The s.s. Kia Ora

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 317, 21 June 1907, Page 2

The s.s. Kia Ora

Survivors All Rescued. There is little fresh to report jib connection with the wreck of the s tj. Kia Ora. Wreckage in small quantities has been found to the southward of Tirua Point on the bench. .The boat that was smashed when the Kia Ora si ruck the rocks eame. ashore alb Mokau, and it,is as etflMl that as H'r ai,r : tight obmpar!mental ‘*wit7r ju" jiruu the boat could easily have hold 20 per sons. Captain Williamson, of the Kotahi i reports that ou the wuy up from Waitara ou Tuesday last the captaiu's cabin was met with 10 miles out to son, and that be visited the acene-of’ the wreck and could just make out through the water the outline pf the ill-fated steamer. All the survivors have no# reached their destination. Mr and AlfJI Mac lufosh arrived at Kiuohaku on Wednesday, proceeding there via the. Marokopa Biyer. The remainder of the survivors left Kawhia for Orehunga by tho Maritai on Monday. There was a large couooarse on the wharf, tie partings being both fsrveut and touchinaConstable M‘Carthy returned to Kawhia on Tuesday, being unsuccessful in the search for bodies. He states that the trip he and Mr Holmes had to the econo of the wreck was a severe one. They arrived at the liaot of Aloeatoa just at dark, wet through. The ascent was bad, but the descent was worse, as they only stack to the track by silting in it and sliding, using their hands to steady themselves. The constable went on to say : “ The whole of the credit of taking relief to the survivors belongs to Jack, Charl'e and Bob Willison and Lane, and more especially to Jack. As a piece of bush work I don’t reckon their’s could be beaten. Jack got word at 4 o’clock, and before 5 p.m. the party started each leading a pack-horse and carrying a lantern. It was raining heavily. They reached Shera’a at 11 o’clock. Ou the way two horses knocked up, so they took the loads off, divided them up and themselves carried them to Shera’s. They had a drink of tea and then set out for the wreck. No one can realise the state of the tracks they bad to travel. If it bad not been for Jack Willison the wrecked ones would have never been reached. He knows tracks (they are not like tracks used everyday, as they are very rarely used) unknown to any other white man or Maori either. They got to Maanguna beach at three o’clock in morning and promptly cooked food. They started to get the survivors over to Shera’s, Charlie putting the man with the broken leg on bis back and carrying him over. You can’t think this a great feat until you see the track, and then you’d think it was marvellous. As they neared Shera’s the Karawa was seen. The Rnrawa lauded provisions so the papers say. Yes; a tin of biscuits that had been opened and two bottles of brandy amongst 2G starving people—and then a lot of the brandy vras used to give to those in the boat. The ductor did’nt stay long either. Tho people of the colony should know of the good work done by Willison’s pa rtf. I can’t understand the men survivors not making a whare for the women. There is any amount of flax, raupo and ti-tree there, and there were two tomahawks iu the boat. The sediors oou'd not be expected to do it, but there were bushmen there.” Coni!inning, Constable M'Cartby said that good work was also done by Messrs Rote, John Shaw, Haylock, Crotty, D. Holmes and Dr Jenkins.

There are two or throe people who are deserving of praise, but whose names so far havo been hardly mentioned. We refer to Chief Officer De Woolfe, Engineer Baggs from and Dr Jenkins. As soon as the first named two landed on the beach they set ont to tiud babita'ion, not knowing where it lay. To seamen negotiating terrible tracks is a bad experience, but more so when the journeys had to be done barefooted. They reached Shera’s, Mr Do Woolfe afterwards returning to the survivors, Mr Baggstrom’s injuries preventing him doing so. The pair afterwards walked to Marokopa, thence to Haribari, picked up the Rothesay and went for the survivors. When spoken to Mr Baggstrom admitted they bad a hmrd time, but added (and bis voice *shook with feeling) “ Give the Willison crowd V.C’e. They deserve it more than some of the people I have read of in history.” Dr Jenkins managed to reach the survivors on Friday evening, and al thou gh covered with mud quickly attended to the patients, who all speak highly of his skillful attention and kiudneg s. We Etrungly object to the credit given to Dr Wiley by the papers. Tho real work was done by Dr Jenkins, as the injured can prove, and under ciroumstances known to very few medicil men in New Zealand. Wo learn that the Into Mr Forbes had on board tho Kia Ora important legal documents in connection with flax and timber milling in this distriic-. Betiides the passengers' luggage emd the cargo from Waitara, the followiing cargo was loaded at Kawltna owing to the boaroi«y of room : —-W, A Mason, 1 dump wool ; Bell Bros, ami Boas, 38 small hales flax ; Maro kopa Milling Co , 19 bales flax, 12 of t jw ; C. 11. Williams, 0 bales of flax, 1 of low. A correspondent writes “ It may b- of interest to your readers to know that the rook the Kia Ora is suppooed to Lav<* run ou is known to the dr lives as Pirituko. When Te R'.up.iraha lived on Tirua Point one of hfs w yi’S swam out to it and back. H'et nnn_e was Taha Moana. Many of tub figbiing men tried to it, but never c<>uld. Ii i* also an olq fi b i ground of the n»:i«”r!. I’hir wa T ■ Buapnra's lint staiiU in h - lat'o, etid of the 20’p, perhaps 1828 Tih«

