FULL PARTICULARS BY THE CHIEF OFFICER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 239, 5 September 1884, Page 3

FULL PARTICULARS BY THE CHIEF OFFICER.

;.*'?''-:••":'•/ ..' ' \ ■.•■.- -•:: LATER. - . -; . ... \ l&e chief officer, W, Neale, _suppluw the. following particulars r-^-The Lastinghaia sighted the ' coast of : " Neir Zealand about 8 o'clock on Monday morning last and m a little . . over 12- hours afterwards was & total , wreck, almost, on the -spot where tile , y ■teamcr Rangttolo waslo^t. Heavy •' went her prevailed at the time and conn tinued till the veseel was driven % ashore. A gale of temtic force and s< him fell heavily for some hours pre- , v'ious to the accident, and the /'land' 'was not viaable for moi-e than a mile ahead. Great efforts were made by ithe officers and crew to prevent the -'vessel going ashore. At ten p.m. she went ashote and became a total wreck .m less than tyro hours.. The crew "and passengers endeavoured to save • ijienutulVes by plunging into the boil•*ibg&» and striking out to shore; -,bthers sprang from the vessel's side on ... to rocks m the vicinity , while others ... ; attempted to float ashore on anything /.^ifajb would bear.their weight. The . ....* ipene wa« one of indescrible confasioo, v ' |fje wind howling, the rain falling, the people rushing altout shouting and screeching, and the sea breaking; ■> o;ver the ship's side. About millnight a muster of the survivors was iriade when it was ascertained that 18 .were mining and no doubt drowned. The Captain and his wife and the whole of the passengers {& ye m numbior) among the latter. Auiiserable ' jtt^ht was spent, and on Tuesday efforts were made to find a habitation within distance of theshorebutwithout success. Tinea of the men, Chalmers, 'Wood, and' Alfrey, continued on their, ■ jf 6rney m the hopes of discovering any < Viiibabitanto, and were not seen afterw^rds by tjioso of the survivors who ate now m Wellington, it i« difficult to say whether they will be found alive. TJie snryjvdrs, fourteen m number,, endured g) eat privation while ' -|n'' the of Jackson's •^ead,'ovpfhg to their not having saved |nylh'nc,. The captain endeatouml; : |fb i«fcTe^)ie ! log -h^oks, ship's pa pei*, %te. t bait M he lost his life m attemptIng to rpach the >hore witji his wife, It is not likely tynse articles will ever; T>e reoOTei-ed. The only articles o^ lob 4 Which came ashore were^lbs of pickl^il pork and two packages <»fpatineail/and cornflour. They stopped hunger by gnawing raw meat and drjnfing oatmeal mixture, frash water I>ein«j foun/1 dote to the wreck, this . "was ill they had until rescued. The mjen had to ran up ; and down, the . )>each to keep up circulation. Wednesday was. fine, and /their clothes were, laid out to dry, and the / iuryirprs obtained needed rest, hay- : ineioepn without sleep, for 36 hours. Each night the men huddle*) together ... 'tjnder the rocks to keep themselves .ivarnji, and On Thursday morning they .' discovered a smalt vessel passing, a -a PJ^°e ofcblanket,, which, come ashore, ?.,. was fixed, to a pole and moved to and .. fro usa signal whieKwasobserved a boat .. being, lowered the survivors were soon on Voaird the ketch which proved to be the Agnes from Peloru* Sound to KaiajK)i with t imber. Captain jen^ sen of the ketcti attended to the, wants of the shipwrecked mariners and then bore for Wellington. $t< the time of the rescue the men had almost given up all hope of being , iescued, as on Tuesday and Wednesday no le&) than five ateaniers were seen passing close to the land and .]'. though signals were made no one on board seems to have noticed them, however no effort was made to recue them. „ When they were taken on lipard they were thoroughly exhausted, and the chief Officer is of opinion £hat had they to stop another night on, the coast some of the party would have succumbed to privations. Those ■saved'are John Heade (chief officer), John Barton (second mate). Diddle (steward), Robertson (carpenter), jjind Groves, Donbaire, Chambers, Munro, .Donaldson, Chalmere, and Adery „. (seamen). Thomas and Fryer, appren- . tices, .And the whole of the passengers were drowned. ' The names are aa ..follows: — Messrs Meakin, Burell, Naifeh, McGinn, and D&rw. None of them were married men, and it is understood that they have never been' •m New Zealand. The names of the officers and men drowned were Alex Morrison, (master), Henry Grove*, (third dfficer),Peter McFuire, (Cook), John Murray, (sailmaker), A. B. Barnard, Lambert, Grouban, Alatthews, arid Watson, (seamen), and Sfvarp and |*earce, two of compliment pt'four iipy* which the ship carried. [■■'/■>, .-. . /•. ■■■•;■ -T^TW • Whe wreck of the Laf-tingham has .'cast a gloom over the city and the . flags have been lowered .to half .mast as a mark of respect to those who peiishedj,^ .^ Captain .. Morrison wat about'" §0 years of iige and his wife usually accompanied him on all bis voyages. Instructions have been issued to send a steamer from Picton to pro? ceed to the scene of the catastrophe and institute a search for the three survivors who were hunting for a habitation and could not "be found '■ ;"Vh«fr' the others were rescued/ A iiutiscriptipn was started this morning; m aid of the survivors and £36 was lianilcd to the chief officer to provide clothing for his shipmates. An enquiry into the disaster is being held More the Collector of Customs.

i- r ;;; ■■■'- Very Latesl The Lastingham struck he.id on and immediately broached to when lier side was exposed to the fury of terrific sea running and deck-houses, boats, and every thing about the decks was swept, overboard. The see. con- ' tinued making a clear ; sweep over the ill-fated vessel and, m about an hour the decks bulged out and this was the last seen of the vesocl as she then slipped off the rocks and disappeared m deep water.* It wag with greatest difficulty any of the. crew managed to reach the rocks and it was then m a very exhausted condition and their hands we*b severely lacerated. The crew have received every necessary attention. It" is understood that Captain M orrison who com m anded the Lastingham had retired from the J«ea for some time back but was -ruined by the failure of the Gf lasgow Bank; and had to go to sea again, this being his second voyage.