Loss of the Ketch Jessie.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1089, 20 June 1882, Page 3

Loss of the Ketch Jessie.

ALL HANDS SUPPOSED TO BE DROWNED. [Die following was persuaded as an extra yesterday .1 Yesterday afternoon a half-caste constable stationed at the East Cape arrived in town with information relating to the ketch Jessie for the safety of which fears have lately been entertained. The constable who is generally known as “ Cocky ” has had a long, and through the state of the roads, a tedious journey which occupied four ’.‘days. He brought with him a report from the constable stationed at Awanui, from wi.ich we gather as follows :—

Constable Irwin reports’from Awanui'tinder date 15th June, the.wreck of a schooner laden with kauri timber. The Constable got the first information of the wreck on the 13th inst., and at once proceeded to the scene for investigation. lie found a schooner buried in the sand, bottom up,’on' thejbeach nearjithe East Cape. The timber had been taken out of her through two holes cut in her bottom. The vessel is black'painted, 50 ft. of keel, and verv flat-bottomed. The Constable believes the'letters on the piece of board picked up, which he forwards to Gisborne, will form the name “ Jessie.” She;was seen on the beach by Wiki Matauru on the 9th inst., about 12 noon. The Natives say’that they saw her on Thursday, 9th inst., out at sea, andjthat Capt. Skinner, of the schooner Gisborne, spoke her, as the two vessels were close together. Fears are entertained that the crew are lost, as some pieces of a boat were seen on Sunday, 12th inst., by a wan named George Gilmour. About 25,000 feet of timber has been saved, and stacked on the beach. The Constable left a man in charge of the timber, and became responsible for his payment. Where the vessel is laying is a good beach, and the timber could be lifted in rafts in fine weather. The timber appears to be a special order for some large building, us it is heavy stuff—some 6x6, some 3x6, and nearly 3,000 feet Gin. flooring. The timber bears the brand “ M. B.” The Native Chief will not allow any one to interfere with it until the owner’s instructions arrive. No bodies have as yet been found on the beach. The constable also brought in with him the piece of wood mentioned in the report. It is somewhat broken, but bears upon it most distinctly in yellow letters on a black ground “ JESS.” The brand on the timber of M. 8., the timber of particular lengths and sizes, the board bearing the letters as above, and the fact of the Jessie not having been beard of since the 2nd inst., when she was seen off Tokomaru proves conclusively that she must have “ turned turtle,” during the recent recent gales and cast upon the beach at Kautoki about three miles ou the other side of the East Cape. From Mr R. G. Gibbons, of this town, we have learned that the Jessie is a Hobart built vessel of about twenty-eight tons register, and answers exactly the description given in the above report —being very flat-bottomed and having a centre-board. She left Mercury Bay about three weeks since but the exact date of her departure is not known. She was consigned to Messrs Common, Shelton and Co., and the timber on board was for Mr Oswald Skeet, the contractor for erecting Mr T. E. R. Bloomfield’s new residence at To Aral. The master’s name is Donald Cameron, about forty years of age, a widower, and having two children in Glasgow. (This is as sup plied us, but we have since been informed by Captain J. Nicolas, of the schooner Minnie Hare, that Cameron had a wife whom he intended to bring out to New Zealand). Captain Cameron was a staunch teetotaller, a certificated navigator, and a thorough seaman. There were three others on board whose names we are unable to give. That all hands have been lost there can be no doubt. It is surmised as before stated that the vessel after being within a few miles of her destination, has been driven back, through being badly furnished with sails and has “ turned turtle ” and afterwards cast upon the beach. She was insured for £4OO, but in which office we have so far been unable to learn.

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