STORM IN AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 43, 24 April 1862, Page 3

STORM IN AUCKLAND.

The storm of Monday night last was most disastrous to the shippiugin this port. We estimated the total damage, in our second edition of Tuesday, at £IO,OOO ; and since then, from what we can learn, this eslimate does not appear wide of tlie mark. Some experienced men put it at £7,000, others at £B,OOO, but in these estimates no allowance has been made for interest on capital invested, and withdrawn from business entirely, nor for interest on the sum necessarily locked up in the cost of repairs and outfit. However, whichever figure be the accurate one, the loss to the shipowners of this city has been great, and will be the more keenly felt because principally distributed among the owners of the small coasting vessels, so valuable in the carrying trade of the province. On Sunday night the glass began fulling, and there were atmospheric phenomena sufficient to indicate a coming storm. The wind which was from eastward, blew pretty fresh all Sunday night, and Monday it freshened, accompanied by heavy rain. Towards evening the wind had increased to a gale, and between eight and nine o’clock it blew j'-om the E.N.E. with great fury. The rain foil in torrents, and the waves of the Waitomata swept over (he Queen-street TV narf in many places. Fortunately it was not spring tides, or the consequences would have been still more disastrous. On Tuesday morning the wharf presented a distressing sight. The wind sl ;n blew fresh, veering round by the west; hut flic sea had in a great measure subsided. On the Weather side the wrecks of vessels chafed the piles, wlnle spars and cordage littered the top of the wharf. Wc made a note of the vessels, as they were then seen, which we annex. The barque Kale, which was monred along the out-side of the end T, parted her moorings during the gale, and swung round, coming into collision with the ship City of Manchester. The Kale did considerable injury to her stem and bulwarks, and chafed her side against the piers ; she lost her jibboom and topgallant mast in collision with the ship. The eflcct of this collision was to cut the moorings of the City of Manchester, which broke adrift, snapping her chain cable, and dropping astern nearly to the Dolphin. Fortunately she did not strike the Dolphin, or she would have stove in her stern and must have filled and sunk. The City of Manchester has sustained damage on her starboard bow, and her side lias also been chafed against the wharf. Although apparently the least injured, the damage done is estimated at about £2OO. The pier to which the Kate was moored when she broke adrift, gave way. Inside the same T, at which the Kale lay, the little steamer Phoenix was moored, stem on" to the sea, and about nine, she swung round, bringing her bows into violent collision with the schooner 77siula, and in a short time afterwards was broken up and sunk. Xhcro was hardly a res tage of the steamer above water at 8 o’clock next morning; and so rapid was the destruction that very few articles were saved. The master lost nearly all Ins nautical instruments and hi? charts, together

