TERRIBLE SHIPPING DISASTER.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 285, 28 July 1888, Page 6

TERRIBLE SHIPPING DISASTER.

TOTAL LOSS OF THE STAR OF GREECE. Tiiiy &lrip Star of Greece was totally wrecked at Port Willunga, early on the morning of July 13th, and now lies in the moor" ing about 500 yards from the shore. The fury of the storm Avhieh raged during tho night was most severely felt along the coaht. The circumstances sun ounding the terrible disaster will requires .searching inquiiy, as from first to last tho blows ol fate boomed to have been only too well seconded by human carelor&ness, and want of forethought. Seventeen lives wore lost from the ship, together with a full cargo of wheat. Tho resirlentb quickly collected, and fchei'o was no lack ot individual heroism in rescuing the few sailors who came ashore alive, through tho tremendous breakers which rolled upon the beach. The arrival ol tho rocket apparatus and rescuing steamer tromPort Ade laide was waited for all day in vain. The Star of Greece was bound tor England, and her proper course lay through the Investigator Straits. In .spite ot tho strong gale trom the west, it remains a mystery how she got some 25 miles out ot her way. (Jrear, indignation is expressed at tho tauline&s shown in sending assistance when the wreck was known early in the morning, whilst the scene of tho disaster was only a few mileb oil. Soon after dark the rocket apparatus ai lived, when the last despairing burvivorfc had tiled to icach the shore, and perished in the attempt. The after part ot the ship went to pieceb caily in the morningasthccrcwlcapedintothofeea, many being flashed to death. Most of tho survivors weie cut about the hoad and other parts ot the body. Six men weie seen to jump overboaid together, but none of them reached the land. One man was seen clinging to a raft hastily manufactured, and he was washed backwards and foi wards and then drowned. The vessel is broken amidships the miz/en mast gone and all the deck houses swept away. The sea was strew n with wreckage, amongst which dead bodies were being dashed about by the angiy waves in sight of the row of inert iigures standing in the glare of a large fire on the shore. It was a sad spectacle. Some of the unfortunate people were fully diesocd, whilst othci^ wote devoid of all clothing. Port "Willunga lies about 30 miles south of Adelaide beach. It clips suddenly, and theie aic trom 3 to 6 fathoms of water in tho bay, which is. bhcltoied f'om southerly winds by the lecfs noith i ora Snapper Point. The Stai of Greece was built at Belfast in 1868, and was constmctcd ot iron. Her length Wib 227 feet, bicadth 35 feet, and depth 22 teet 2 inches. She was owned by Messrs J. T. Corry and Co.. Belfast, and wa.- under the command of Captain Uarrowcr. She had aciew of about 25, most of whom weroshippcdfioni Pore Adelaide. Her steward was shipped at homo, as weie also the stewaid's boy and toui appienticee, one of w lorn, -Icllrie.-', deserted while the bhip wa& at the Poit. The captain ha& a sister in Adelaide, but this is his first voyage hcic, although he has pi^iously had the command of other \ e^belrf. ihe Stiii of Greece left London on the 20th March, and mado a good voyage to the colony. She lett the anchorage at the Semaphore about 6.30 at night, with a caigo of 36,000 bags of wheat, bound for the United Kingdom. Tho vebbcl was insuiod in the following companies: : — British and Ifoieign Company, £2,000 ; Reliance Company, C 2,000 ; Adelaide Fire and Marine Company, U 2,000 ; Union Company of Canton, C 1,500 ; Canton Insurance Company, £2,225 ; .McLcantile Company, £500 ; and South Biiti^h Company, C 2,000.

