MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT IN THE

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 273, 29 May 1874, Page 3

MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT IN THE

TOUR MEN DEOWBED. It is our painful duty to record a very sad accident which took place in our-liar-boron Monday afternoon, by which .four young men belonging to this city "met an untimely death" by drowning. The particulars of the unfortunate affair are as follows: Yesterday (Monday), about noon, seven young men left Duuedin in an open boat, to proceed to Port Chalmers. Their names were—Frank Butterfield, Erank Castles, Andrew Skene, Wil-, 'liam Linton, Henry Davis, John Stronghold, and a yonng man .named Godfrey. The boat was owned by one of its occupants. The young men fairly on board., they set. . the sail, and proceeded on in safely with a fair wind until they arrived at:lhe entrance to what is known as the Cross Channel. ■ A sudden gust of wind of unusual strength then came down, upon them, and, the sheet of the sail haying been very foolishly made fast, the boat immediately capsized,.and the whole party were precipitated into the water. As the boat rose to the surface, apparently about to right herself, the men manage;! to lay hold of her, but there being three on one side and four on the other she was at once overbalanced, and again capsized;. Those who were clinging to her let' go their, hold, and three, of- them sank .and were never seen again. Three others,;; however, who were seafaring men,;.waited' their time, and upon the boat again coming to the surface they managed to obtain a hold upon her,, and two of them remained on the keel of the boat until they were ultimately rescued. Godfrey, however, who was a good swimmer,, did. not care to trust his life to the bottom; of the boat, arid struck out for the shore, calling upon his companions to follow.his example. One of the men endeavored to do so, but his strength failecLhini,-arid before reaching the. shore he Fas. seen:to throw up his hands and then suddenly to disappear. Fortunately Godfrey was "successful in his endeavor to reach the. shore, and having done so, he urged those on the boat to quit their precarious'position and follow his example'; but, feeling safer where they were, they, maintained their position until -a boat, pulled by an Englishman and a Chinaman, put off to'them and rescued them from the bottpni of the boat, which drifted awaj'';down the stream and' soon passed put of sight. The name of those who were lost were, Frank Butterfield, Prank Castles, Andrew Skene, and William Linton. It is stated, that they were all employed in the establishment of Messrs. Brr*wn, Ewing, and Co. It appears that the - wives, of-two.of the- deceased refused to accompany their husbands, in the boati being'frightened at the bad weather,- but promised to meet them at the Port. Their ; ag6h'yi' on learning, when they arrived at.that-place, that both had been drowned:' may' be better imagined than described.' -So far as we have learned, none of the bodies have yet been recovered. • /.