with the greater portion of his cloibing; the engineer also lost his instruments and clothing ; and indeed, hut very littlo was saved by any person on board. r Jho schooner Vis( la, moored alongside the wharf was considerably ■shaken and chafed, besides the damage done by* the collision. J.ho Rose schoooner, next protented herself to our observation, Her upper works wore cut down to the [water’s edge ; her stern 'was torn out, and portions of her timbers were washed awav. The bowsprit and boom were also gone. The new schooner Fawn, built at Coromandel, bv Mr. Anderson, was hauled out from the wharf when we saw (her. She has been cut up considerably by collision, first with the cutter Wanderer, which fouled hyr and cut her adrift, and afterwards with the whaif Her stern has suffered the most. Close to the whan, ha I *’ way between the centre and outer landing-places, lay the favorite Coromandel cutter Ressi/. The water was making a breach over her and among her cargo ; the stern was gone, together with the boom and bowsprit, and she was a 1! but cut down to the water’s edge from the bumping against the piers. On the upper (or lee) side ol the wha; f the schooner Sen Breeze came into collision with the brig Sporting Lnss during the mght, and carried away the brig’s bowsprit. The Sen Breeze lias likewise been damaged. The clipper schooner Zillah was moored at some distance from the wharf when the gale set in, and she parted one chain when her anchor came home, s nd she went broad side on the wharf the chafing ’against which has shaken and cut her up very much. In his endeavours to save the Zillah ''ora total destruction, Captain Sellers of the Ma. well neariy lost his life. He was pitched overboard and got entangled in the tackle thrown out to him, and it was not before twenty minutes had elapsed that Captain Wiliams, chief hoarding officer of Customs, assisted by Sergeant-Maior Sims, and Constable Foster of the police, succeeded in rescuing him, The stern of the schooner Industry, ft mg near the Zdlah, has been stove in. She was in co’bsion with some other vessel. Comm.? to Ihc Huddle T, the were cairicd away, and the wrecks of seven,i vessels were strewn about. The schooner Township of Tuuranga (a Maori craft) lay under water, almost entirely broken up. She was laden with car<m. The .enttorg^ Laurie, with the loss of sternpiece, bowsprit, and boom, and showing simis of damage to her sides, lay on the top of the °wreck of the Township of Taurcnga, and of the Clyde cnttci, which w as also a total wreck. £Thc schooner Rose Anne lay a complete wreck. She had a valuable cargo on hoard, which has been almost entirely lost. The New Zealander estimates it at ,£2,000 but £I,OOO, would be nearer the mark. She lay on hornbeam ends, but the spars were standing The Wanderer cuitcr, a well-known Coromandel trader, was lying in the corner of the T, her bulwarks cut dowand with the loss of her spars. We have been informed that the Wanderer broke adrift during the gale, and fouled another vessel. The extra strain caused her to part her moorings, and coming into collision with another, the Wan’ dere.r, Ch/de, Township of Tauranga, and Fawn, drifted against the wharf at this point, whore they wore a’ 1 but pounded to pieces by the action of the water against the piers. In the" same group lay the Teazer cargo boat, belonging to Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane, partly under water and partly resting on the wreck‘d of the Clyde. She is also injured. Inside this T, the schooner Canlerhvry was moored, and bears evidence of her proximity to the whaif, in the battered state of her hu’l, as she lay out in the anchorage on Tuesday. The schooner Ellipse which had been anchored astern of flic Canlerlmri /, bow on to the storm, was sunk. The spars and rigging were standing, but the water got into her hold. She was laden. We did not learn (he extent of her damage ; but she seemed to have bumped a hole in her bottom, [and then settled down. The schooner John lay close against the wharf and Custom House-street, "with the loss of bowsprit and rudder, and her timbers chafed and strained. Beside her lay the cutter Asp. the property of the Bishop of Melanesia, denuded of spars_ and gear. She was in collision with the John. No i-'ves have been lost, although it was reported and bc i: cvcd that two men of 11.M.5. Harrier , 17 guns, had been drow .red. Two boats belonging to the Harrier drifted, and broke against the wharf. The Harr! r dragged during the gale, and came close by the Mi > ion, hulk, when steam was got up,'and she was brought up to her anchorage again l We understand she dragged a second time for sonic distance. This wi l ! give an idea of the strength of the gale. The American whaler Allans Adams, lay'msidc the NOl ih Head during the gale ; she dragged a short distance. The Success, schooner from Otago with passengers, rode out the gale all night under shelter inside Rangitoto reef; she arrived at her anchorage above the wharf about 8 o’clock on Tuesday Morning.' The wharf has sustained considerable damage. A number of the have been broken, and they appear to be rotten move or less. The landing sta"’s at the outer and middle T’s have been carried away, f A [survey [ought [to be made of the wharf to a ascertain the exact condition of the under timbers, fae'h’tics for which the unhappy casualties of Monday night render easy. Meanwhile, we protest against expending any more money in an extension of this structure, uifi’l a breakwater has been erected to shelter the senator craft. At present owing to the physical characteristics of our harbour, the whaif run out across the tide, without a breakwater seaward, is simply a structure for wrecking small craft driving before the wind, as is evidenced by the resuft of Monday night’s storm. But we wi l * retv’m to this subject in a future issue. The action of the water on Custom House-street has been to increase the breach, which the gale of the 41 h March last opened. In addition to this, the wooden sea-wall is in a critical state. Nearly all the bottom ties are started ; some of tha hoards arc loosened ; and the irregularities on the top show that but little is needed to bring it don .1 entirely. Tins storm was accompanied by lightning, but no thunder, a characteristic of the cyclones. It was pitchy d rk ; and the scene of the wha f cannot bo doscL'fted. Inc huge structure strained

ami groaned ; the -waves and spray dashed over it and spars pnd cordage were lulling pretty thick as the vessels went to pieces, or crashed against the piers. But few persons were tliorc, and those who were on the wharf remained at the risk of their lives to assist In saving property. On Wednesday the glass continued to fall as the wind veered round to the west, from which quarter it blew a stiff gale for several hours. It moderated during the night. Rain fell heavily Yesterday the weather had moderated, and the sun was bright and warm in the evening. We should mention that there were four vessels in Mechanics’ Bay, driven on the sands, and these fared bettor than if they had drifted against the wharf. The large ships at anchor in the roadstead weathered the gale without difficulty.—Southern Cross, April 11.