STATEMENT OF A SURVIVOIi. One of the biivvivoib, a sailor named James Revell, is badly cut about the head. He states : When the bhip struck it was very dark and blowing a heavy gale 01 wind. 1 giopcd mv way aft tvom the forecastle, where 1 was lying with a bad headache owing to the wound received. T round the first and necond mates ;>tt pciiectiy sobci, but the skipper in a stale of indication. 1 stood in the companion whj, and saw him tepcatcdly di inking biamiy out ot a bottle. The ship was labouung 1 veiy hcaxily, and the water was coming aboaid in tons. She was mmcd in the sand, «o that she did nor heoi over much. About l.'->Q in the moining tlic rush ot watei on decks floated the bool>y Intchway and the hencoops, and at he same time sho eauied away hci foie and mamro;yai masts. By this unic the cabin was full ot watei . The spanker, too, in truttiintr adnit, slashed the companion v, ajlichb in. We then had to clcai out ot the companion way, where wo had /been stani my: loi shelter, and took to t ho ligging, and had hard woik to hold on, the seas flying a^ high as the top. The peas then began to .sweop the decks, thoroughly clearing oO all the deck houses, boats and bpars. The men forward tried to get out one of the forward boats, but the .scab smashed her up. I called the captain's attention to the bi eakmg up ot the docks, and asked him it he did not think it was time to leave. Ite was alongside in the rigging, and answeied " \es, lend me u hand otl with my coat." 1 took my coat oIT, then helped him oft' with hi-. J wished him good-bye and jumped. I had a pretty hard struggle to get ashore, and got a few knocks. It took me about 20 minutes to do the 400 yards, tind my strength was gone when I reached the beach, but one oi the rescue party named Lovelock caught me by the hand and bi ought me in.

LIST OF SAVED. Ha/eland, fivbt male ; F. Kearney, appi entice ; Mcßtunci, apprentice ; A. Prior, appi entice; .J. Johnson, apprentice ; Cower - ioul, third mate; Cail Clausen, bcaman ; James Revel, seaman ; Crowe, bcaman.

THE PIRSX MATE'S STORY. H. D. Homeland, who is a highly intelligentgentleman, was among the first rescued. 1 found him at the residence of Mr Bowering, where he was slowly recovoi ing from the effects ot his lengthy battle with the waves ; but I must allow him to tell his story in his own words :—: — " I am the first mato of the ill-fated vessel lam an Englishman, and 24 years ot age. We left the Semaphore at 6.45 on Thursday night. Wo got under way in the usual manner, and wo ran with our foretopsail and main topsail sot for about two houis at/ Uio rate of 6 knots per hour. We then hove to. Tins must havo boen 9 o'clock. "We biaced the maintopsail aback, and then lay there till about 7 o'clock on Friday morning. The second mate, Mr Jtt. Wa'ugh, and myself then called Captain H. Marrower, calling out that there was land on the bow. The captain at once came on deck aud gave oi dera to brace the main >ard, bo as to try and keep off the leo shore. We hardly knew where the land was at Ihe time, but wo know wo were close on it. Whon we found we could not effect our purpose we cleared up everything, and at once lot go our port anchor with 60 fathoms of chain. This did not answer, U 3 she at once dragged her anchor, and we

could not stop her with the compressor. The wind was blowing willy, the night was dark and dirty ; so you can imagine our position. Well, in a moment the vessel jumped on shore, bringing her fore and main topgallant mast down by the board. This, as near as I can make out, was at 4.15 this morning. Some of us at once took to the rigging, whilst others went in tho cabin. We burnt innumerable blue lights, and tried to fire our rockets, but found that we could not light them, as they appeared to hfive got damp. At 5.15 p.m. we wero washed out of the cabin by a tremendous wave, which swept over the vessel, washing away the skylight, the booby hatches and tho cabin, tilling it \\ ibh water. At ihe time the captain and my&olf were standing there. The waves bti'uck the vessel with such force that we wero both carried oIF our loot. 1 picked myself up on the poit sido of the i'orecabtle. When I got in the forecastle I found all the sailor& had absemblctl there. At 9 o'clock thi& morning tho ship broke in half just abaft, and the mi/.zcn masb went by the board. Now occurred the lirst losb of life. Four hands weie wa&licd overboard, and they disappeared from .sight at onco, being drowned. At 10 o'clock the captain and second mate attempted to swim a&horc, but both perished. Tho feea was running mountains high, and the wind blowing fresh gales, but they could sco the bhore, and determined to try foi dear life. We saw them jump into the water, another moment and

