HOW THE AUSTRAL LOOKS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1092, 7 April 1883, Page 3

HOW THE AUSTRAL LOOKS.

Now that the spacious saloons, music hall and cabins are laid open to view 1 , they present a moat dilapirated appearance, as may well be expected lifter a four months’ submersion. All the magnificent upholstery work and other orna ments are reduced to a state of slimy pulp, and the inlaid woods and veneering is all swollen and twisted almost past recognition, and falls to pieces at the touch. The force of the witter as it passed into the vessel when she toppled over can well be imagined by the manner in which many of the cabin doors and fixings are shattered and heaped together in masses. It was in the after part of the vessel that Mr Thomas Alexander, the refrigerating engineer of the vessel, was drowned in his cabin ; and in his cabin on the main deck Mr Thomas Perkins met a similar fate, while the three Arab firemen were also drowned in their cabins on the main deck. It is only by visiting the vessel that an idea can be formed of the great destruction of property, but now this is being hourly removed by gangs of men who are engaged in cleaning every thing up. As might le imagined, the storeroom is in a fearful condition, the stench from the stores which have- rotted in the water being almost unbearable, but this is being promptly removed, and in a very short time no unclean matter will remain about the vessel.