THE OLD TORGAUTEN

Hokitika Guardian, 2 March 1926, Page 1

THE OLD TORGAUTEN

SINKS AT SEA. NOW NAMED KAItU. uY TEI.ECIiAI-U—PRESS! .V33N., OOPitUIIIIT, AUCKLAND, March I A v. reel; resulting in the loss of at I least two lives is reported from Tepaki .Station, a few miles from Capo Maria Van Dieinaii. The schooner-rigged - learner, Kuril, a vessel of 207 tons register, foundered after springing a leak. So suddenly did she sink that there was only time to launch one boat, and it was smashed in the breakers, and the bodies of two men who were in this boat were seen lying on the beach.' The other members of the crew dived overboard from the sinking steamer, but so far as is known, only one of them succeed,oil in reaching Die beach, and it was b,v him that the story of the tragedy was borne to Tepaki Station. The Kara left AVliangapo on Saturday, with a cargo of timber for Sydney. All then seemed well with th,:’ ship, hut when she was a few hours out, the little vessel encountered very heavy seas, and she was straimed badly. Finding that the Kara was leaking badly, her commander. Captain W. Richmond, decided to run t,, the shelter of Cape Maria. Van Dieman. and. if possible, to beach his -vessel in calm water. When approaching the land, however. Hie leaking, vessel begun rapidly to settle down, and when it: was seen that she was unlikely to reach Ilie bench, orders were given to lower the boats. So quickly did the Kara submerge- that only one boat had boon lowered when she bonan to disappear beneath th? surface. Eight men were in the boat- that had been launched, and they began to pull for shore. The beach was not far distant, and the four remaining men decided to take the desperate chance of trying to swim for the beach. Leaping from the side of the sinking ship. I struck out shorewnrds, just as she went down.

Only one man landed as far as is j known, lie made his way inland, and managed to struggle as far as Tepaki Station in an exhausted condition. There he reported the foundering of Ids ship. Tic had seen no more of the i men v. lm had struck nut for the shore ! v-ith him, but be 1 1 :icl ticca horrified | on gaining Dm beach, to sec two bodies lying there .while Die boat- which had lei i- the steamier was smashed. ,\I- , though he niet no other members of j i Die crew, the man who swam ashore , saw footprints on the sand, and he . came to the conclusion that others be;l sides himself had made tile shore alive, lie followed the footprints for a while, hut. not finding any further sign of his shipmates, he made what hade he could to Tepaki Siuiion. the la Lest report from the North

j -dates Dial a party has been organised I an I it is searching the shore for furi 1 her survivor-. The .rev. as it was j -ign-.d mi when Die vessel left Auckland was as follows:J . I! ichmoud. (.'aptain. j J. Keith, Male, i A. C, Dunk!,',". -V end Alute. I D. !•’. Nelson. Engineer. ! O. \ arj<<\,-n, Leading Seaman. I!. !tavensford. A.B. AY. R. McLaren, A.B. | D. B. Cochrane, Seaman, J. T. Kyle, Fireman. F. Saunders, Fireman. 11. llutl'ord. Cook. T. Ila'liday signed on as an A. 8.. hnl lie :--li Dm vessel snmewh-'i'e lip Dm . oa-t. and is at pre-nil ill Auckland. U was -late.! Dial Dm ercu would ■have I ecu augmented on J- trip from >.imklan,l, so that the irnv hands are vei knovii. Dipt. R iehmoii.l. Die M;,-i,-r of iho F: I’ll. «u- i-11 several years '-'-ill, Caplain Watehliu a- an of!i.-er on Die Louis Ih, 'l'iault. lie 1,-It ihe lasi named ves.-e! ! , take over command of Die Kara.

