FURTHER PARTICULARS. COLLISION WITH A COLLIER. SPLENDID BEHAVIOUR OF THE OFFICERS. ACCIDENT TO THE COOK. Sydney, 1 p.m.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 397, 28 August 1889, Page 5

FURTHER PARTICULARS. COLLISION WITH A COLLIER. SPLENDID BEHAVIOUR OF THE OFFICERS. ACCIDENT TO THE COOK. Sydney, 1 p.m.

Further particulars of the collision wbich resulted in the sinking of the Ellis steamer Centennial are now to hand. The Centennial took her departure for Wellington at nine o'clock last night, the weather being fine ab the time. Both the captain and the second officer were at their places on the bridge when the vessel steamed down the harbour, and they were also at their posts at the time of the accident. All went well until the vessel was passing Bradley's Head, which is half way down the harbour, when a collision took place between the Centennial and an inward bound collier named the Kanchooka. The latter steamer struck the Cencennial stem on with terrible force. The collision caused the greatest alarm amongst the passengers of the Centennial, and the scene on board that ve&sol was one of indescribable commotion for a period of several minutes. When the steamer Kanchooke gob clear, it was found that the fOlf 01 cc of the collision had cut a large hole in the bow oi the Centennial. The water poured through the hole with great force and volume, and the captain of the Centennial ab once headed his ve»se' for the shore. Before he succeeded in reaching shallow "water, however, the fires went out, and the vessel sank within ten minutes of the collision. The boats had in the meantime been lowered, and the passengers taken off and landed safely on the shore. The crew were rescued by passing steamers, bub several of them had veiy narrow escapes. ' ' The cook had a particularly excited and unfortunate experience. He was nob in the forecastle at the time of the collision, but succeeded in crawling through a hole and jumped into the sea. The propeller of the Kanchooka, which was in motion, struck him on the lejr, breaking the limb, and causing a frightful gash. He was, however, rescued, and was: subsequently sent to the Hospital. The passengers and crew have lost everything except what they actually stood in. The behaviour of the officers of the Centennial is said to have been splendid, and it is highly due to their coolness aud courage thatalJ the lives were saved. The vessel went down bow first, and only the mastheads still appear above the water. The passengers for New Zealand who were on board ab the time of the catastrophe are :—: — Messrs Tobin, Lewis, Thomas, Arthur, Cann, Michie, Howston, Thompson, Montgomery (two), Kierle, Johnson, Humphries, Gillespie, Wash, Fibzpati'ick. Mesdames Sievwrighb, Montgomery. Misses Sievwrighb (two), Johnston (bwo). The Captain of the Kanahooka asserts thab he was steering the right course. The cause of the collision has not yet been stated. The Kanchooka had her bow wrecked, and had ib not been for her watertight compartments she would also have foundered, as che had a hole six feet in width knocked into her. The unforfcnnate Centennial was a wellknown old intercolonial trading steamer, having formerly been in the service of the Union S.S. Company in the Sydney - New Zealand trade. She was an iron steamer of 806 tons gross register, 2181b. in length, with 27ft. beam and 15ft. depth of hold. She was built ab Greenock in 1863, and registered at Sydney in 1383. She was owned by Mr J. C. Ellis, the well-known ship-owner of Sydney, and had previously been running on the Australian coastal trade before recently starting in the New Zealand running. In former days she was one of the favourite iboats in the intercolonial trade, and was a staunch vessel of her class. She was, however, of a type of vessel nob going out of date. During the early parb of the present year she had been laid up in dock in Sydney, undergoing an extensive overhaul and refib to prepare her for her new traffic. In company with the Messageries Maritimes sbeamer Dupleix (now the Jubilee) she had been purchased by Mr Ellis, who had been induced by fche enormous increase in the New Zealand and Sydney trade to introduce

steam into his service, which had previously beon carried on- .solely by his fleet of sailing vessels. In dock she was completely re-engined, and had her passenger and cargo accommodation enlarged with a large area of deck space available for the conveyance of stock. Her misfortunes began immediately on her re-enbranco on the New Zealand trado, and beseb her from that time up to the present calamity. She made her appearance in Auckland Harbour on May 17th last, after a protracted passage across owing bo some of the brasses of her engino bearings giving way, and partially disabling hor. Again on her trip South from here on that occasion, fohe was attended by unfortunate circumstances, for she encountered terribly rough weather and gales, and her programme of visits to tho usual call-poits was in consequence greatly delayed. On her first dcpaiLuro from here for Sydney moio mishaps befell hor, for whilo rounding; the North Ctipe she touched on the ground, and narrowly escaped being wrecked, but reached Sydney in safety. On her lasc trip to Sydney from Now Zealand, sho met with very rough weather, and her sinking in Poi t Jackson is the crowning disaster of her career. When in her former binding to ! New Zealand from Sydney, the Ceni tounial (thon the Albion) was not frco ! from mishap, for on one oocaMon some nine or ten years ago, while steaming up Auckland Harbour one foggy morning, fahe ran into tho Railway Wharf, cutting almost) through it, and also damaging her hull. At the time she was in command of Captain (larrard, uho was afterwards lost in the ill-fated steamer Tarai'iia. At the time of her loss at Sydney, the Centennial was in charge of Captain Lessinsf, who L> well-known in Auckland and Southern ports. lie had only made four trips to New Zealand in command of the steamer. Details arc nob yet to hand as to whether the Centennial was so badly damaged when she sank that it will be useless or impossible to raise her, bub furcher information should be bohand shortly. It. is regrettable that the new Ellis line of steamers should have been so unfortunate in the outset of their trading career to New Zealand from Australia. Together with the opposition U.fi.S. steamers they ensured moie frequent and cheap communication with Sydney from here.