TELEGRAPHIC.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3459, 14 March 1890, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC.

l)fKEDisi March 18. ' '■At the Police Court Jaups McDonald, licensee of the London Hotel, was fined £5, and the conviction endorsed oil his license, for allowing drunkenness on his premises. ]). D, Eunson, manager of tho Mornington- Tram Company, % and Robert London, an employe, were fined for ill-treating a .child. The ehildhad been playingabout the tram. The defendants, bad placed it in a cupboard, The parents swore that the child had been nervous ever since, and given to screaming in its sleep. An attempt was made to sliow that

tbo action 'bad been brought because there was a quarrel between the local policeman, whose child it was, and the manager,, but the Magistrate said lie did not think this was so. He

admitted that children and larrikins must be a source of great ; aunbyance to the Tram Company. He thought if the law allowed, and had the boy not been of such a nervous temperament,not much harm wtmldhavebeen done, as there was nothing brutal about itbut it was contrary to law, and he fined London 1? and Eunson 55,-with costs £8 Is., . The Harbour Board Treasurer in his estimate of the revenue and expenditure for the year, estimates that'the revenue will just, about cover tho expenditure.. ' A Mrs Vickery, of St ICilda, was severely injured yesterday by an explosion of .gunpowder, receiving burns about the arms and face. 5 The causo is supposed to be ono of ntitemptod suicide, the woman having' been rather off ,hor. head of lato. Slio will probably fecoyer., At the City Court, Theodore Gay was lined £1 and costs for selling' bis railway Met to a detectivd.' • Auckland, March 13.

.' Two men; namod Howell aud Wells were sontenced to-duy at tho Supreme Court for breaking and entering, the first to three years' imprisonment, and the other to 12 months' imprisonment. '

Subscriptions have been invited by tho Mayor for the relief of the settlors who liavo suffered through hush fires in the Turaniiki district. *

There is a great excitement in Whangarei and liamo over the 'reported gold discovery at • Kaitara. Over 100 ih'iii.ers' rights have now been .taken' out. Tho 'stone is described »3 dark and ifriable,' with gold quite visible.- ■ ;

An Extraordinary Case- ■).

Uawera, March 13.

The Dißtriot Court here lias been 'engaged with an extrftonlinaiy The master of the Whenuakura School was sued for £IOO damages for 'wrongfully beating and expelling a scholar. The master pleaded justification, in that the boy had been guilty of grossly immoral conduct' in word and deed to one of the female

pupils in the Rchoolhouse, during dinner hour. ■ The plaintiff rejoined that the wrong boy had. been fixed upon! Four or five boys swore that the wrong boy had been punished. The girls aud ( ohe : boy werfl:.equally positive that the right boy had been dealt with, The Committee held.au •inquiry, and had found that; the boy was rightly whipped but improperly expelled, ,and reinstated him in school,

after twi|> days investigation.- The jury found that tlio boy'who had been punished guilty, of. immoral conduct-m-word" and deed, and that the master was justified io his action, and returned a verdict for tho: defendant.

WRECK OF TP QUOTA

IrSensationai Details.. 1

Heai'trendiiigSceiies.

■ 'l'he following additional details of tho above disaster, have .'reached us by the Australian mail v "Ihe. saloon passengers passed the tinie'with musio, songa, and dances. Tiin steerage passengers '^e'j&t -as merry, jud ,at ;8 ! p%lois oi)' : 'fri'day night mrvoiir Vas'-Jiappy-a'ijf

' i C k i Y* *■" ■ tentea|> The right was fine mid clear, ftild; ||De||reaii)t tliat every beat of |§6 liji|e puner's screw was bring;ing tliein learer to eternity, but bo it ; / syeri||whil6t innocent laughter resounded from cabin and forecastle, whilst groups wero scattered about the ship, some talking about'the prospective pleasures of a trip to ' Europ,' Ifld -olliers ■lazilyToiijoyiflg the \varm summer's niglit, a terrific suock was felt, which Bent every man, woman,- ami-child; on Jioatd, rushing : tojonp place-anil that place the deck,"',;' The scene which followed; utterly beggars description, > 5 .»■( . Up the narrow steps from the lower deolts leading to tho hurricane decks/' 'strong .men fought and struggled with their loved ones in theifarihs, despair blanching theirlac,es, io that they might at least see tliei? . dinger, for that tremendous concussion had carried the conviction of despair into every heart. ' Women ran about shrieking and crying out to. be saved in their blind hysterical torror, clasping tho gartheory lascars whom fear ■ jijul transformed into* mania&lwhq r.uslied hitheiv audi 'thither fwildly, caring not, where men stood quietly awaiting their fates, or hastily cutting loose a plank or lien coop, oranytlnng that promised a chance of jafojy/ when the Quotta should hurl her living cargo into tho sea, plaoidly blue and cruolly cahu, surrounding her; for within a minute after she struck everyone realised that sbo was ■doomed. . Vi.lj; i'j: <.ih,n,V Capt. Saunders' strong, cool voice had i'iing out, " Lower the boats," but it did not need the dreid order tocoriyinco the Quetta's people that she was sinking. In far less time tbau : , it -takes to write theso words tho extent of tho catastrophe was seen. • Her side-plates had beefrtalten 'clean out of her, and there with a yawning gap, into which-the water was rdshiug with the velocity of a cataract, swirling and gurgling in the death-like cadences as it foil into her holds below. Sixty seconds after she struck, tho great ship was listing aiid reeling to her port how from the weight of inpouring water, like some huge. monster, badly wounded, fighting hard for life. The first c'old wave of terror which struck every heart was a half, pause, and then;followed a scene which, if possible, was more heartrending than the first. -Stout hearts, cool heads, and strong hands were working might and main at the boats, mon in all directions were straining every nerve and fibre to tear something away from the stealer's de'ck3, so that they might-vcling to'it'wiieu the 1 fast settling-down vessel took the final awful plunge, but the cries of the women, and little 'ones ro'sii high above the sound, of axe and creaking of cordage, and thoir blind despair was terrible, and doubly, terrible, in contrast withe the activity of tlie men.' They, poor . creatures,; 1 could: not lash themselves to spar or hencoop, and mother clasped her wailing child to her bosom, and children clung to their mothers in paroxysms of. agonised terror, Many docds of heroism were done in the eventful three minutes .which elapsed between the striking and the final sinking of the ship, " My little girl, my little girl, I am an old woman; take my place," said 'a brave lady, and just as one of the, boats shoved off shohalf threwa little 1 girl into her own seat. - A man was tearing madlyat an iron stanchion, too frantic with terror to realise that, even if lie could wrest it from its fittings on the'deck it*would.: ho of no use to support him in the water. His wife and little children

