THE PENGUIN WRECK

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 20, 17 February 1909, Page 4

THE PENGUIN WRECK

THE SKIPPER'S STOHY. CAPTALN XAUOII LYJ.'EKVIEWED, DETAILS OF THE PEXCULYS LAST Till P. HEAUINK Ftllt SAFETY AND STUIK.ES A HOCK. The captain of the ill-fated steamer was washed ashore on a smashed boat. Ik' escaped injury among .the rocks, and was able to make his way into Wellington during Sntiirdav morning. When interviewed by u -New Zeahim. Times' representative at the Union Company's ollice lie seemed to he very little the worse for his trying experience, though lie was very much distressed over the calamity. "' Wo left'l'icton at (i.2(l p.m.,'' he said, "and entered the straits a few minutes before 8 o'clock, The weather was fairly clear, but hall-way across the Straits it set down thick. The Penguin was miming on the outside course, which would "have taken her miles clear of where we struck. I allowed for a big southerly set. ■ THICK WEATHEi; I'.XtiH NTLUI'.D. "About ten e'clock we were expecting to pick up I'enrarrow light, lor we nail run the distance. However, i! was so ihiek that we could not see it. nor an\- [ thing el-e ashore. Collsei|lleuily I lielini'iincd lo put the stea \s head to | round when we struck a rock. Iving obstruction a mile and a i|iiarler oil Karon si ream, which Hows into Ihe Slrails a few miles south of Terawhili.

"The blow was a suiting one along the starboard side." TKIiIiIIJLY HAKIJ LUCK.

"The starboard side V echoed the reporter. "Then the rock was between von and clear water."

"Yes," replied the captain, "if 1 had not turned her out at ...ml .Moment we might have missed the lock."

Examination of the chart makes the captain's slatcineiit quite clear. Tom's Unci; is a low-lving oh-druclinii, with deep wain all n'toiiid it, and the Penguin could quite ••elis'.lv lime got between

"Alter toiicliing the rock," continued Captain Xavlor, " the, steamer slid oil' quite clear.' 1 ordered the wells to he sounded, and found water in No. t and the after hold. This soon began to gain im the engine-mom pumps, and we made preparations to get uie women and' children away from the ship. It was a fairly big sea which broke up some of the ' boats. Tliut is >vllv tne viowd which was saved had to take to the rafts."

SCIOXJO ON* TUB SINKING Sill]'. The captain was closely questioned in regard to "hilt happened lis SOUII us the steamer struck, ami it was evident that he remained on the bridge, steering so as to secure a sheltered sea lor launching the boats n;i one side by turning I lie Vessel broadside on to til.- waves.

'• We managi'd to do this once," lie said, "but could not do it (or the boats on the other side. The Penguin was settling steadily by the head, and at last she took u final plunge and went down." When did that occur? for answer the captain took out his watch, which was stopped al 10.33. •■That was when I got bin liie water." hi- said. Continuing his story, he explained that, ihe women and children were got awav in two boats, which hud got well clear of the ship when sinlook the plunge. The seas unshipped one of tile boats before they could do anything with it, and another one was

■iinaslu'd alongside the steamer before it got awav with some women and children, but in- believed all the occupants were got. aboard again.

HUMORS TO TilK ROATS. "When tile boat li-it liie ,-nip I tool them to pull out to sea and let the Hood tide take tiu-in round the Ice of Tcrawhiti. i landed about, an hour and a half before daylight on an upturned and damaged boat. I picked up one man in the water (this was Woodward), lie was a steward on the I'atecna, whom I knew) bv sight. The poor fellow- stuck to the wreckage with me. ir.itil we got. lifty yards from the reef, then the boat ioiled over twice with us. and 1 lost, him, "Thi! two rafts which got away irnin tin- ship had eleven or iwehe pa-sci-gers respectively. They contained men from the engine-room, the aecK, and some stewards, most of the passengers having gone in the boats. DOWN HOW FIRST. "When the ,earner took ihe plunge I was on deck, talking to the chief engineer. We had realised that she was bound to go down, and I called up everybody from below. When the.Penguin went down head lirst all on deck ..nade a .jump far it, and got to tin- raft.'' SURVIVORS .iMIORF.. " When we got ashore we met the survivors from liie rafis, and llu-v went up into the scrub to get shelter until daylight. Tneu thev' struck ac"o»s eoiuili'v and got to '.Mr McMciiaini.i's I se.' where thev were splendidly treated. Two liig lires wen- lighted, and Hie fable n,„ piled Willi chulics, so that evci'vollc could help ~,ii-cll". In l.li-t, added tin- captain grat.cl'nllv, •• 1 have got Mr. .McMciiamilfs bonis'on now." Til 10 RISKS OK Til 10 SKA. "Do you tidal; there is'a prospect of Ihe boats having rounded Terawliiti mill got into Ohau Hay T asked the pressman. "J think one of tliein could have done it," answered the captain. "There was a danger of their getting swamped. \V>" ■got into the rip again, and there was a dirty curling sea. They were coppertanked boats and would keep anonl. even if they were swamped, but the danger was that they would be capsized." Captain Nnylnr expressed his admiration of the way in winch the women and children behaved, 'there was, of course, some ervhig. he said, hut thev did what thev we're told. "While I \\n, drifting ashore I passed one of fiic rafts several times, and llreij told me that tliev had seen \». .1 boat 1 with the women ami children several times during Hie night. " I du:i"t think (he ..-oats would have' been cauirhi in the vortex, as the v h-fi about lii.-2(l ami the ship did not' 'akc the plunge until about: ei»ht minutes to] eleven." I Captain Xiivlor said thai, lie was on I hi' bridge all'night with the third oflicer, and thai the second engineer was in charge of tin- engines when the vessel struck. The lirst raft: to get ashore was fortiiiiatclv near a liul close to Cap,Terawliiti. and'the others landed .„, HiWellington side.

