THE WRECK OF THE INFLEXIBLE. A TUG STEAMER FOUNDERS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 401, 11 September 1889, Page 3

THE WRECK OF THE INFLEXIBLE. A TUG STEAMER FOUNDERS.

A Sydney paper of the 28th ulfc. says :— - Following the harbour disaster to the steamers Centennial and Kanatiqoka, the loss of the Sydney-ownedsteamer Inflexible is reported The crew reached the city soon after midnight on Monday, and yesterday the Joss -was reported- to the Marine Board authorities^ wJh;6 in due course' will hold an inquiry. The Inflexible was very well known as> a < har-, bour steamer, chiefly employed in the port as a tug. She was built in "1883 ,by Edwards and Symes, of London. " Her hull was steel, length 128 ft. 3in., beam '21ft., and depth Bfbi 4in. The measurement ton- ' nage was 175 gross, or 119 net. "Mr Jamea Hals bead, the well -known boatbuilder of McMahon's Point, North Shore, is the owner, and the vessel was regarded as one of ' the best of her class, always well found, and' kept in the best possible order. She .was insured for £6,000 in the , Commercial Union Company, and was, valued -ab £9,000. ' She left Sydney last Sunday at midnight and proceeded to the southward of Port Jackson on a cruise in search of in-ward-bound sailing ships. All went well until half -past 3 o'clock on Monday,, morn ing, when, in a lumpy sea, the steamer pitching pretty heavily,- and going ab trom nine to ten knots, a sudden bump was noticed. The master, Captain Goard, had gone below and was lying in his berth at the timei . At somW .where about 5 a.m. a tremendous rush of steam and a loud hissing sound came- from the engine-room. All hands were speedily j roused out, and, fearing a bhow-up— the water rushing into the engine-room, and' fast making its way to- the heated boiler' 1 and furnaces— the firemen set to rake pub 1 the fires. The water was found to be gaining at the rate of about Iff every 15 minutes. In a shallow vessel of but Bfb depth there was no time < ti? be lost. ~ To attempt to run her ashore — a dis; ' tance of from 8 to 10 miles — was, of course, useless, so the boat w^a got, out off The Sisters, and the six men oh board, ' comprising the erew — a captain, engineer, two deck hands, and two'firemen-»-stepped into the dingy. About three-quarters of an hour after the boat pushed off from the doomed vessel she filled > the waves toppled, over her bulwarks,' and the Inflexible disappeared. The frail craft containing the six men had not proceeded far e"fe the supposed source -of the disaster was come . upon in the shape of a massive piece of, v floating timber or .wreckage, possibly & ship's gunwale, with frame pieces hanging to it. It was not attempted' to "closely examine the floating danger, there being too much sea to risk the small boat manoeuvring in it with her crowded freight. Her head was kept tor Port Hacking, where* after seven hours' hard pulling, the men landed on the rooks. Soon after they landed their condition' became known to Captain SpringaU, of -the Oriental Hotel, and that gentleman rendered every possible aid. to. the castaways.

Melbourne, September 6. , A. passenger train dashed into a ' goods ,train at CJippsland. The engines tele scoped, and a stoker and a passenger, oath train \yere very badly. • injured. Twelv . other passengers were also huls.