LOSS OF THE COTOPAXI TWICE WRECKED IN ONE VOYAGE. NARROW ESCAPE OF 200 PERSONS. London, May 31.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 386, 20 July 1889, Page 3

LOSS OF THE COTOPAXI TWICE WRECKED IN ONE VOYAGE. NARROW ESCAPE OF 200 PERSONS. London, May 31.

Tjll Lend Mayor and the gieafc Brib'sh public have expended so much coin and enthusiasm o\cr Captain JNluriells achie\ements in connection with the Danmaik lescue, that I feai they will not have much left for Captain Hayes and the olticers ot the good old Cotopaxi. Nevertheless, if the following .stoiy ot the two catastrophes winch lecently occuned to that ill-fabed vessel, and the way they weic met, is correct, Captain Hayes doservob at least a portion of the heio woiship that is being showered on Skipper Muirell. The Cotopaxi tailed from Liverpool with a laige' number ot passengers, the South American and Pacific mails, specie, and a geneial cargo for Valpaiaito. The ship i cached the Straits ot Magellan in safety, and ieit l'unla Aienas on April Sth. The weather was fine and clear, and the sea smooth. The land wasdistinctly visible on both sides, and the Cotopaxi seemed to be in the middle of the Channel. About eleven p.m. the passengeis weie ten Hied by hearing a tearful crash, and on lushing on deck learnt tbax a large btcamer which afterwards "proved to be the German ste.unor Olyinpia, bound for Valparaiso to Hamburg-, had crashed into the Cotopaxi on the f-taiboaid sidc-~ below the wateilinc. The- boats woie instantly gob out, and the passenger*, all prepared to get into them. There was not the least excitement, owing to the coolness of the captain and ofiicer*. The water was running in the fillip very fast, and Captain Hayeb decided that the only thing which could be done to &aye the ship was to run her abhoie.

SAFE ASHORE. By midnight the vessel was safely beached, and all danger was considered o\ er. Captain Jia;j es sent away three lifeboats to render assistance to the Olympia, and they returned 1 in an hour with the intelligence that the Olympia had her bows stove in, but was in no immediate danger of sinking. About 9 a.tru the next morning the Olympia came up, and, having communicated with the Cotopaxi, proceeded. In bho meantime many of the male passengers assisted the crew in working the hand-pumps, as the water" had risen above the platea ln the engine-ioom and put out i the fires. The chief officer and chier engineer by daylight succeeded in effecting a temporal y stoppage of the leak, which was four teet below the water-line. The water in the ship having been somewhab reduced, bheengineeisgobastoam pump to work, and then everyone "helped in throwing cargo overborn d to lighten the ship. So • much' progress had been made that at tour p.m. bleam, was up, and as it was high water the engines, were put full speed a&fccm, and "the Cotopaxi floated oil' eafely amid loud cheers for Captain Hayes and the crew. The ship anchored olf tho beach, and the cargo wa& shifted to poit to list bho ship on or, so thab Iho broken pKito& might show übove

the water. This done, the engineers worked at x the plates from stages, although their position was far from enviable, the weather being bitterly cold; By the afternoon of the following day the damaged plates had been sufficiently repaired to allow the ship to resume her yoyage. . The cargo, 1 which had been jettisoned, was recovered. On account of a heavy N. W. g/ale, Captain Hayes, in order to avoid the heavy' seas running, took the northern portion of Smyths Channel.

THE FINAL CRASH. The ship safely passed- on April 15 through the English Narrows, "which are 1 said to be most difficult to navigate ; and between two and three o'clock the same aElernoon, the ship, being in mid-channel, and going full speed, suddenly struck on an unknown rock nob marked on the, Admiralty chart, the position being in lat. 48 44 S., long. 74 30 W. She must have been ripped clean open as she passed over the rock, 1 for she atonce commenced tosink. The boats were gob out with all despatch, the women and children placed in them first, then the male pa&sengers and ci'ew. When the last man of the crew had gob into the boat the stern of the ship was under water, and Captain Hayes stood ankle deep in water. Having seen all safely out of the ship, the captain picked up his dog and jumned in the boat. The chief engineer had a narrow escape, the water in the engine-room being up to his waisb before ho had time to ciear out. The Cotopa>a sank perpendicularly stern first. Although only eight minutes elapsed from the time of striking to the time of foundering, the whole of the,, passengers and crew, 200 in all, were saved. There were two paralysed passengers on board, and Dr. E. D. Alton rushed below and brought up the steerage passenger, and, ha\ ing safely deposited him in the boat, returned to the &aloon for the other. - -

THREE DAYS WITHOUT FOOD. The boat& made for an inlet two miles to the westward, where all landed in safety. The boats were hauled up and turned bottom up. bhe sails being utilised as tents to shelter the women and children, whose position was most deplorable, as the weather was icy cold, and they had saved nothing but what they stood upright in. The island was a miserable swamp. Beyond live tins of bread, the pa&sengers and ciew had nothing but raw mussels, iound on the rocks and melted snow. The ladies and children behaved most bravely under the trying circumstances. They spent two days and two nights on this waste, and then, Captain Hayes having found a more comfortable place on the other side of the channel, fourmiles distant, the camp was broken «p and tli6 pa>ty taken safely across. There they found the remains ot several Indian huts, which served as a shelter for the passengers. The following morning the German steamer Seto.=, of the Kosmos Line, • bound from Valparaiso to Hamburg, hove in sight, and took the passengers and crew on board^. They had a good supply of coffee and bis/ cuits, the first morsel that some had tasted* for three days. Having hoisted up six of the Gotopaxi's boats, the Setos proceeded, and four days later, the 21st, landed the passengers and crew at Punta Arenas' They speak in high terms of praise of 'the kindness of the Ueiinan officers and passengers. The next day Captain Hayes, his officers and crew, embarked on the John Elder, homeward bound. ', All the South Ameiican and Pacific mails and specie fiom, England were lost ■\\ ith the vessel.