THE SCENE AT THE COAST lIAKKUUTN.i SI'RTACLE. KiicovKttixi; Tin-: df.vd fkom tiii-; SKA. Wrote the Tillies reporter :-'lll' greatest number of tlie*bodics was wash id ashore in the vicinity of Cave J lav which is nearly half wa'v between tl'n Tcrawhiti Homestead and' Oteraugi cabh I station, where (lie submarine line coinc- ] ashore from Cook Strait. In Cave I in,. three of the Penguin's boats and one I raft arc high and drv. Two of the houlI are lying bottom up.'au.l are undamaged, while the third boat, is standing on its | keel with one siilr smashed in. and tiler:' I are numerous rough rents in the planks ! to show that she must have struck on a, I number of sharp-pnimed rooks. Further I along I he beach is the how only of another boat, anil tin- sei-oml rail, in- ' lad. ! VAI.IT. OK KAFTS. Tweiitv-ihror n left the wreck on 1 the two rafts, and everv one of them '. were siiveil. uf all the persons who lelt 1 in boats onlv four wore saved. | YVIIKCKACr; Rill .MILKS. The beach for miles along is strewn ! nilli wreckage. There are deck liUill'.s I ami boat planks and everv eo.icoiviblc | thing fliaf can Hunt, besides liunrcroiis j cases of fruil. part uf Hie vessel's deck I liiniies cam,- ashiiic all along llie coiislliue from llie Katdri stream riglit up m Olcraagi cabl- station. At the hillijilace a chiibbv Imv of about, eight years washed up. The' lileholl ws uroiinil .Vis head and face, and appeared lo have sriolliered him. li'l'LLV CLOTIIKD. .Numbers of the bodies were fully i Millie,! including bonis, and in every iiis'ianc- a lifebelt was securely fnslracil . aroiiiud the liud\. Nearly ali the men fonjiil had their'arm extended, as if ill (I,- afiilude of swimming, bill, this was not until bio wilh I he women. nit: nonius Hadlv itiirisKi). Il is alums! en-lain from their pnsilion Unit Ihree of the bonis Here inl.iel imlil thev no! inln lire su;-f : and Ihey must have then capsized, perhaps within I a few vnrils of the shore. This is borne out by I he appearance of Hie A d,.ad 'body will nol bruis... Nearly all the corpses are badly bruised about the head and face, and are in numerous instances covered with blood, testifying lo the stern fight, for life there must hnve been amongst the rocks with which the whole, of lie'coast is studded. The

coastline lor miles around the TVru-,,Sti homestead h rockboiiinl and treacherous, but there are several small coves where a successful landing mn be made h the 'daylight. THE HOIUiIIR (IF TIIK XKIHT.

The horrors of Friday night were iutensilied by Ihe thick driving rain and iiuist. A point knou.i as 1 tie I'innacle is an extremely wild piece of coast, dozens of small rocks sticking up out of the ocean like so many needles. It was here thai one of the rafts was washed ashore. Among the rocks is a portion of the fourth boat, which was evidently dashed to pieces.

It is miraculous how all the men on (he rafts were saved seeing thai both raffs tinned complete somersaults several limes during the night, all the occupants being precipitated into the waler. The men, however, all managed to gel on board again, the survivors helping each other to scramble back. The life raft which was cast, up near Pinnacle Hock must have been washed right over a reef which is for the most pari out of the water, except wJicn an extra heavy breaker washes over it.

