TWENTY-EIGHT DEAD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 195, 7 November 1927, Page 9

TWENTY-EIGHT DEAD

LATEST OFFICIAL LIST MUCH CONFUSION Bp Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. Reed. 11.20 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. There is still much confusion over the dead and missing in the harbour tragedy. The latest official list makes ! the number of the dead 28, and excludes the names of Betty Benson, E. Day, A. H. Stephens, R. Mitchell, and the son of R. Forbes. Several persons who were reported missing are now safe. The bodies recovered since Saturday morning are those of; Alfred Barker, of Vaucluse; Mrs. Crook and her son, aged two, of Melbourne; Miss Frost, of Melbourne; Henry Stiles, of Watson’s Bay; L. Lanksheer, a boy, of Vaucluse; Miss Betty Laurence, of Vaucluse; F. A. Stevens, storekeeper of the naval supply ship Kurraba. MEMORIAL SERVICE Mrs. R. Smith, who was mentioned in an earlier list of the missing, has returned to her home. She was not on board the Greycliffe at the time of the disaster. The bodies of a number of the victims were buried yesterday. The funerals were lai-gely attended by the public. A largely-attended and representative memorial service, at which the Governor, Sir Dudley de Chair, was present, was held in St. Andrew’s Cathedral yesterday. Mr. Hughes represented the Union Company. References to the disaster were made The searchers came across a handbag containing money and other belongings, and the address of Mrs. Milson, of Elwood, Victoria. She was not known to be on board, and inquiries are being made to find if she must be added to the list of victims, in all the churches. Among the many messages of sympathy received in connection with the disaster is one from the Duke and Duchess of York. DIVERS’ HARD TASK The divers have located what is believed to be the ladies’ cabin, which was badly smashed and had drifted 100 feet away from the other parts of the wreckage. Contrary to expectation, no bodies were found in it. It is proposed to lift parts of the wreck. It is expected that this will reveal other bodies amid the wreckage or pinned in the mud, as there is a strong undertow where the Greycliffe lies. It is thought some bodies may have drifted away. The divers were watched by many people in row-boats and launches. They met with increased difficulty in their work owing to the heavy mud on the bottom of the harbour obscuring their vision and to the wreckage shifting its position. The perils of their work were also increased by the greater depth of the water, which is 80 feet in the new position.—A. and N.Z.