The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1909. THE WRECK OF THE PENGUIN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2426, 15 February 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1909. THE WRECK OF THE PENGUIN.

New Zealand mourns to-day over one of the most deplorable of ocean tragedies that have occurred since the Dominion was founded. • The story of the disaster is simple, brutally so. At six o’clock on Friday night the Union Steamship Company’s S.S. Penguin, with a complement of 100 passengers and crew, left Picton for the short passage across Cook Straits. With a thoroughly seaworthy vessel, and in the care of a company whose steamers arc invariably well officered and capably manned, the passengers viewed the rough sea with no more concern than was caused by the apprehension of a few hours of seasickness. But the turbulent, tricky winds of Cook Strait were in mischievous mood, and. lashing the waters into a frenzy, created currents which evidently deceived the experienced navigator .who had control. At a quarter to ten o’clock, when the passengers confidently believed they were nearing Wellington, came a rude awakening, and, in the words of one of the survivors, a noise "like the tearing of a huge piece of calico” was an intimation to everyone that- the Penguin had struck a rock. Then came a terrible scene, from which the only relieving features are the fine courage of officers and crew and the superb behaviour of the passengers. As the vessel rolled helplessly in the trough of the sea, every effort was made to get out the life-boats, but the darkness of the night and the fury of the tremendous waves made this a herculean task. One boat was smashed to atoms, another sprung a leak, and the third, in all probability greatly overloaded, was despatched with the women and children from the ill-fated steamer.- Had it been possible to have got three or even two boats safely away, it is quite likely that fatalities might have been few, but an overcrowded boat despatched on such a night and in such a sea was obviously in grave peril from the moment of launching. When the news of me wreck first came through there was a faint ray of hope that this boat, with its precious cargo, might still be afloat, but later information dispelled such a belief, for it evidently swamped, leaving none to tell the talc of the last terrible moments in an awful catastrophe. Meanwhile, by a strange irony of fate, the occupants of a couple of rafts were able to reach the shore in safety. There is not much that can be added to the main essentials of this heartrending occurrence. In our news columns survivors add the details which make clear how the calm security of an ordinary coastal trip such as might be taken from Gisborne to Napier was suddenly changed for one of horrifying alarm and dreadful happenings/ In the midst of the sad blow which has so suddenly fallen upon the community it is comforting to be able to record the fact that both passengers and crew, men and women alike, displayed the highest qualities of heroism and courage. Under desperate and trying circumstances they betrayed no sign of panic, but observed the strictest discipline, which, in times of peril, constitutes the highest form of noble courage and unselfishness. It is superfluous to say. that a full inquiry will be held, and will attempt to place the blame—if blame there he—on the proper shoulders, but it can justly he stated here that if Captain Naylor was in .any degree guilty of the slightest act of indiscretion during the brief course of the voyage, ho largely atoned for it by the splendid and heroic manner in which he endeavored to conserve the safety of passengers and crow after-the Penguin had struck. Friday night, February 12th, will stand on record as a black night in many a home in New Zealand, for the wreck of the Penguin is one of the most costly tragedies that this young country'has yet experienced. The hearts of the whole community will go forth in deepest sympathy with all who have been bereft in this shocking calamity.