The Taiaroa Disaster.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1684, 14 April 1886, Page 4

The Taiaroa Disaster.

A SURVIVOR'S NARRATIVE. Kekerangtt, Tuesday. The. inqnesj on the drbwn«d bodies takes place her« to-morrow, and preparation!? are hems: made to inter the dead m tho little Kekerangu cemetery, excepting the first mat*, whose body will be buried at Blenheim, Another body I)as been identifi"iJ na that of Robert Morrison, It is feared that among the diowned m Mrs FitzGarald, •wife of the editot of theTimam Herald. B. H. Vallance, the well-known racing m«ti, is also drowned, and his brother f'om Rnngiora hns been scouring the hep'h all day m hopes of finding the l>o«lv,W without Hiincesa. Th'> f Mowing is tho narrative of John McQimrt'To, one of the saved : lam a nitive of Manrhoster, 32 years of age, and enm" oat to the colony «B serond mote m the rlu'm Warwick to Port Cb«l« roers two y?flr *$Q, I WM a »tltf#|o

passenger by the Taiaroa, and was lying m a bunk about 7.30. When I felt Unship strike on the ground I rushed out on deck nmi found everyone making for the saloon for life-belts: The captain was on the bridge; and was cool ami collected. S(..n>e one asked him whenlip was, and he said about five miles from Kaikour.'. Great confusion took place on deck whilst ihe boats were swung down from the davits. I got into a boat on the starboard side, and m tho same were tonr women, Ward, the whitehead torpedo instinct or, Grant, and also a speller with curly hair, who greatly lamented having to leave his performing monkey. The women wore all dressed ex*cept the youngest, who is a Salvation Army lass, about 25 years of age, who Had nothing on but her chemise. All four wore life-beltß. It was quite light, and I could see the hills, but not the beach. A heavy sea capsized tho boat after we were attached to the stern of the steamer with a line. The women kept up well for a long time, but one after another threw up their arms and sank from exhaustion m J the bitter cold. As I swam past them, one woman tried to clutch me, but I eluded her, and together with twelve others succeedsd m getting into another boat, which was floating ke*l up, the boat righted itself notwithstanding the heavy sea, and we found all we hafl was one broken oar. My companions seemed terribly depressed and exhausted, and when the boat turned over again five went under and never came up, thus Laving the second mate, five seamen, jind myself. These live groaned fearfnllv, and laid down i*> the bottom of the boat one after another, gurgling m the throat and dying. Thosecond mate wns weak also, but helped the to throw the d<-ad men overboard, as their bodies and upturned faces, washing from one side of the boat to tho other* greatly distressed and obstructed us. The second mate said, just as the day was breaking ll It's no good, I can't keep up any longer," and just as the bout grated on the boulders of the beach, and went ashore, he also died. I managed to crawl out of the boat and make my way up tho sandy crock towards the hills, and was making for the light when the man met me and took me m a trap to Kelcernngu station. I consider that the night was not too d«rk to prevent the captain seeing where he wns, :\nd I be« Heve everybody might have been saved hat! they swam straight ashore. The captain and officers behaved coolly and well, and the steward served out lifebelts as quickly as possible. I really believe the captain thought ho was heading direct for Kaikoura. Four women, consisting of two passengers and two stewardesses, all being cldurly femaleH. behaved splendidly and made no fuss. I believe all four were drowned close to the steamer itself. LATER DETAILS. #

