OLD HOKITIKA

Hokitika Guardian, 14 July 1932, Page 3

OLD HOKITIKA

IN 1865 AND 1866. CALAMITIES OVERPAST; A narrative of Wrecks, Battle, Murder arid Sudden Death- taken from the files of the “West Coast Times” for 1865 arid 1866. When the West Coast TUn.es was first published in July 1865, there had already been several wrecks on the Hokitika bar. The remains of the Sir Francis Drake, The T':ger and The Oak, were still to be s&ri'n. On the -18th of July, 1865, the s.s. Titanic from Dunedin went ashore on the bar. The captain misunderstood tlie signals arid tried to come in on the ebb tide

On July 24 the schooner RoseHa from Manakau went "ashore on the south sp:t, owing to the wind suddenly droppingShe had been fifty days coming ‘from Manakiau and had been off Hokitika for seven days. They were completely out of provisions, and had only a pint of fresh \ water on board. On July 29th, a jumping case took place at the Grey, arid two men were shot. -dead in the fight that ensued-. Five men were drowned on the Grey I,'ar, codling in, in a small boat from the Teremakau. 'One of them, a Maori, swam for more than .an 'hour*but-slink at last. i

The mail brought news of the termination of the American Qjyul War, and -the surrender of the Confederate generals. Within 12 days after: the murder of President Abraham Lincp.n, the murderer, Booth, • and his a ! ccpmplif’), Hanold, were tracked to a swamp at the mouth of the Potomac and given five minutes to surrender. Booth I’efused and was idiot. ,' - , Cv.

President Davis -and his family and suite/ were ca.p;ured in Georgia. The troops 'divided into two parties and in the darkness mistook each other for the confederate party. A fight ensued and-several lives were lost.

On July 29th the schooner Lady Franklin, in attempting. to enter the Hokitika river took the spit at a place hardly covered at high - water. The paddle steamer Lyttelton went out to lighter, th®'* Lady Darling, lying outside, and went ashore. The next night a heavy -sea washed her into the chanhe-l, blocking all traffic. She got off 'safely two days later. A boat with five men pulled out to th 6 Lady Darling and book off eight passengers ; in coming in, the. boat was capsized, and sevhh men were drowned. - They were buried on August Ist, 1865. ' • ,/ On th® Monday night there was h heavy gale, and the Montezuma brig from Melbourne parted one cable, ana captain ran for the land and beached the I vessel. The passengers go. ashore 'safely. The cutter Advance went ashore, .and the schooner Defiance dragged her anchors and -wa s flung-’ ashore. The Lady of the Lake also went' ashore. On the 7th -August a man was tried for burglary, having, broken into a calico building; and stolen a trunk oi clothes.. 1. - -■ ,

iho ’ paddle steamer New Zealand went ashore on. the-bar and the wreck was afterwards sold for £6O.

The Wallaby took 9276 ounces of •gold to- Nelson. • On August lTtih mine prisoners, wore i-ent to Christchurch bythe steamCr William Miskin, in l charge of four policemen, for trial. Their offences were— Stealing a cash' box from the court house, Hokitika -(this prisoner rejoiced in the name of Three Fingered Jack), stealing two casks of beer ; stealing one cash of ale ; burglary; assaulting tilpolice; deserting his wife, house stealing; breaking into a store; petty larceny. One prisoner was. sen!; to Christchurch ■because the Hokitika gao] was full. The ketch Lloyds Herald, arrived in port on August 25th, having left Dunedin for Hokitika on April 27th.

The schooner Mount Alexander went shore on the south spit and was sold for £35.

Oil Moiiday, September 4th, 1865, Mr Walitisley ol the Bank of. New South Wales was stuck up, and robbed by four men between. No town and The Twelve Mile. They took 821 ounces of gold and £IOOO in notes. A reward of £4OO was offered. H® left No Town on liiorseback accompanied by a packer carrying between them 1621 ounces. of gold. The packer was ahead, and, turn, ling a corner, was assailed by four meii, oii e of. whom had a gull. The packer put spurs to his horse and escaped. Mr Walnisley came along a • few minutes after and was pulled off his horse before he could draw his revolver. He was 'tied Up and left there until sorpe .travellers'came along and released him. On September 29th, the P.S: Samson and the; schooner John Bullock both went ashore. The. Samson was sold’ for £224. , '

The 'li-ttle schooner DolpVnin was high and dry on the -spit. The Yarra was washed from the outer spit to 'the inner sp-.t; and the Leonidas was -washed into the river.