THE WAVES HAD ENGULFED THEM. Ever and anon we could just distinguish a black object. These were the bodies being tossed backwards and forwards by the angry billows. By this time the \ c&scl was a complete wreck, great seas breaking over her, and we were standing up to our waists in water. We began to see that we must attempt to get ashore. We resorted to eveiy dodge to get a line ashore, such as floating a seaman's chest with a line attached, hoping sve would be thus able to communicate with thoshorc, but the eddying lidoand back drift from the sea would return the chests to tho ship after going half way across. After all the&o efforts had failed we determined to swim a&hore, cross hands and battle w ith tho waves. I took the lead, and called on tho men to follow me. Four or live ot the handb did so. We ran to the bow of the \ossel, and without any hesitation, for you know it was life or death, in a moment we had jumped into the bosom of the deep. J called out — " (Jome on, my boys ; now or never," and in we jumped, and got safely ashore, thank God. Among those who came weie two of the apprentices, mere lads. They could not swim, but managed to lash themselves to a plank, and got safely ashore. Reporter : How did you manage to geL so tar oil your course as to get into Aldinga ? That question 1 can't answei. 1 can only answer such a question when it is put at the Marine Board inquiry. Rcpoiter : Was Captain Harrow or sober when the disaster occurred '{ He was pcrloctly sober when the ship went ashore. Ho was 27 year 1 ? ol ago and unman icd. He has a sister who lc&idos at Woodvillc. I have lost everything I had in this world, and now 1 am without a penny. I saw the captain, the carpenter, the boatswain, the steward and tho second mate drowned.

THE LAST TO LEAVE THE VESSEL At 5 o'clock precisely the List two persons on board Uio ill-fated vessel made a. gallant attempt to roach the shore. God only knows the torments they endured in the last few moment'! they spent on board. The shore, not 200 yaids distant, \\a& crowded with able-bodied men, and not one of them could stretch out a hand to savo the unicubunates. Lashing thombelvcfe into fury, ttic waves dashed over the vessel and tent the f-piay into the rigging. We on shore could see the last two on the wreck. One was an eldeily man, the sailmaker, the other «i youth in the prime of manhood. The youth went to the bows of the vessel, and quickly divubtcd himself ot all hi.-- clothes. Then at. we watched \\ o taw him climb to the side of the wiSbd. For a moment he obood inesolutc, but in a second he pulled himself together and plunged headlong into bhc i sea. Ke shot liUe a duck from below, then' struck out boldly lor the shore. As he breasted the tirst rough wave we felt that he would reach the shore, but our hopes were speedily dashed to the ground, ioi the tiough of the &ea engulfed him, and in an instant he was floating at the mercy of the waves. He sank so suddenly that we concluded that he must have been struck by a floating hpar. Wo never saw his body again. Now we turned to the old sailmaker (his identity is nob quite certain). He did not divest himself ot his clothes, but reached the centie of the vessel, and then, without hesitation, dropped into the sea. Now a tierce war was raging between the elements and one man. The battle was an unequal one, but despite that, it seemed at ii" pluck would cairy the unfoi tunate sailmaker through. After breasting the fiist wave he grasped at and secured a piece of wreckage. Clinging to this, he was carried hither and thither. His case was now hopeless. As fast as he floated out the receding waves sucked him back again. In this way he was carried out fiom one end oi the vessel to the other. Had he but jumped from the bow or stem ot tho ship, there would have been a chance of saving his life. We sa>v the gallant fellow throw himself on his back, still clinging to the spar, evidently with the hope that the waves would drift him ashore. In this position lie hung for some time, and then a tremendous sea struck the vessel, and, breaking over her, caught the sailmaker in its grasp. For a moment the surf hid him from our sight, and when it cleared away we saw tho spar and the man wore separated.

CAUSE OF THE DISASTER. According to the tirsl mate, the ship was got under weigh aboub 6.45, and then the vessel ran with fore top&ails and main topsails sot for abou b two hours, at the rate of 6 knots per hour. At 9 o'clock she was hove to, the main topsails were braced aback, and the vcs&cl was allowed to remain so until 2.30 on Friday morning. Now, during all this time a south-west wind was blowing, so that with canvas on she must have been gradually going shoreward. This, apparently, was not discovered until too late. In fact, the first officer said that when bho bccond mate cried " Land on the Ice bow '" thoy did not quite know how near the land was. It would seem, therefore, that the vessel wa& hove to until she gradually drifted on shore. She struck bows on, and then wind and waves caused her to swing broadside on. The wind was blowing great guns at the time, and in a few momonls after tho vessel ran ashore the fore and main bop gallant mast came down by the board. All hopo of getting the &hip oil was ended, and whon she broko in halvesjustabafb,the mizzenmaafcallowenb by tho board, and the Star of Groeco was a hopeless wreck.

The renson women don't appreciate the telegram at halt its value, is that postscripts cannot be added, without extra charge.