The bench for miles around presented a horrifying spectacle. Everywhere there the'seaweed, and others jammed in among Ihe rocks. All Ihc inliahiianls and sTalion hands in I lie distrct turned out lo render assistance and help to ••am- the bodies up above high'wilier mark.

A SAD SUNDAY. A visit to Terawliili on Sunday emphasised the appalling Horror of the catastrophe (savs the NX Times of .Monihiv). Crossing the bridle track from .\lakii'ra to I he lieach it was impossible to see more than half a chain ahcau, .oil it was only on getting to the most pathetic stretch of beach in New Zealand that the haze lifted a little, and it was possible to notice many people walking along tint beach, althoiign wnen tin; reporter arrived at 11 r llc.Menainiii's homestead, it was bin little after eight o'clock. The extreme dillieulty of the eoasl, the high chits at the back, and the wicked rocks to seaward, absolutely aweil the observer, and tin; fact that there was a heavy surf breaking on the beach finished a'picture of desolation and despair. One had to go hut a short distance along the heaen netore llh' wreckage from the Penguin was seen—deposited in heaps. Spars floated everywhere : in every cranny there seemed to be lifebelts'. Deck littings were thrown up high and dry. Crimson plush cushions dotted about (be rocks were the only splashes of color that were not utterly desolating and appalling. To ' persons unaccustomed to such sights as were to be seen everywhere, the first evidence of the human misery expressed al intervals along live or six miles of beach was a great shock. A few hundred yards furtlier on one came across a motley heap of discoloured canvas a few discoloured blankets, and underneath six corpses. The faces of some I were covered with lifebelts, some were screened from the air and sun i,y pieces of wreeUiioe. and in almost every ease it was seen that the treatment of the waves had been extremely violent. The hands of the victims were all clasped or half clasped, as if they bad been trying to grasp something when death was" coining, liming the whole day there were no •' scenes " of any kind. All the people on the beach were men, and it was evident that their nerves had been strun" up to hi'di tension and they were behaving with the fortitude that seems to assisf Nature when supreme moments

A I'ATIIFTIC I'ROCIOSSIOX. All day Ihe pal indie procession of plentiful" townspeople continued, an" Ihev came both wnvs-ay mot or horseImc'k-- round the coasl l'r slaml Hay ,„• bv the ste.-p and slippery track from Makara. At a. spot where then- w'tc eighteen corp-es. soon- of the ten police wild had been doing such good work were camped for a momentary rest. At Ibis spot Mr -Morris, a city undertaker. was vmii 1 with a number of Vipers in constructing rude litters with the help of Hour "bags the handles being oars that were picked up. The four corpses were carried h.v many willing hands three miles over rough beach, and thence across the terrible track to Makaru. where those of Mr and Mi's Hale Mr Charles Bird and Mr Hone. The carriers of all the bodies that were broii-hl in vesfcrdav had an extremely r,„i"h time.'and it is notable that there was no lack of voluntei--, and that the men who did the work so tenderly and with such devotion were men who. as a „,.„eral thing, the unfamiliar with rough cunt rv. At a late hour yesterday after-noon-'and it was the saddest; Sunday .iflernoon inanv Wellington people have ever spent liftv-lwo bodies had Ven cast no mi the beach, and the police, ..latioii hands and other volunteers had drawn I hem up above high water mark. Til" lug-boat Tcrawhili had been timed In lean-Wellington at 7 o'clock ycslerilav morning, but, as the weather was extremely bad. it was obviously useless pruc lilig at once to Hie scene of the wreck. She, liowever. arrived oIV the spot a little after midday, and from Ihe shore it. could be seen that she was havi bad time. Frequently she was eil-lii-elv lost ill the trough of the great waves, and it seemed that it is not so dillieiill to lower and bring a hoat ashore as it is to get her back again to the ship. There was still a constant stream of people on even- track leading to that dreadful beach,' and ir, vras oYovious that many of them were dead beat. Rome, indeed, lay down on the wet beach or track 'exhausted. There were many cameras on the spot, and the owners conlined themselves principally to ''snapping " the boats, the sad procession of stretcher-bearers, and the collection of horses and vehicles that, were to he found at the place where the rtmd ended at Makara.