The s.a. Ballarat brought- in 300 passengers from the Barwon, the Omeo and the schooner Susannah .Booth at £1 a head, besides freight on luggage. The-re was a heavy fresh and the current caught her bow and sent her agrourid. A line was quickly sent An slhore and two or three hundred willing hands pulled her off again. The John Bullock, a fine three masted schooner, left Port Chalmers on May 19th and arrived off Hokitika on June 3rd, beating about unitil June 18th when’ she obtained some water from the steamer Ruby -. The Ruby went first and ■'eariie to grief on the. spit. The John Bullock remained at andaor until the 22nd. During ithe next 16 clays she. wandered, round the coast, and hack- to broach cargo for provi-s.ons, and on July 9th, off Cape Farewell, had to fistdeck fittings for fuel.’ She came off Hokitika again on the 17th July. She waited about until July 31st, when there was quite a fleet of vessels outside, but as two of them came to grief on th e ' bar, the others turned back. On the Ist August she’ slipped her anchor and 60 fathoms of chain. Heavy seas having -shifted the cargo, <-he bore up for Nelson and arrived /here on August 19th. On the 1 29th -September she attempted to cross, and came to gr.ef as previously described. . On October 7th, thirteen vessels came over ’ th 6 bar, bn; the Maria, a. thremasted was cast a. hore, a helpless wreck. ■ On October 10th, there were five- vessels in the roadstead, seven on the beach and twenty-four at the wharf.

Two wrecks occurred at-the Grey ,on the the Jessie- and'the Murray. The paddle sceamer Lady of the Lake, after havipg been Wrecked and moved overland into the river, after six weeks at the wharf, was again wrecked when going out. '• •' :'div

Th e -s.s. Star of the South in comingin took "thg ground., but after dischdrg„ina part of her cargo On the spit, -float-ed-’off at liigjhOn October 12; the brigantinh: John Lockhart in going out was washed' on to' the south jspit. ' The Maid of* the Yarra, after lightering the Omeo, went ashore on the north spit. Oh October '2l';h a storekeeper in Wharf Street was robbed of £2oo' and the paper eta ted, that in consequence of the greai influx of peop’e from Australia, w e have at present amongst vfl. some of those consummate villians, and old offenders, who are. so well known ,to the police. The sfchb'oner Caroline went ashore on. 'the spit oii October 30th wheri at tempting to go out in darkness. ’ A b’i 1; flood on November 3rd tore three vessels form their moorings in the river, the schooners Dolphin .and Sarah, and the brig Craigievear. Tlie'v were all cast up on the beach, practically total wrecks. The iCraigievear was afterwards ■ sold for £75.

On - November 6th the Star of chEvening brought several cases of cats from Dunedin. Tnere were 50 cats on board, and the owner expected to sell them to advantage in a place where rats were plentiful and cats were scarce.

The war with the Maoris was "till going on and a skirmish Oook place and two pahs were captured with 50C prisoners; 30 natives were killed and one white ’man. *

On November 9th three dead bod.es were found on -the beach near the Teremakau.

On' November 18th, 1865, the West ■Coast Times acknowledges the receipt of the first number of The Grey Jtiver Argus, the fin-; journal out of Hokitika, published on the West Coast. A case of "sticking np occurred on the 15th between- No Town and tlhe Twelve Mile. James Fitzgerald was assau’ted by two men who came out of the bush and robbed him of £29.The schooner Mt. Alexander was towed out to go 'to Melbourne for repairs, but owing to a leak, the captain had to beach her eight miles south of Hokitika, where the heavy surf made her a total wreck.

11’’e following extract gives 'some idea of affairs at Okarito. We are rorry -to have to record the occurrence of disgraceful outrages at 'the Okar.to diggings. The originator of them were those enemies of law and order the Tipperary boys; Five men who were mining at Bruce Bay, started for ■ a rush five- miles south of Okarito, and found a fre e fight going on. T Tipperary boys, elated by their succ r ” r ’ at the rush, determined to keep th« gcod thing entirely to tl'ienf elves, a! 1 new comers having to undergo ■’•» rigorous test as to their nationality, religion, -etc., which if they failed in ■withstanding resulted in a brutal beating. The first who suffered was a mm mamed Nixon, who after being asked to' step into a store and drink, was knocked down, because he confessed to being a Church'of England and a North of Ireland man,-and his mate, interfering shared the same fate. Sixon

afterwards crawled to ./Barrett s 'hotel in which house, he laid down,., but a. mob -sbriri cblieb:ed, armed with sluice forks, stones,.; etc., %nd. a .very good imitation of Donnybroqk Fair was the result, only the fighting was all on one side.. • ; .y, .'. In the midst of the shinty, Christy Burcken and his mates madqyjtheii- appearance, and immediately found their, selves engaged in a fight wi/h a paijty of men who, five niinutes before, they had not the slightest .idea. were ,in existence. Christy was wounded with j a knife and two of his mates were, so severely hurt as -to be unable to' rrib've.'Another man, a stranger, who baifie iil kith r.hem was severely wounded in tlig face with a sluice fork, knocked down'fine stoned, and Mr Chamberlain’.? 1 ’klor^Fat partly destroyed, and Ihis mate Rearfy killed, whil 6 another storekeeper was struck through the hand with' a.clawhammer: , ‘ j On December 11 there were thi'e’e men drowned crossing the Teremakau. On December 14 the steamer Maid of the -Yarra corning, in to Hokitika went ashore close to the wreck of the Titania.

