AN EXCITING CHASE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2768, 6 February 1882, Page 2

AN EXCITING CHASE.

Pirates have almost become extinct, but there are still such things as forcible seizures of goods at sea. A case occurred in the Roadstead this morning. It appears’ that the gentleman who • purchased the wreck' of the City of Cashmere, also purchased 'her: chains, which, among others, included the chain with the “ defective shackle,” which was fished out of the harbor for the Court of Inquiry. The Harbor Board claimed £25 fpr lifting the chain referred to, and the claim, if a fair and reasonable brie, v 'would have been paid by .the owners of the wreck. They, took possession,, of the cable this morning and sent it , on to the , wreck in a whale boat, but after the orewrr some eight or ten—bad been ; towingife in another boat for about an hour and a half, the Secretary to the Harbor Board sent out a crew and took forcible possession of it and brought it back. > This proceeding seems on the face of jit a most arbitrary one. If the Board’s lien on the chain were a fair and equitable one, surely it could have been recovered in due course of law without a:' forcible seizure to the great cost and inconvenience of the gentlemen who- have been -plucky enough to - risk ’great expense in floating, the City of Cashmere, and saving the name of the; port. The owners of the wrepk are quite capable of paying £2s’ or one hundred times that sum, and they very naturally feel aggrieved at the treatment they have received. The matter should be enquired into.