distaince of Pjritoko from the Point (shore) is about one mile and threequarters or two miles.” Ths Late 'laptain BlacklookIt is generally believed that the disaster was met with daring the fog which (the Taranaki News says) seemed to be hanging along the coast that day. Tho deceased skipper was highly esteemed amongst, seafaring men and tho travelling public, and was usually spokemof as the whitest of men. No man Wr- better acquainted with the : ■ rnher 1-: f t :,i ; mi BlackI ck,. who..has lost, his life with hisehip. Lie has been trading on ibis coast for ten years or more, and only a month or two ago was relieving the captain of the Rarawa on the Onehunga run. Captain Btackiock was an old and trusted servant of the Northern Company, who, it will bo vpmembered was sent Home to bring the Birawa to the colony. J. 0,. Blacklock although in the colony a comparatively short While, wa.< one of the most popular sea captains tradihg in the North. His iir<t acquaintance with locM shipping was in 1897 when he brought the steamer Wakatere from the Old Country to Auckland. After arriving here he was drafted into the service of Northern Co. as a permanent officer, and bis first commission was as chief officer of the Clansman. Later on he was promoted a step, and took over the command of the Chelmsford, then trading from Auckland to Awanui, Waihahara and Houhora on the East Coast. In the early part uf 1908 he left for England to bring out the Rara- ’ wa, another new steamer for the | Northern Co., arriving here about the end of that year. Captain Blacklock than took the steamer round to Onehunga, where she was handed over to Captaiii W. F. Nor bury. Captain Blicklcck assumed command of the Kia Ora, in which vessel he has remains! ever since, except on rare occasions when he relieved Captain Norbury on the Rarawa, was on holiday. During the three or four years ha has been in the Kia Ora and by his geuiul manner and cjurteous disposition, earned the universal respect and friendship of the travelling public and the settlers along the coast at the ports at which his vessel touched. He was also the warm and kind hearted friend of the officers and crew of the Kia Ora who loved him to a man. Last Christmas, when a number of transfers were being made in the skippers of the company, one of the officers expressed great concern to a “Star” reporter that Captain Blacklock would transferred to another vessel without his ofliers and crew, and the hope was expressed that if a transfer were to be made they would all go with him, “The skipper you see is a real white mau and we wouldnt lose him for worlds.” It is -needless to add that no greater testimony io the popularity of the deceased could be given than the friendship and regard of the men who worked under him, and Captain Blacklock had that. The flags on all the shipping in port at Auckland and Onebunga were lowered to half mast as a mark of respect to those who lost tbeir lives in the wreck. Captain Blacklook leaves a widow an-1 three children, who reside in the Mount Eden district. The deceased’s mother is still living and his sister is married to Mr M. G. Harvey, chief engineer of the s.s. Ngapuui. Captain Blacklock was only thirty- five years of age, and his Untimely end is deeply regretted by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. —Auckland Star.

Last Auckland Herald says :—“All the flags of the vessels in harbour, the Harbour Board offices and various mercantile bouses, wore at half-mast yesterday, as a token of respect to the memory of Captain J, C. Biacklock. Our Ouehniuga correspondent writes:—When the news of the drowning of genial Captain Blacklock along with Messrs Ross and Forbes, became known here, general regret was expressed. Onehnnga, the chief port of the West Coast, has known many popular master mariners but considering the time bs hsd been trading into the Manukan, none was ( more highly respected than Ciptain Blacklock. Yesterday the flags were at half-mast out of respect to bis memory.”