i’epi. Wntchin stated ,"bi< afternoon that Da- Kara. ufii.li «•«, thoroughly ovi-rha ule-! at Vimkland a few weeks ago was in first-ela-s' condition when she 1.-!' this port, and was loaded with a very buoyant cargo when she efeared Whangnpe for Sydney. Copt. A\ aichlin. win, is at preseid super-vi‘-ing Die i.verhaul of the harquentiiu’ I , 111 1 - Theriault, which lm sold recently I" a t.bmenslaml linn, ho,I intended taking over command of (lie Ka.ru at The Tepaki .Station is Dm farthest north station in \,-w Zealand. |i consists ~t I2.!!0f) aeres. and when the tf,,n A. D. M, he ,d. .Minister of Lands. on his Far Northern tour, staved llmrc •>u Die night of Sunday. Fell. 7tli.. Die spick comprised ].80(1 head of cattle. h'O sheep, am! -12 Imivus. This Is the place where the first news of the '■'•reck ’-'as biueghf to A 1 r hell Keane. Di-- owner, a*. S o'clock this morning. Thu Tepaki Homestead is about nine miles in a south-,easterly direction from fane Maria Van Diemaii. The messenger from the Kara musthave experienced a particularly rough tin-.' in getting a' toss the country, as high hills and deep valleys are in between. AY hr-u the Ministerial T’arty was at Tepaki several of the party v-ere supplied with horses by Air Keane, and limy rode to Spirits Bay at iim on,l of New Zealand. Although i! was only -ix miles distant, it look nearly three and a half hours to do the trip out and hack. From a point Df>o ft. Tii"h. a glorious view tv as obtai'n->•-1. In Da- front distance were the Three Kings Islands: to the right. Cape Brett could he sect’.: and away to the west was Cape Poinga and Capo Maria Van Dieninn. The light-house, standing on an isand off tho coast. ■ • rid lm plainly discerned. Away ,|-wu !, ■!■.-v. vas the beautiful .'spirits Bay. The Cape Maria lighthouse is in cmnunrimatlnii with Tepaki station, and goads for Die lighthouse have to ,on coved by renal ropeway to the keepers from the south joint, the extreme end of Die Ninety Mile Beach. Cap’ Maria light is six miles distant. !he coastline is jagged, rooky, desolate. and most precipitous, and no landing i- possible. Hence- the reason for the ropeway between the mail; land and the lighthouse.

AVBF.CK COMBS (SHORT-:. AY F. LIJXG TON. .March 1. The Secretary- of the (fnieial Post Office. Wellington, advises the receipt ~f the following lurr.iier message from the Postmaster at Tepaki : ‘‘At J.J'A p.m . Captain Richmond of the wreck. >:-•! steamer “Kiirn.” accompanied by • mo seaman, arrived. He advises that the chief engineer and another man are making for Tepaki Station. The crew’ all told mini her 12. As far as mu fio ascertained, one man has been drowned, and another is missing, but ;!,.•’ remaining ten members have all reached shore, but five have not yetreported. The captain reports that the

steamer lias come asaorc near Cape Alaria. FIVE STILL AIISSING. AUCKLAND, March 1. Telephone communication with lvaitnia to-niglit shows that the wreck of the small steamer Karu at a J>‘ 1 'ii'-1 near Cape Maria A'an Dieman yesterday morning was not attended by so much loss of life ns was at first feared. The first messages containing the news of the disaster, sent out from this isolated region at the extreme north of New Zealand, gave the information (hat only one man out of the crew of twelve was known to have got ashore. It is now certain that tho captain, chief engineer, and eight other members of the crow are safe, while an able seamen, P. Ravenwood, is not accounted for. Tho body of the other man, F. Saunders (fireman) lias been washed up on the beach. The Kara was formerly well known as the ilolmdale. She was a steel vessel of 2(!7 tons and was built in Norway 25 years ago. Hhe left Whangape on Saturday morning with a cargo of timber for Sydney, and by tho following morning had run into a north-west gale. Early on Sunday morning it was discovered that tfie vessel was leaking badly, and the captain decided to run for shelter at Cape Maria A'an Dieman. So quickly did the vessel settle down that it was decided to abandon her. Twelve members of the crew crowded into one boat, and were nearing the shore at the Cape, when the boat capsized in the surf and was smashed up. All got ashore with the exception of Saunders and Ravonswood. Die lattor not being seen again after the boat overturned.