On the 18th. the engineer of the Yarra was accidentally shot dead on the south side of the riviiir. - ”, , Oh the 19th. a packer was struck ,up by b'Ushran’gers at No Town aiid robbed of 150 orinctes of gold. It was found on investigation that the packer had 'made up the story and planted; the gold himself. ■. ' "’. A burglaiy took-pla<3e‘ait the Police Camp at Khriieri and £7o' was stolen. At the Supreme Court two !, men' were sent'emceid to', 'two years' imp. isohnient. The yeah 1865 closed" witlv& .death of Lord Palmerston the greai Rriglisli .... r,. •• . , ..Jtjiao'f Premier. '.. ' . ' ’..y.ci.. Oil New Year’s Eve the ifiiff raff of Hokitika 'broke into tiyo hotels,. and. a policeman was accidentally shot with his own Revolver. ,4 : The body of 'a woman was found on the beach! near the Montezuma.. She was supposed ,to have been, murdered by her husband. ; ! 0 Tlie ischponer Maria went ashore o-n 1 North Spit! She was a Russian built vessel and was a prize- taken by; HriPsh cruisers- iii the Rmsisap War of 1854.,

Three men were d own/d in the Taioo river, going to Lake Brunner rush. They attenipted to ford on a packer’s horse. . . f

At. the ‘.Supirerhle Court sittings,, .on Janua.i-y iotli., 1866, there were a list of 40 prisoners to be tried. . .. j At -No Town on January 20tb. .tlir.ee packers were stuck up by two . men, who were masked and armed. All tliev got was thirty. shillings and ~an . r .old gun. . ..j ' „ .. .. ! On Febru,ary. 10th. the Mary Ann went ashore on the snit, owing to the heavy sea breaking the rudder. On the ,lßth. the Lyttelton Times reported:.jthefirst crosring of .Arthur’s Pf]gs jqdy, ,Mts Oopkson.. Fj ,j. ? | -On February 16th.;, the new-, . liofiposital .at ,the South Spit completed with - accommodation for 45-pat-ients., ,j. .-. . . . , ' t

m :-A nothern.oiirie of highway, .hjftbbfeiry took' place’iat the >l2 mile landing;-Ithcree diggers' being 'baited up arid,; robbed-

On Bebruary ,22nd. a big rbWctobk place on the wharf, and all’ •thewl'qca-l police force were skilled out: - A',; new rush had \jnst -taken place at .-the 'Five Mile' beloW ; Okarito and the! returns were 1$ pennyweights to the > shovel with 12 feet sinking. The 'S.S 1 . Ballarat was ready-to proceed do .Bkai;ito and was -rushed : by interning; passj-h----gers, somie . 200./'.The forehold do crammed with swags and men lying! in every conceivable position, apd the deck crowded to- (excess. • The Customs authorities refused to give her a clearance as slile did not have an ocean certificate. ' After much talk and excitement, as there was no ehanee of the steamer being allowed to proceed, the crowd gradually drifted awayi. The next day the Bruce arrivedifijom Okarito with 5000 ounces of gold;' and left again almost immediately with 10U .passengers. : - ? ‘i On February 28th. nobblers were !reduced to 6d ear'll although previously 64 hotelkeepers hkd signed an ■' advertisement that good liquor could hot be sold at that price. ’ On March 11th. the brigantine William Went' ashore on tlie f jWtlr Spit, with her rudder knocked away. I '’ On March:2lst. the Okaritbrtnallman was stuck iip and robbed,- about three miles south of. Boss by two’men wearing masks. They took' him into the bush and searched the mail hags. He had £7 in his purse, but tMy'ohly took £1 and returned the balance. _ Word came by the English- mail of the wreck of the steamship London in til's Bay of Biscay, 220 were' drowned and only 19 saved: Adion'gst the drowned were .the prominent tragedian G. I. Brooke. Some idea of the large" ’ quantities of gold won on the Coast is shown by the following paragraphs from thf West Coast Times of April 12th., 1866. By the Egmont 11,098 ounces of gold dust were exported the produce of the districts south of the Grey, and 3250 ounces Weifie taken by the Kennedy.’ The paddle steamer’ Bruch has arrived from Okarto bringing 2573 :, 0w-’: of gold, this, with previous quantises within the week, making 4000 ounces from that port. After Bing in Hokitika two hours she started for the Grey transhipping 13,160 ounces of golkl on hoard the Barwon. She arrived' at the Grey and left there with 10,0 n - ounces which was also put cm 'vv'rd the Barwon making a total ’ of 23,160 ouno 's export’d to Sydney; ! (To be continued.)