i Kekehangu, Wednesday. The postmaster here hos succeeded m recovering several bags of mails from the Taiaroa. Dr Bedford came through from Kaikoura last night, and .made a medical examination ready . for the inquest, and Rev McCanl also came from Kaikoura to conduct the funerals. No furt lief identifications at present. The body supposed to be Morrison, the fireman, is that of a much older man. No .money or valuables were found on nny but the engineer, whose dead body was found m McQuarter's boat, and who had £55. Martin, a passenger, had and wns supposed to be on his way home, to Nairn, Scotland, where his relatiops are. Martin had also a letter and discharge as a seaman, and a Government correspondence relating to a lighthouse appointment. Up to a fortnight ago Martin was working at Flaxbourne 'Station. No money or valuables were found on board except tha Captain's gold ring, which is m the possession of Liggins. The purser's books have been found m splendid order, but it is supposed he had a large sum ot money npon him when drowned. His body has not been recovered. Should the wind shift probably all the bodies would come ashore. The chief officer's body was wearing two shirts from which he had evidently tried to extricate himself, as both were off except at one wrist, where the other hand waa clutched m a fruitless attempt to unbutton the wrist band. It is probaMe the position of the shirts hampered him m his attempt to swim aehore. cwroa The body found yesterday at Flaxbourne has been identified as Robert Vallanee. The Coroner opens the inquest on the chief officer to-day. Among the money found on the body of the man takon out of McQuarter's boat, and hitherto supposed to be one of the engineers, was a cheque for £2 5s drawn m #ivor of F. S. S. and Coi on the bank of New South Wales, signed Erskine Galbraith. It. has been ascertained that the total number on board the Taiaroa was 48. of whom 14 have been saved besides 9 bodies found. 25 are still unaccounted for at present. The body of the chief mate is to be removed to Blenheim after the inquest, the other* will be buried here. The man already referred to as the engineer is supposed by some to be the purser, as a large sum of money and a cheqne was found on him, his body wears the Company's uniform and buttons.and has a Maltese cross on his right torearm and the Union Jack on the other arm the staff being held by. the figure of a sailor having a cutlass m its right hand. The body found at Flaxbourne. yester. day, is supposed to be that of Vallanee, whose brother left here for Flaxbourne this morning to identify it. Among the debris of wreckage lying at Clarence Eiver is a green box which container! a performing racecourse and monkey. The box has J. Harboard painted on it. Wellington, Tuesday. ;The Waihi, with the captain and those saved m his boat from the wreck ot the Taiaroa, arrived this evening from Blenheim. . Very little additional information has been elicited, but it is known that there were five women on board the ill-fated vessel. Those were Mrs FitzGerald, Mrs Jessie Game, and Mrs Gibbs, saloon passengers from Wellington, a steerage passenger name unknown, and the stewardess (M. A. Browne). So far as can be ascertained those on board num bered 47, being 20 passengers, and 27 of the crew. The number saved was 14, thus leaving 33 drowned. Arrangements are being made to send the Grafton to the wreck to-morrow. Mr Fielder, the chief steward, will be a passenger, m order the identify the bodies was had on the beach. An attempt will also he made to get possession of the mails, which are stowed away m the after hold. No date has yet been been fixed for the magisterial inquiry. ' Captain 'Bendall will commence the work of saving cargo to-morrow. The Penguin returned from the wree'? at 8 o'clock this afternoon. A large crowd collected on the wharf to witness the arrival of the steamer, and immediately on her coming alongside she was boarded by anxious inquirers. It ap pears the steamer met with fair weather both ways, and reached the spot about 7 o'clock last evening, leaving there on the return journey at 9 o'clock this morning Captains Bendall and Williams were the only persons who landed. There was nothing special to record m reference to the Taiaroa, which was seen lying as described m the telesrrams. The Wanaka and Wakatu were also at the scene of the wreck. The Penguin brought back none of the persons who Were reioned, and on interviewing tho« on bQ»,|d it Wftl. found, that they were

Mot m a position to supply any informaion m iidiitien to that published. The Wanaka arrivid here at 5 o'clock this evening. Captain Bendall, of the Underwriters' Association, is of opinion that he Tniaroa could he got off unless she is injured more than he imagines. He telegraphed from Kekerangu to-day as follows ;—" Boarded the Taiaroa, and found water flowing m and out of the holds. No cargo has been washed out, and I conclude that the vessel is damaged m the bottom, but is otherwise intact. The cargo can be landed easily if fine weather remains." The Coroner lias left for the scene of the wreck to hold an inquest on the bodies recovered. The Union Company have also despatched a medical man to tho seen*, m case his services may be required by any of. those rescued." The Penguin brought back the Taiaroa's papers and plate, and the Wana'ca also bronght up several articles from the wreck.