MYSTERY OF THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 64, 2 August 1912, Page 8

MYSTERY OF THE SEA.

TRAGIC FATE OF MOTHER A:<D CHILD. LOST OVERBOARD. SUICIDE OR ACCIDENT? By Telegraph —Press Aksw-lal.oii. Auckland, Wo dnes<lay. A sensational tragedy owurr-i (in July 22 during the voyage of tlu; .si.uner Zealaudia between Honolulu as--! >\ava. Mrs. Ettie Opland, a married wjni.L.i, and her son, six years of age, who were travelling steerage, were lor-i. overboard and drowned. No one aboard the vessel [appears to have actuaHy *'-o<-u the vicItinis of the affair fall overboard, and it us therefore somewhat of a mvritery as Ito whether it was a ease of -double ciii'cide or an accident.

On the date of the tragedy, about 1 p.m., the cry of "Man overboard" mas raised, and immediately the utmost commotion and consternation was ci.iu.sed aboard the vessel. The 'bugle -liad just sounded for luncheon, and nearly all the passengers were in the dining saloons at i the time of the occurrence. ' Simultaneously with the raising of the alarm there waa a hurried stampede to , the deck. For a second or two the forms '.of the woman and the child were seen 'struggling in the sea, and. then the waters closed, over them, blotting out every trace of the tragedy, with the exception of * small cap which floated on ,the waves.

I The woman and the boy, it would 'seem, were last seen going up the com-jpanion-way leading to the boat deck. A moment or two later a splash was heard, followed immediately by another and I heavier splash. [ The sea was comparatively smooth at the time, and the vessel was rolling only very slightly. At once the bell was rung from the bridge for the ship to swing .round, and there was quick response by the engineers to the signal, | As the two forms swept past the side .of the steamer a couple of lifebuoys jWcre thrown out, but although one of jthera is stated to have drifted in close proximity to the woman, she does not appear to have attempted to reach it. I The officers and crew ran to man the emergency boat. The chief officer (Mr. Neal) clambered up the railing on to the boat-deck and was quickly m his place lin the boat giving orders. The boat ' quickly reached the water, but there was no sign of either the mother or the -boy. Only the small cap was recovered, the sole relic of fine grim affair'. Inquiries among officers and passengers as to circumstances surrounding the affair are somewaat conflicting: The offiecrs generally seem to have no doubt whatever that the case was one of suicide on the part of the mother and the. boy. The railings- of the deck, they state, are so secure that it would! be impossible to get overboard without deliberately climbing over the -raiTs. In support of this contention is thie fact that She woman and the child did not go into lunch when the other third-class passengers did, and as tliey had .be«n in .the ha'bit of doing. I Another, and perhaps more charitable Iview, is that the child' fell overboard, land that the mother flung herself after him. It is rumoured t'tiat the boy made a number of attempts to get through the railings, but had been prevented from doing so;Th« pork at which Mrs. Opland emI barked was Honolulu. Her husband was not aboard, and his whereabouts do not appear tobe known.