A HICAUTKEXWXU IXCIDEMT. One particularly patllelk- incident. A man who was searching for a relative lifted the blanket from the face of a dead woman. There was a gentleman standing alongside the row of corpses, and as the blanket was lifu-ii he -am. siinplv, '•That's m.v wife" All day there was open house at Mr Me.Mcnainin's. whose hospitality and splendid assi-iauce in eyerv possiole wnv alter a national catastrophe is a splendid illustration of the devotion of which I pie are capable during time when human help is so much needed. In a shed close to the hoinestead. over in a dark corner and covered with a blanket, was Mrs Hanum's ha I iv--111;' liitle one who had been lashed lo a boat thwart by its heroic mother. The sweet face of this might gave no evidence of snll'ering. aiiit one was yerv thankful indeed to be able to feel that death had come .suddenly lo il. One man, who had showed tile hear! of the best, kind of man during a dav of selfsacrificing labour, lifted the blanket and gazed at the babv. Tt was somebody else's body, but the sight s„ tonehed llil'n I hat he burst into tears. And awav along the hciii-h for miles on either side of the homestead there were tiftv-onc olher bodies. As the |H'ople who had seen the appalling sights tramped hack to Alakara over the misty hills thev were silent and deep in thought. It was a relief beyond words to describe to Iw.ve (hose p ■ bullies, and it was worl'i. pondering over that there were instances of devotion shown yeslerdny that will be treasured by those dial remain. (

| HKKOIl! WOIIK. Mounted Constables Sims , Mount Cook) and Oardiner (l.ainhtou (Joav) , were the Ins I, policemen to reach Ihe I beach. Thev deserve the highest praise for the splendid work thev performed on Saturday. Thev left, town early, and proceeded to the Tcrawhiti lioin'esleail by the coastline via Island llav. After using their horses to convey the survivors over the Knrori stream, which was in high Hood, they pa I rolled the whole cable station. All dav thev c.iii\huci"l to pull bodies out of the sca'and convey tlii-iii ' Ici a place of safely. They were net Ihroiigh all the lime, frci'iuenllv wading into (lie water waist deep. Thev examined llie bodies, secured the money, jewellery and valuables, and entered a i'i nl of these up in'their books. •These Iwo men had nothing („ eat fro arlv morning until late al. night. as Ihey would not give up Hie task until it was too dark to earn- out further operations. Their work c'ai the regarded as anything loss than heroic. A IDIII'SK-STUI'AVN' HKACH.

Ilighf aliiMi; Uii> bridle truck from Tel--iiwhiti homestead to (Herangi station un Saturday night there were corpses, 'each one stretched out, with tlio face covered in inimy instances W a lifebelt. The body nearest In tlic stiilinii house was Dial of tin- unfortunate man who i-lung uilli Captain Xiivlov tn Ihc broken tail, dcpiii oik (it his ln ids linna mmnd it the urisl, anil nnlv hanging on li\ -kin. Tlio iiooi- fellow must have l.lcd hi d nlli. lint there were manv grne some sights. Side liv side were firemen, sulois, ind huh pisscngeis, -omi old and otliors .voting, ami all showing' the same sign, of suffering and suspense Nearly nl! had their faces battered about, and in one or two instances the

faces were hardly recognisable, LOOKING FOR JiKLATIVES AND KKILXDS. During Saturday afternoon a few persons who hud made their way from the city could be seen going up to the bodies and uncovering the faces in an endeavour to identify sonic lost friend or relative. Sunn; bad crane to lincl a wife, some ii sister, or a brother. The scene was heartrending. I'KKVrOI.'S WIiKOKS. Several ve-sols have been totally wrecked oil' Terawliili. On Christmas Dnv. lSiMi. the liar.pie Crassinerr, conllad'eu from Newcastle, .and commanded bv Captain Campbell, was wrecked oil Terawliili, and became a lota! loss. Two of her crew were drowned. Not two years elapsed before another vessel battered herself to piece- on the rocky coast.lhe schooner John ISell Icing wrecked in I SIM. No lives, however, were lost, in 1IHI.") the Penguin came into notice in. connection with a wreck off Terawhiti. This was the wreck of the sailer Lutterworth, all Ule olliccrs and hands of which were taken oil by the Penguin. The Lutterworth was aitcrwanis picked up liv the Aorcrc and lowed into Wellington harbor, where .she is now used as a coal-hulk. In IWHI Hie Shaw. Savill and Albion liner Nelson struck Tours ltnek. two or three miles from Cape Terawhiti. and which is only just awash at low spring tides, but, a'ltiioiigh leaking, managed to get into Wellington harbor without, foundering. In I'Vliruary. Willi, the steamer Uaiiibncea, commanded by Captain Crokor, bound from Blenheim to Wellington, was wrecked between Port Nicholson and Cape Terawhiti. No livs were lost. 11l August. 11)117, the baripicnline. Woohihra was wrecked at Terawhiti. her captain and one or two seamen being drowned.