THE LOSS OF KEILAWARRA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1529, 23 December 1886, Page 4

THE LOSS OF KEILAWARRA.

A most graphic apdlftfiecting statement of the scene,yrh^if' tfig ( ,KeilftWaWa;?Wftir run dpwn the voyage M wsen Sydney and Brisbane,, is given by Alexander Mntthews, a young, man who wftalftrsicersge passenger by fhe, Keilawarra. He says :-K‘At about efgftt, o’clock on “Tuesday eveainsr I was on the. deck of : the Vessel. It *as n.beautifully clear tfigbtj ' Pdid oot 'ftny vessel pr< liebts nftar^ns,'' but not aniidipating ing ady 'ptiieit vekif«l l did Wbt wake any close tbe aeft; It tas tod early to so 1 suggekted'to another and bjayeajead. got a daily'paper', and strangely enough it was the, very moment when I was reading ojf the wreck of the Oorangaraite that I heard a frightful crash,,do the,poit ■ido of the ship. I iramedisjbely jumped np and madw my way to the companion stairs, 'Whsri.l got od deck the whole of the poll the' vessel dear ’the steerage seemed to come away and a f frightful jagged ho’e was left. J saw the bow of ’ another shiplupdn Us and people commenced to jump off her into the other vessel. Some six or seven most have jumped upon our deck and the greater number I believe were drowned.; ;I left the steerage part of the ship and ran to the saloon. The passengers were crowding np the companion stairs,; the,men in their shirt", and after them ibo'wdmen and children,' Some partly dressed and others a'most uncovered. The captain

was giving orders, and they/ vtere trying lower the dingy of the 'steamer from the per* 1 davits. As soon ns they succeeded in swinging her round from above the deck, so that she hubg over ibe ss.n, .* Iremondou? number of men juraped into Jj t |. —a panic seized all of them and they hustled and crowded into her. ;i heard the Captain cry out “ Shame bh ybh men, have you no. thought for, the women 1” I saw knots bf Women and’ children clinging to each, other and preying to, be saved. The Captain cried sli'anie on the men, but still they crowded into the boat. They tried to lower it. I saw it was everyone for hittiself and as the boat weiit rocking down from the davit? I jumped for it andgfell jpto the boat, bat only lor a second. With a wild shriek from . the mass of , men crowded 1 one oa top bf the other in the boat she turned over, and we were left struggling fighting for life in the water. I thought that I must surely drown, but acme one threw; down a rbpe from the deck above and I grasped it and scsmpered glad even to be b'ick upon the' sinkibg ;ship. I shall never forget if I live to be; an ..old man the awful sight I saw when I got back on deck. The women rushed at mq ■nd clung to rne,, arid prayed me for. God’s sake to ftavd them-; Little children, -some quite naked; shrieking with fear about the deck quite deineuted, and some were clinging to their mothers so tightly that they could not be torn away. Oh, I cannot,describe it to you. It’ terrible; shall never forget those poor women and children. I could*do nothing; for them. ’ 1 thought that we must all drown togethejr.; There was such a scene aa a man never forge is. Som-vof the women were calling piteously to God for mercy to them and their little ones; others ware crying and sobbjng, and imploring the captain to safe tthem or save their children. The water came on duck, sod some, with terrible cries, were washed overboard. I clambered up on to something I Jorget, or don’t know what it was, but it was 4ft or 6ft above the feck. The women came around ard held up their arms, and begged me to draw them np. J knelt down «id drbw one up as well as 1 Could with the Water washing over the deck, and she clung to me, and asked me to save her. We stood (here together, and ,1 lookad to the captai", who was upon the bridge. He had been there, I think, all the time. Tiny were lowering the starboard boat, and we hoped to get off in her. They seemed to make a mess of the job. The boat bung from the davits, about halfway dqwt}, and then she went oyer. I thought, “Now the' last chalice is gone,’’ and 1 clasped my hands and wo prayed for help from somewhere to come to us. 1 felt quite dazed and hopeless. A few seconds afterwards 1 saw a boat passing oa the starboard side full of men. The captain called ont to us from the bridge, for God’s sake to jump. For one moment I looked around ; 1 did not care to leave the woman helpless,, but«l siw the water rushing into the engine-room, and it was the only chance, and I jumped overboard. I raised my bead well above water, and I heard the awful cries of those on (he sinking ship. There were several men in the water, bus 1 saw no, women or«children, i I-heard that only' one woman and one child were saved. At last, just as 1 was beginning to feel exhausted, I saw a round lifebuoy with a, man; blinking J.b. ift' J grasped it.// Tlie man said, “Let go, I can’t swim. Let me have it,” I: said; “ I am done, f must have it too,-’ and 1 held bn to it as wall as I conld, and struck out with the other hand for the boat. I got to it and they assisted me in. There were a great number of men in her —crSwj mostly, I think. I did not see' many -pitsaengers there, only /two' or three." The boat whs .nearly full of waterj and last to bale it out" with a hat/ We’picked up ft child clinging to a bale of chaff. 4 /We saw ’ a woman and a little' girl clingjhg together, but they were lost.' One yroiiaan/we,got 1 aboard, ‘ but .she was unconscious. She and her hjusWg had been, clinging together, but he had : no more, strength an t d had to Jet her go as well. While we were pull'tog the borCt some one in her cried out, “ For God’s sake pull away, or we are lost;” He meant thaf'ihivsirtkihg vessel would, cngulph n*. 1 Imilrnd round, and 1 «aw the »■•»?«' i y s T.iight up on her end, and than, "it’> an awful shriek from those on b**ar', M.i-^.'nngred-tightdown. There was;» -pi i of gulf, of water, and then every'*l i g was perfectly still, We saw' s^ilT from the wreck come bubbling up, but there was no more ghr ek' n g and c.ying, and we pulled to the ship. The last 1 saw of the captain hc was standing upon thC bridge, and he told us to jump overboard. That last shriek from the vessel, as she went ' head first into the water, made ray blood run cold. It is impossible to descriue all. I shall never forget it. The ohly woman on board the Keilawma who was saved was Mrs R. Wilson who,, with heLhusband, a farmer at Oxley Creek,/near Brisbane, was returning from a business trip to Sydney. It was only about six weeks ago that she and her husband returned by Garonne from a,