Btood ; watching him in dull agony. " Take tliat woodeD spar," said a saloon passengenvhohadbeen watching him, " I had intended it for

myself;" and lie gave it rip aiid Walked aft, sacrificing himself in the hour of need, like a true hero. Two nnmiteshad now elapsed since the steamer struck, and already her port bulwarks woro under wator, The fires in the engine room were out, and the water in the glowingooala. caused them to send up steamin dense volumes through the funnels, lending one more ghastly item to the chapter of horrors,

A.roscued passenger says :-i"I felt for a moment that I wished I had gone down with her. To hoar tho shrieks and entreaties. of. those with whom we had been in friendly conversation but a few minutes before, and to.be sitting there safe and tinablo to

render, thorn any assistance, was terrible. I felt like a murderer, but

what could 1 do." Indeed the scenes in the boats were more terrible than, those which had

been enacted oii tlie Quetta's decks a few minutes : before. Tho mother drowned, aud the child, in childish passionate grief, crying loudly for its mother, perhaps at thatmomentsiuking beneath the waters, the husband robbed of a wife. It was a' terrible spectacle, and those who witnessed it will carry tho remeinbranceofitdow'n with them to the grayo, After taking as many people from

he water'as they could, the boats railed off and reached Somerset, on ho main land, The following graphic account of

the sufferings and despair of the passengers on board the vessel the time of her striking is supplied by one of the sived passengers "It was a fine clear night arid'l :came on deck to get a breath of fresh air beforo turning in, I should say she was going 12 knots, Of course I was not anticipating any danger. I can scarcely'describo the sensation when she' struck. The bows seemed to go high in the air, and there was a terrible grinding and crashing as if the vessel was being forced through a solid, wall, livery turn of the screw 'seemed-to be shivering and forcing something away.' 'I was standing amidships, and immediately ran on to tlio upper deck. <;..,; . ■<' Then I saw what had happened. The wholo of hor side .plates had been smashed away, and the water waa : lushing in ; with .tremendous force.. Immediately after she began to lay-over,-and I heard the Captain call out to lower the,boats.

" I looked round aud saw a sight I hope nevor to see again. Some of the tears were weeping evbi'yoiiV away before them and scrambling into the boats; the captain was cool, and gave orders, without the least excitement, buttlieio.was no time to do anything,befp she turned turtlo, and I .found myself in the water amidst struggling forms, I. saw a spar iloat past mo, and mado an effort to get hold of' it,'tbutf just 'missed/ I struck out, and managed keep myself afloat, 5 but beganHpSfe'ei tiiy clothes getting heavy, awl my heart was sinking, .when I. managed tc get on a cask which swept past mo, and.. I was drifted onto 'Mount Adolplitis Island. :U'Tlfey aafylff t'obk^tlrfe^" iiiiriuHa for tbe Quotta to sink, biit I 'don't fM honi anyone , It Wmed

to mo Blie Btruck and punk imrn&lia* -#Ji !§; ' " QfrJjlewj'- just jbHbro she heeled\oj[br Ms {ft too teri|jlo for mo to deSoljbeg ■ lijj wnl/onoiigh.' to ifeart. seen women and\liildreu waiting round the pit's mouth in England, after a terrible colliery accident, but for wild, frantic, hopeless agony and le9pair;;ibat; TOB'rtagfitclle r teit'' The children's sufferings were harder to witness. One little thing'came up ,to me,.andclung..tame,.begging i mo to save it, and I shall- never forget the child's look when 1 said I could do nothings for her. ft'Yol) could if you Vouldr' her frightened oyes said as plainly as tongue could speak, and, indeed, that Boomed to be the turn of mind of all'the helpless ones as far as I could gather. During that brief spftii, of despair it was terriblo to stand-t>y, |ndi|)t be able-to do any"th%. i iJ.' , U..V V /