SHIPPING DISASTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 23 April 1907, Page 3

SHIPPING DISASTERS.

CARGO SHJPjS IN COLLISION. .WHEAT-LADEN BAIiQUE SUNK IN 7 MINUTES. STEAMER SUBSEQUENTLY SUNK HV THE WRECK. DISASTROUS MISUNDERSTANDINGS Adelaide, April 22. A serious double shipping disaster oceunvd yesterday morning. The ship Arden Cmig, inward lammi .from London, with a full mineral cargo. ,in the liist instance collided with the jl>arr|iie Norma and the semaphore. I The Norma was lying at' anchora-- ! ready for sea. She "i:ad 31.000 lines' 0 f [wheat aboard. All hands, with the exception of the watchman, were below a! the time.

| The watchman, after calliii" the c-rew, tried to warn the Arden' Craig, but apparently was unheeded. The incoming ship struck the Norma a heavy blow on the port side amidships, cutting b.dow Hie waterline.

The Norma immediately heeled over rapidly, filled within ten minutes, and sank in seven and a half fathoms of water.

The erew got out the lifeboat, arid with the exception of the carpenter (Johnson, a Norwegian), left the ship as she was disappearing. Johnson's absence was not noticed till the boat had reached the Arden Craig. A boat from the Arden Craig went in search of John- ! son, but 'the man could not ho seen, ow- I ing to the darkness and the heavy sea running. The boat got to leeward of the position, and the crew found it impossible to row back to windward. The boat gradually drifted to the outer harbor works, where it was picked up by a steam launch. Later on the Jessie Darling, inward bound with a wheat cargo, approached the Arden Craig. The master (Captain Ronald) noticing a spar standing out of the water, bore down under the impression that fomeone was clinging to it. Those on the Arden Craig warned frantically the steamer to stand off, but owing to a misunderstanding the Jessie Darling steamed over the wreck and one of the spars pierced her within five minutes. She was resting on the submerged vessel and the master and crew had just time to get into a boat launched from the deck before the steamer foundered. The double disaster is unique prob ably in Australia. Although the disaster occurred in the early morning, and notwithstanding the blue lights burned by the Arden Craig, nothing was known until eight o'clock when the health officers went off' the signal which indicated that there had been a collision being taken to mean that there had been a collision during the voyage. Details of the collision did not reach the city till late in the day. The Arden Craig was only slightly damaged. She lost her foreroyal mast and damaged some plates on the port how. She is making water slightly. The Jessie Darling had 20,200 bags of wheat aboard. Accounts of the disaster are very conflicting. Tho captain and chief officer of the Arden Craig declare that no lights were visible aboard the Norma until they were too close to avert a collision, while the Norma's crew assert that proper harbor lights were burning all right, ' THE INSURANCES. A NARROW ESCAPE. < [ Received 23rd, 1.45 a.m. I. Adelaide, April 22. I The Norma's cargo was insured for €21.400. Lloyds took £IO,OOO. The balance is divided in local offices. The i hull is insured in London, but the amount is unknown. The steamer Palmer had a narrow escape early this morning. She bumped over the wreck of the Norma, but luckily sustained little damage. The boat which went to the rescue of Johnson heard cries [or two hours, but, owing to the rough sea, and was nuable reach him. He must have succumbed to exposure or exhaustion. VESSEL FOUNDERS IN RUSSIA. SIXTY-FIVE PEOPLE DROWNED. Received 22nd, 10.25 p.m. St. Petersburg, April 22. The steamer Archangelsh, with eighty passengers, in crossing the Neva in a snowstorm, struck an ice iloe, and foundered almost immediately. The passengers fought for the few lifebelts. A passing vessel rescued 12 men and three women. The remainder were carried away by the current and drowned.