WRECK OF THE SHIP-MAITLAND.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 183, 9 January 1875, Page 3

WRECK OF THE SHIP-MAITLAND.

The Customs department received informa- . tion from New Caledonia (iluough, the. Consul General for France) that* the Maitland, ship, 799 tons, wb4jbh left, Moreton.B.ay for Foo-chow on .may ; 18th, ; waa wrecked on acoral reef nearßuon Island shortly after that date. It seems that some -mariner had noticed from the Sydney papers that a wreck had occurred at the place, «ndin consequence proceeded to the spot, where he discovered the vessel stranded, with her sails* set, and \ anchors " COCkblileay/showing thatslie weut .. ashore under sail.,, The deck cargo was complete, concreting' of "'a large' number of iron water tanks. The lower deck was awash at low Wateiv Trie reinovcfflhe hatch and could • see cases and casks ; in fact the cargo was' : intact,; huVh*f* a^d ! llnitdu,iD S tnc firsts - w gales Bhe would break up. He asked far ' authority to take possession, and in the , meantime chums'priority of salvage. A letter . was found.enclpsed in a bottle suspended in ; Hfc tent bn'thfr 4»Und, written by the master .' of the ship, John Reid, and addressed to the managing owner, J. B..Kelso, North Shields. This states that the Maitland left Moreton' Bay for Foo-chT$KPh May lstb, and ran on a coral reef a mile B.E of Huon Island on the 25th, at half-past <joe, A,mc - The weather was thick and' "cloudy, and no observations had , - been,taken, fpr r twa f 4ays. The wind being '■ on* ■nore *the r ßhiri could not back off. The ; long boat was put out to run out the anchor to Wk&rd the 'ship off,.but ahe was lost with thirty f ithoms of cable, and . broke up into small-pieces in attempting to '} run a kedge and towline out. The next best" boat Mxxiodfiovevl »nd ? itfhoded: fNo more ] could be done to save the vessel, the sea J being high, snuVrthe ship bilging fast. Next ; day, at 3 a.m., she was full of water, with the, • deck to'seawardf 'All .thf- prOvidbns and { water.were got out that could be saved, but. , the master.'says they would.not suffice Jfor .any : ' length of-'tfrrie 1 , and Itbere was no waiter nor anything to preserve life on the island; On ~ the Slat thaJbeetibbat .left the island Ito seek , assistance, steering for the Australian coast, ( in charge of MtlGihbi that chief officer, witjh; ! Thomas Iley, boatswain ; George Sterevenos, 1 Andrew McDonald*.and VV. H. Ovens, sea men. On June 14 the next boat was decked, j and left the island, steerjnaj tjhe same course : as the first boatl ' Mr i Williams, the second . officer, was in charge, accompanied by Alfred i Tyfield, GebVgei Whittle, Charles Williams, and John Mackinto&h.seamen.There were fourteen souls on the island, and no means to carry j them off, so all commenced to build a boat WQfift iß^ejJgth;^'lt;wai*!«r.h?irg r ,joh.VDpmails ! being obtainable except from a piece of rig- . ging Which was sardd. All the masts went '• by the bosiiaionfMayWth*. < The boat was \| launched on and left the island on the 26th with alfhands on board. Letters i) %ereJf6uhoVs6h the/Island? ;whi<&<bid{tjeen left by the master of the Plato, lost there twdTWoathsjaga, r 4 a \ The list of the crew of the Maitland is as follows :—John Reid, master, Orkney ; George Gibb, chief mate, Aberdeen; Jas. F. Williams, tseeond mate, London ; Fredk.Fox, ' steward, Weymouth j David Pearson, codk, , -.London* X, -JUy, ; T.uJ. tfoMs.-carpenter, Pembroke. - A'.B tr- J'. Hatfield, Dundee; Alfred Tyfield, Soutbamptoh; • 'George'- Whittle, Weymouth; George Stere▼eafa«H3reece; WJ H. E-vans, 1 Port Madop;, Chai WilfiiiAsy ; Manehester{ John Mcintosh,, Dandee^ 7 Wm. u Goudie,' ; Shetland : Morris Abraham, Livemool; Chaste, yaunce, Lqny • Albany, kvA j Aldx. Almeda, Sc Thomas. Apprentices: Thos, W". Young,' South Sbleldsr George WardfJle, Sunderland; John H. Maltby, South f«eld»; John A. Walker, Harrogate; H. Edward Smith, South Shields. The Mwhi/y Mercury, North Queensland, contain** anateebunt of a boat that was found i ,i y>Btrw?ded.ou,,fche beach on,November :17th, between .Mackay and, St Lawrence, whichiit is from'the description, is likely! to - -be the one which was buiHr. by the wrecked "crew. The Boat, according to this papier, was of about six tana, burden, apparently coSstrucfe'd' f 6uVbf the materials of a large ship, and was painted Our, Hope on both l ' lJ smß,' : 'aW w 'aTsV ! oh v the/ stern;*-her bottom was covered with strips of copper along the seams; her, deck, beams. werp, formed.. pf a ship's plankingra small' portion'of «the deck remained, the rest was all washed away, and 'both bilgeslwere'stove ini OThe boat was flat in the bottom, like, fi punt, was painted -white all over. In her were a lot of ship's *<*iae£ frifit,. meat, See, a ship's log, one of Walker's patent fcitfpoen lfcg**vh^ what appeared to be part of a white shirt. There wertf no hUmHn remains in the beat or abofiil tbjes «hprp, and sbereyidently cot safe to land, as.is proved by the articles that The pro-, bkbitity'is her crew were picked I ,-ap.byr some .papsiflg or that they had 'ladded,' and 1 -Vere 1 trying to make their way overland to. port* , . ._. A.telegram has pieen sent to. Brisbane to : -•a<iertain , whether 1 the riiay.have Any. ' ' cdhiiec«ah Ut with Ahiß boat; no ihtelligebce •' ' Customs: tiepartknent of •jm/ of been heard of.