visitto; the Old Country. Mrs' WiUon y» as mnob exhausted ;by the trial she' Md pa sfted through, and , w as, pVfeteqme/ with //thq, loss of She huisband and tSpcla deqk,cabin, and I was ill. ' On the night o'f, the p ccif, dent I had just undressed, preparatory to , .going’to bed, when the crash came.ran f out on dech, and the. passengers; commenced to rush, from below. > My hn»ri ‘band said- “ Cling to ! me, dear,l i cadi iwim'well.”' 'A wave - dashed over,i thg 'dehkj 'abd-ray husband was thrown idown, heavily','/fthd' I ' think hurt; ■ Another waive''dame'and us both a Way, and 'J- odly rdipißrnldr .hriiggling in the ; w’ftter with my' husband. My hUsband wss h'urt, and could pot 1 ’keej) up; and I tried ,j^Pdp^r{^h|i^ 2 «hile I /was by g piece of timber/ 1 tried fb'ihdufeb hifri to grasp sproe wreckage, but he could nn't do it, and I was tossed;about until I came across a box, which 1 clubg to until ,1 wad picked up. ;,// ~

THE INQUIRY. Sydney,' Dec. I?.‘ ’ ; The jnguiry by the Marine Board into the ‘Heilawarra collision is proceeding. The chief officer bf thh'Kbilawarra in l his evidence stated that there were fitib boats on the vessel properly fitted up.- Tliev were rusHed. The officers w-ere told off for eabb The crew' did-not rush any of the bbajis. The crew obeyed the officrW sb far fts he saw, and lbs men did everything they 'cobid' to save life. He never/Saw the thp s.hip was struck,. The witness saved himself with a'Hfe-bu'-’y Which had not .been .taken off the; cleats, in ’front of, (ffe; brjagKvrThe man kI the wiie'el at the’ lime of’the collision heard the look-out man make a report to the chief pfifipt r, and the ngxt thing he heard was an order to, go aitorn ; • then; he, jheardj;** Hard a port. Before .tbatsthe chief officer said he conld smell smoke. T| was only a short time between ‘the giving the order to bard ;« poft :and the crashing; of the ships. He sawnothing ahead and heard no .whistle from either boat. It was not a dark night as he could be seen; a good distance away. The look-out m?n : , who was on the bridge, reported what .he thought either smoke or land to , .the . chief. officer. The la i ter fftaid it was smoke. , He. could soe no light,l The captaWi subsequently clime mn debkand gave the order “ Hard a port,” Saw the captain touch the string and lieftrd the whistle. He heard no whistle from the other boat. The first he saw bf the Helen Nicoll was when she struck'the Keilai warrii.—None' 1 of tbb ' dthet' witne.es bflopging tb'lthjs steamer stated 1 that' no lights :Wbre' seen befole. the'collision,- 1 - Captain Fraser, bf, ;th'e ' Helen Nicoll,' said the eveningwas' pbderalely clear, wich a moderate breeze frond 'this N.E. tie , was in the'; cabin at the time, and heard the he'll go two;/which' meant that there was/a light bn -the starboard: bow.' The ,next thing was the second-officef callingliim, ; saying; “Oh God, Captain Fraser,,.there iB a fellow coming right inttV lift;’/ * tie riished to the telegraph to stop the \ ship. Their course "bade previously south. The KeilaiVafra "cut across f her bows almost eastwardly. He heard no whistle whatever blown at the time of the collision. He could not tell how i he'Was steering. Two passengers were in his cabin, but there was no card playing and no drink. When he heard tti£ two ; bells denpting r ft/Tight on the starboard bow’fie'Brd hofldafe his cabin. The second officer was on deck, and had been on duty twelve or fifteen hours. Only ten bodies have been found, and they are not recognised.