than 30---or 40 yards between the ship and the. shore. Mr Stevens, the mate of the. vessel, was then observed to jnmpLintb the, water, and was seen battling manfully' with the surf.. As. a. wave receded he was. seen on his. hands and knees about mid-, way between the ship and terja. firma.. Auother wave was just rearing its huge front, bristling with hundreds of pieces" of timber, and must soon have swept the. poor fellow away, when, just at the critical moment, several bystanders rushed in^ and seizing him dragged him ashore, barely in time to prevent the loss of their; own lives. Ringing cheers rent the air> when it was found that one of- the, ship-, wrecked men had been saved from destruction. But Mr Stevens seemed' to, have no thought of his own life,; his first, words being, as he felt the grasp of; friendly hands, " The l,ine A the line ! £ye lost the line." It appeared that he had jumped into the sea holding the end of a, line, which he was endeavoring to bring ashore, but which in the effort ta save; himself he had let go. Seeing that the^ mate had safely got ashore, two. cither, men^ one after the other, jumped into the.sea, despite the. shouts of the bystanders, to remain whom they were till a line, could be got to them. Much anxiety was. felt as they were,, seen; smuggling in^ the surf, lest they should be sucked under the; bows by the after-sough and carried out, to sea. However, they were each saved, by persons rushing into the water, ofr, an imminent peril to their own safety, and dragged, ashore. A fourth now leaped;, into the water, but he unfortunately chose, a very inopportune moment, and wasi almost immediately, though a good, swimmer and- seen to Tbattle hard for life,, carried under the bow and forty or fifty' feet further out. H.e was a splendid; swimmer^ and stnjck put boldly, but was; tossed about upon the breakers, rising now to the top and no-w almost overwhelmed by the immense masses of water,, and it was soon seen that every wave was; carrying him further, and f urtheaf out ; at. last he disappeared from view, either exhausted by his efforts or, perhaps, stunned; by some of the. floating masses of timberby which he was surrounded. A fifth, man then dropped hansel? into the sea h and he also was carried towards the bow. Here he was washed up against a bale off wool, to which he was. seen to cling, and with which he was rapidly carried out.. It then became evident that it w ; as far, safer for the remaining survivors .to. con--tinue where they were than, to attempt ta swim ashore, and a. hundred voices were, raised to entreat theni to do so. "Whetherthe warning was heard, or whether-the fate, of the last two showed them the hope-. ( les.snes.s of making a singular attempt, fortunately no more left tne wreck.. At this time a boatman named Mackenzie we.nb into the surf with a line round hia waist, and endeavored to. throw .another,to the "vessel, and though many times, carried off his feet and several times, | dragged ashore half drowned, he persisted 1 in Kis noble endeavor lime after time until exhausted, but without success Darkness was i«.ow setting in, and Mr John,

Hardy wont into town for the purpose of procuring materials to make a tire on the beach, and soon afterwards returned, with Messrs Fotheringham and J. T. Anderson, bringing bundles of oakum and a quantity of turpentine. Willing hands soon collected heaps of timber, and in a few minutes the whole beach was lit up by the glare of air immenee bonfire. Sergeant Bullen, of the police, then made a fresh effort to cany a line to the crew ; venturing boldly into the surf with a line fastened round his waist, and with another, which was made fast by one end on shore, and weighted at the other, he several times attempted to throw it on board. Once he succeeded so far that the weight fell right in the midst of the shipwrecked men, but in the fitful light they did not see it till too late, and it fell into the sea. The Sergeant was now washed off his feet, and was towed ashore, being very nearly drowned, while doing so. There w^s not a rocket procurable in town, and it now became evident that a line must be taken aboard or the rest of the crew must perish Hours had now elapsed, and every effort hitherto had been fruitless, The tide was now ebbinf , though little difference could be seen in the stare of the sea, and Geo. Mackenzie again attempted to throw a line aboard, and, with a line about his waist and the other in his hand, ho advanced into the breakers and time after time essayed to throw the rope over the vessel. Ho was for a long time unable to do so, but at last^about half-past ten o'clock— the yope was seen to fall among the crew, and to be safely grasped, and a cheer rent the air as hope began to appear of the ultimate rescue of them all The line having been made fast to the vessel, a man named Duncan Young, in the employ of the Boating Company, clambered aboard amid renewed cheering, and sent the crew one by one down the life-line. Mr Stevens, the mate, also returned to the vesse', and brought a young.lad named M'Lean, who was aboard, and whose parents reside in Oamaru, safely ashore on his shoulders. He then returned for Mrs Baker, who was still firmly held in the grasp of Capt. Culbert, and with the assistance of Young, succeeded in getting her upon his back. He then commenced descending the lifeline with his burden, butjust as he reached the water an immense wave dashed over the vessel and hid them for a moment from view. As the wave retired Stevens was seen hanging to the rope with Mrs Baker still clinging to him. Again a wave submerged them, and it was feared that they must both be carriedj .way, but on its subsidence they were found to be still safe, and in a few moments Stevens had got near euoughto grasp the helping hands held out to him, and the lady and her preserver were brought safely ashore amid loud cheers. The first words uttered by the brave woman on landing were, " Never mind me, save the poor dear Captain." There now remained upon the vessel two sailors, Captain Culbert, and Duncan Young. One by one the sailors got safely ashore, and now Captain Culbert prepare Ito descend. In a few moments he was also safe, and the bold man to whom the survivors owed their lives was seen standing alone upon the wreck of the Star. Watching his opportunity, he ran to the waist of the ship, jumped upon a portion of the mast which was wedged upon her keel, and plunging ashore just as a wave had retired, came ashore amid cheering again and again renewed. The following was the number of persons on board the Star at the time of the wreck : — Three officers, ten A.B.s, one ordinary seaman, the cook, carpenter, .boatswain, and steward,. Mrs Baker and two children, and Master M'Lean, in all twenty-two souk, of whom eighteen were payed ; those lost being Mrs Baker's two children and two sailors, viz., David Petrie, of Arbroath, Scotland, and WilJiam Brooks, of London. The vessel and cargo were nearly covered by insurance.