BODIES LINED THE SHORE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 466, 26 April 1890, Page 3

BODIES LINED THE SHORE.

Of the Men Who Got Dead Drunk on a Ship’s Cargo of Spirits. A correspondent sends us the following from the “Manx Sun” of a recent date. It relates to the foundering of a ship and the fate of the cargo :—A message was at once despatched to Mr Riddel and Mr Power, of the Customs, and as quickly as possible all their officers and a number of policemen were on the spot for the purpose of protecting and saving cargo. By six o’clock all hands were on the scene, and as the barrels of whisky and brandy were washed ashore they were secured. ;A' communication was sent to Captain Young, who was on the Hyena, which was lying up the harbour, to apprise him that the vessel had broken.up, and requesting him to- bring all bis men down ab once. They, however, did non njanage to arrive until daylight, and the work of looking after the would-be pilferers -was exceedingly onerous. Do what they would, however, it;., was. impossible to watch all points, and 1 The shore presented an unprecedented scene. All along the shore during the day' there were hundreds of people and hundreds and Thousands of Broken Bottles, large quantities of timber, and other debris was strewn about on the sands, and every nook and crevice was filled with wreckage. Men seized bottles and barrels where-' ever they could, and drank the contents greedily, the result being that many were soon “on their beam ends ” and in a glorious state of insensibility, rolling about higgledy-piggledy on the cliffs, the brows, and on the shore, and a scene such as has, perhaps, seldom if ever been known in the annals of Douglas, was witnessed. It seemed as if nothing wa3 too hot or two heavy for the men, and in their eagerness they guzzled the ardent spirits with gusto, until, as a policeman aptly pub it, it became a question of * saving life and not property.’ Crowds of people visited the scene, which was described as A Miniature Battle Field, men laid out on the ground in various directions, some maimed through falling down the cliffs or amongst the rocks, others cut and bleeding, and it was a difficult task to keep the men from satisfying their greed. There was a kind of cave or crevice in the rock near Derby Castle, and here a quantity of barrels of whisky and brandy weie placed. Men in an intoxicated condition took possession, and defied anyone to eject them, whilso they fought amongsb themselves savagely, and many received cuts and scars. Matters got to such a high and serious pitch ab one time that one of the Customs officers on duty discharged his revolver several times with a view to scaring the senseless individuals away, but this had little or no effect, and it was seriously thought of sending to Castletown for the military. In some cases the women were even as bad as the men. The latter, in one or two instances, knocked in the ends of barrels and lapped the spirits like a dog, whilst others baled it out with their boots.