THE WRECK OF THE CAWARRA.

West Coast Times, Issue 287, 24 August 1866, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE CAWARRA.

.-Tile _ following is; a sample dft jthtj evidence taken at tlie inquest held.,at Newcastle on some* of the bßdieii recovered from tiie Wreck of 1 tho Cawarra. It discloses a state of things disgraceful alike to the Government of New South Wales and the people of Newcastle : —

Johti Stevens, mate of t&e Waliarotf; bii. oath deposetli— " I \fas one # the volunteer .crew of tlie lifeboat. ' I Was bn board tlie ship \vheii 1 sa^v [he sljjk nal for the lifeboat, and the steamer was coming. I ran to Nobby's and offered my services, and was accepted as one of the crew. When 1 arrived at the boat shed thet'e were forty oi* fifty jjersdiis there; .Plenty off'e're'dtd gOj bUt thd dojsswdiii was riot tildes We stopped till the steanier's niaihmist iwent , o}-e.i\ 'ljhe ( people, . j $er§ wished to iauneh tl'e boat, but tb'er^ was no one there to take charge, and no one had authority to launch her. Captain Collins came then, and said that he had no authority to launch her more than any one else. By this time an hour had passed, and we could see the men fi'oiii tlie -wreck, but nd attempt made to launch the boat: When the 1 sfceatiier went cWn head first the boat was launched, and we pulled in smooth water out Nobby's, and then edged down to the w^reck. . When abieiuf. 2<)d or Zsd yards . from the steamer let gcj the kedge. It was let gd By Collm's 1 orders'. „We got among t tlie bifoKeji and tlie dare! began to a'nia'sli ilp; We picked up two oars. The oars' that belonged to the boat were not fi£ for Her.'. I only took notice of-iwo aeU' dai'8 1 ; tlie rest were p^irie. Sdnie of those that were broken were~brokea through carelessness. We saw one between the boat and steamer on a piece of wreck. . I saw about twenty people OiJ > the niaimriast. [I'he boat was, | sliould- think} about 300 yards' distance fi'dni tile wreck, and to the westward. I only saw them twice. There waß one, man in the foretop ; he waved his hand and sang out to \w, At this time about half the boat's dre\v sang oiitj ' Let us pull for tile, t cried out 5 • tet. us try' and sdye socdedne, let' us sate this mariV The answer ( ttiat I lie^rd wa,s, ' Let, iii save ourselves.' I Mly believed. tHai; had there been a determined crew wq should have.jsaved several. One half) the crew were good men.' There was one nlaii in par'Cic'ular appeared quite deranged. 1 know the man by sight. I do not know his name. When I arrived at the shed she was ready to launch. I was in her about threequarters, of , an hour, before, she was" launched, j cafl't 8"a"y if tllei^e were any oars' broken Before the kedge 1 Wafe let go. My oar was not lost or broken. I believed that the oars which we pioked up were strange oars. I think they belonged td the" wreck, as they had no lines dii tiie'ra 1 . There were two spare oars when we Went ofF. i did riot see any steer oars ; there might have been, ste"pr -pars ; -there jriiglit have been Hfe-budTS iii the boat. I did riot see any; I saw one of the crew with a line in his hand* As near as I could guess there were twenty on tfye mainmast.in the water.^ I heard a woman's cryj but could ]ttot see tie)?; Hdd tlier'e been a staunch CreW, several might have been saved. I saw them twice, and then the mast disappeared. It was about twenty minutes after this that we pulled back to shor;e\ FVoiii the time, we first^saw the man id the foretop till the mast went over was from twenty to thirty minutes. He was in the rigging when we pulled for the shore. It was against my consent we returned. The wind blew so hard t could .not hear if the men in the Bows wished td return. I directed ther Brew's atteri.fcidn td the rian on the inastj aha, asked theni to try and save him. To the best of my knowledge, the man on the niaat was the only one dbout the .wrecK when we" returned. The coxswain appear ed to be doing Ms duty. 1 can't say that I heard any one tell the men to look around i) see,if there was any one in the water. The Crew did noj seem to be Under proper control. I believe the lifeboat was properly fitted, with the exception of the oars, which were disgraceful, and unfit for any boat. I have been oUt in lifeboats in the StateS several tinles, but only orice previously for the purpose of saving life. The oars used there are American ash ; an ashen oar is about the best you can have. I have a medal from the Eoyal Humane Society, for saving life at sea on several occasions."

The following interesting note from the Executive Commissioner in England of th» Paris Exhibition of 1867, has been address&t to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and by him enclosed to 1 the several colonial Governors. It appears in the " General Government Gazette" of the 15th instant :— * " Mr Cole to the Under Secretary of State.— Paris Exhibition, 1867. South Kensington, 26th April, 1866. — Sir, — I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education to request you to inform the Secretary of State for the Colonies that their Lordships have determined to have exhibited, in the Paris Exliibition of 1867, a collection illustrative of the periodical and ephemeral literature of the present time, which would include one specimen of every newspaper, journal, scien-' tine, artistic, or literary magazine, review, or other periodical, tratit, playbill, and the like, published during 1865. My Lords are desirous that the literature of a similar character that has been published during the same period in each of Her Majesty's Colonies ana Dependencies should be represented, and I am to request that you will nioy,e Mr Secretaiy CardweU. to issue instructions to cause such a collection to be made iv such colony, and sei b to Paris -, the'same when made would be purchased by the Science and Art Department for the South Kensington Museum. — I have, &c, Henry Cole, Secretary and Executive C9Juraissioner. M