LOSS OF A MAIL STEAMER ON HER TRIAL TRIP.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1064, 22 April 1882, Page 2

LOSS OF A MAIL STEAMER ON HER TRIAL TRIP.

The loss of the Swedish mail steamer, upon tHahtWp (rema'rks a London paper) has scarcely u precedent among jr.'wafihe disasters. "£>n January 16 she went t ' oot'frdin ColmarSowid. rstrong wind blow- “ dog and a heavy sea .being on. She proved herself a good sea boat, but after steaming for an hour and a it was observed that ■ ■ her, bow was f and that he? jsterq Was low in the water’ The Malinochua had 'two decks, and the'pt>rt4hdlos of tlie lojrer tier <»f cabins were not Tar above the water-levels. It is supposed that sieaa port-boles had not Been closed, and as.'the doors had been fastened “to prevent'th bn deck from going below, no one perceived the oversight. The rough seas which the .vessel siwuHutered no doubt poured in at the t open in', large quantities, and the vessel gradually I "'filled until the poitdjolw were level With The water, wlien the inruiQi would be rapid indeed. Upon the change in trim of the vessel being 1 - noticed, the cabin doors were broken open and it was found that the water liad already reached fhe level “of the main deck. The only boat which the vessel carried was at ones lowered, and ten persons got into it. The way on the vesssl and tlte heavy sea then parted tlie boat from the ship, and two minutes later the latter went down stern foremost,, with the captain aud fifteen hands remainingbn board her. Thia is a singular instance of lose by misadventure. Had the cabins been open, it is almost certain that some of the visitors would, after watcliing the acta >n of the engines and the behaviour of the ship, have gone below to examine the arrangements, and tlw> fact tlial large quantities of water were coming in with every wave would at auce have been detected. For souse reason, at present unexplained the doors had been locked, and thus ths danger was unsusperted until the ehip was ou tiie point of sinking. The disaster is a singular one, and is an instance of the -well-known saying that what is everybody’s business is nobody's business. • - .