A DANGEROUS ISLAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 June 1922, Page 5

A DANGEROUS ISLAND.

DEEP WATER UNDER CLIFFS. ‘■LITTLE CHANCE FOR VESSEL.” PREVIOUS DISASTER RECALLED. (By Wire—Special Correspondent.)' Auckland, Last Night. Mr. Darby Ryan, a well-known resident of the Great Barrier, and chairman of the County Council there, who is visiting Auckland, stated in an interview to-day that the coast at the south end of the island consists of high, precipitous cliffs, fully exposed to the east. There is a small bay named Rosalie at the south-east end of the island, which is sheltered from westerly winds, but quite exposed to southeast gales. Mr. Todd, who resides at this bay, is unfortunately not connected by telephone. Mr. Midlands is the next settler, about seven miles from Mr. Todd, and on the northern side of hrs place is Kaitoke beach, a fine sandy stretch of four miles. Mr. Ryan added that as a rule vessels coming to Auckland, via Panama, generally pick up Cuvier Light, which is on an island thirteen miles to the south-east of the south end of the Barrier. The next light they pick up is the Watchman, right off Cape Colville. With the exceptionally thick, hazy weather last night it may have been difficult to pick up Cuvier Light, and the Wiltshire was probably trying to find it when she was driven on the Barrier. “I have done a lot of fishing off the south end of the Barrier, and know that there are very strong currents there, especially at spring tides.” he added. “The current then runs about three knots round the south end of the island, and it is an extremely rough bit of water when an easterly gale is blowing. The people in Auckland are not aware haw much a rough sea is broken for this harbor by the Great Barrier, which diverts the current that sets in so strongly from the south-east. Some time ago, when there was an earthquake somewhere else, we had a tidal wave several feet high at the Barrier, but nothing was known of it in the waters of the Waitemata.”

Mr. Ryan expressed the opinion that unless the Wiltshire struck near the bay or on the Kaitoke beach there was little chance for the vessel, as on other parts of the south end of the island the water is from 25 to 30 fathoms right up to the cliff, which is a precipitous wall of solid rock.

The Great Barrier was the scene of a terrible wreck on October 28, 1894, when the Union Company’s Wairarapa ran on to the rocky cliffs near Miners’ Head, at the opposite end of the island to that on which the Wiltshire came to grief. The Wairarapa was coming from Sydney to Auckland, and struck foggy weather on the coast on a thick, dark night. There were 220 people on board and the loss of life was very heavy, 12*6 persons being drowned. Owing to the list of the vessel and -the heavy sea it was impossible to launch lifeboats, but rafts were cut adrift, and many persons were saved by clinging to these frail supports. The survivors were on the rocks for some thirty hours, and the first people to discover them were some Maoris. There was no telephone to the island in those days, and the survivors did not reach Auckland until three days later. This wreck was one of the worst tragedies that has occurred on the New Zealand coast. Nearly a dozen small vessels have been wrecked on the Barrier coast during the past 20 or 30 years. RELIEF PARTY. SETS OUT FROM TRYPHENA. Auckland, June 1. Residents of Tryphena Bay, on the south-east corner of the Barrier, set out for the scene of the disaster on horseback and endeavored to render assistance to the Wiltshire’s crew. May be this party is connected with the relief operations by the crews of the Arahura and Katoa. but the message reads as though the two parties were separated. THE CARGO ON BOARD. Auckland, June 1. The Wiltshire loaded at Bristol, Glasgow, and Liverpool in April for Auckland, Wellington, Dyttenon and Dunedin. She left Liverpool on April 22 for Auckland via the Panama Canal. The cargo consists of general merchandise estimated at 10,000 tons, 4000 tons of which is for Auckland. The manifests are on board and the agents unable to give a list until it is obtained from the Wiltshire or the duplicates from London. A very large number of Auckland merchants have consignments on board. POUNDED BY HEAVY SEAS. Auckland, June 1. At 11 a.m. word came that all the crew were still hanging on, as it was impossible to communicate with the shore. Heavy seas were pounding over the vessel, which was then full of water. She has a large number of holds, all separated by massive bulkheads, but the pounding of the rocks had knocked her about to such an extent that she was full of water from end to end. The wireless was still uninterrupted, and those aboard were able to communicate news of their dire peril. The position of the crew was then most critical, owing to the violence of the seas. A still later message gave the position as worse and desperate. CHIPPING MEN’S VIEWS. Auckland, June 1. The opinion of shipping men is that the Wiltshire was looking for the light on Cuvier Island, which lies 21 miles east of Cape Colville and about a similar distance from the south end of Great Barrier Island. This southern entrance between the Great Barrier and Cape Colville is the usual one taken by vessels coming from Panama. The light on Cuvier is a powerful revolving light showing every half minute and visible 26 miles. In weather that inward bound ships experienced the range would be nothing like that and last night was a' particularly black one at the time the Wiltshire went ashore.