There is very little settlement in the region immediately south of the Cape, and the survivors separated into parties, looking for signs of habitation. One man reached the Te Paki station, about nine miles from the Capo early this morning, and this afternoon the captain, engineer and two other members of tho crew also reached the station.

The five remaining men had notboei reported at a late hour, nlDiougl search nartios are out.

TEN SURVIVORS. AUCKLAND. March 1. The latest report to-night states the Karu, which was loaded with about two hundred thousand feet of timber, struck n 1 1 cinendons gale on Saturday night. She sprang a serious leak. Tho pumps were unable to keep the water down. The vessel lias drifted ashore at Scott’s Point, on Die west coast near Cape Maria. She is breaking up badly. The deck cargo is coming ashore. Five of Die survivors who did not reach Tepaki with the other five this afternoon were found at Spirits Bay about six this evening, in an exhausted condition. They were taken to Te ITapu on Peronga Harbour, where they are being cared for. The ten survivors are as follows: Captain Richmond. Chief Office Keith. Second Officer Duncan and Chief Engineer Nelson. The others are:—Halford. 0. Yarioner, D. Cochrane. R. Alurray. C. AYainoiiri and Kyle. It is presumed both Ravonswood and Saunders were drowned. The survivors leave for Auckland on AYcd uesilav.

MAUNGANITS SEARCH AUCKLAND. ALirel, I. A radio message from the steamer Mauiiganui, i-n route from Sydney to Auckland, states the vessel made a detour in a search for the Kara. Some Ire-!, limber was sighted, presumably from iim wreck. The sea was then calm. As the search was unsuccessful the Mniingnmii resumed her voyage.

THE KARU’S PAST. The Karu was very well known on Due Now Zealand coast. Flic was formerly called the Torgnnton. and under that name saw considerable service on Die New Zealand const. Later she was purchased hv the Union Company and renamed the “Karu.” Tn April of 1021 she tens sold to an Australian Company, and towed from Port Chalmers to Fv,liter l,v the AYnikouaiti. At Fviluiw the Karu was laid up. the proicet of running her in the New Guinea trade having fallen through. After a neriod of about eighteen mouths, she was bought hv Captain A. F. AYatcldin who. lmiil recently, owned and cap-iaiiH-d the barquctitittc Louis Theriault. Th,- Karu was overhauled at Sydney -,ml arrived at. Auckland with a cargo of tjmbor a few weeks ago. She was further overhauled at this port, and then she proceeded io northern ports to load timber for a return trip. Captain AYatcldin had intended utilising his now purchase in the timber trade between Australia and Kopu. The Karu is an iron steamer of 197 tons not. and she was built at Moss, in Norway. It must he over twenty years since the Karu first entered New Zealand waters. One of the first ports to which she came in this country was Ilokitika. Her name then was the “ Tofgautcn,” and she travelled from Norway where -ho was built. under the command of Captain Aas. with n Scandinavian crew. She engaged for some time in the (Yost Coast timber trade to and from Hokitika, but Captain Aas and his compatriots did not remain very long with her. She was stranded al Hokitika. being launched again into her natural element. She was an iron ami did good service in the cargo trade. Eventually she was bought- by the owners of the “Dale.” lino. Olio of which the Lauderdale, left her hones on the Greymoutli beach, where some small remnant of her en-gine-room still remains. The name of the Torgnnton was then changed to Dial of the “ TLolmdale.” After a term she passed into the ownership of the Union S.S. Company, and continued to trade to Greyrnonth under the title of the “ Karu.” Some time ago she once more changed hands, and became Die property of Captain AYatcliliii.