WRECK OF THE CAHORS.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1575, 17 July 1885, Page 2

WRECK OF THE CAHORS.

» Tlie steamer Gabon, from Sydney, to Biisbine. was wrecked on the evening of Jaie 11, near Ba Una H«jadt,at the entrance to Ruhmond River. She \yas a steel screw steamer of the follow* iug dimensions: — Length, 250 7 10ft; beam, 31 6 lv)ft ; depth of hold, 20} ft Her registered tonnage is 450 tons, and her gross measurement 1,254 totnu She was brought oat from England in M.ty last year. The Cahors tv on* of the fastest and heat steamers of the i A.S.N. Company's fleet, and, being unmsu.vtl, .i< r loss will Iv. a great blow to the Company. Mr J. & Batten, of j Melbourne, who was a pai«ng*>r, gup. j plied the. Aiyut with tb- foJeVvtnf [ acconnt of the disaster :— •*• At nalt- ! past five o'clockon Wnlnetday evening, ! the weather being clear aud the water I smooth, the captain and the chief < officer were at variance a* to the exact position of the ship. The officer «aid < that we bad passed Evans He id, bat i the captain replied : ' >Jot at ail ; keep i her a point off till I have looked.' Th» , captain visited tue chart room, and I requested UK' to ta§e the chair at the j tea table, as be desired to remain on | the bridge. 1 1 a qur* ter to six I went j be'iow, aud was waiting for the bell, j when, with a crash, the ship Struck. j We were then travelling at the rate of j fourteen knots per hoar. The skip ! heeled round with a tremendous lurch,. I a heavy sea broke on board, and coni fusion reigned sapreine. Orders werf \ given to clear away the boats* The | sailoi-s, with axes, to obey i the order.no knives being available. | We had fifteen minutes of awful ! suspense i*fore the first boat cleared ■ the ship, which was labouring heavily. | In aboat half an nour two boats were I succe sfu'ly launched, one on each side : of the snip, and lay off waiting for { ordei-s. The men in tiie port boat, not ; watching the surf, weret&ken by an en* j ormoaß breaker aud svre.pt clean away. j We had no hopes of thf ir being sawd.bttt ! thanks to their cork jackets they floated, j aud their cries for assistance were heard ; asteru, and the other boat saved every ■ one of tli-ra. The reef not being more ; than ttu acres in extent, and theft ! being smooth water beyond, on vessel • was lit np with pots of cotton waste j aud kerosene, to draw the attention of '■ passing vessels. The electric light j wa3 out, and our engine fires wer» j extinguished, within fifteen aiinnteao f - striking. The scone was weird in th • | extreme. Fruit coses were smashed ; up to jset steam for the donkey boiler, ' ahd the water rose rapidly in the engineroom and after hold. Soundings were taken, aud we found that there was 9ft of water. At half past aix the vestal was tirmly bedded on the rock, her head to tue wiud and sea, high out of the waves, and steady. The passengers had recovered from their great alarm and were mad? as comfortable as circumstances wouW permit. We expected the Burwah at about ten o'clock. Lights were at last seen on our star board bow at about sev*n o'clock, and we supposed them to be those of a vessel, but we discovered that the tight was front the Clarence Head Lighthouse. . We fired our rockets aud bnrlted onr blue lights. The wonien and children were all ordered forward before ibe mistake was discovered. We bad now to wait for onr only chance— the Burwah — and at about ten o'clcok we discovered a light on onr port bow. Our last rockets were fired and oar last bine light burned, when we were fortunately seen by those on board and oar signals replied to. A boat was sent to inform of the disaster, and half an hour later we were hailed by a boat asking what our ship was. This was presumed to be the boat of the Bnrwmh. Later on the ship's- boat ircnrned, having boarded the Burwah and left two sailors who bad bso injured in the swamped boat. It came back with another boat to onr asustancft. At midnight ir was determined to send away the passengers. A line waft attached to one of the boats, the other steadily pulling ahead to ke*p the boat nearest the ship off the breakers. A line was passed round each, man, who was then dropped over the side into the sea, and drawn- on board th* boats. The first load, constating of about twenty, was sent to the* Borwah, Captain South sent back a kedg» anchor, Which was dropp*d ahead, and the lifeboat was enabled to gut within half a cable's length of the ship. The work then proceeded more rapidly and, pafolv, and by five o'clock in the morning thebaHref the passengers bad beeo safely transhipped, the married rnca, with their wives and families, only being left on board. Captain Walker i decided to wxit until daylight before attempting to tranship the women and children, who numbered about forty. The day broke, mild and deaf, Hot th* breakers were very heavy. A coal basket was«ttached to the crane of the) steamer, and the ladies and children were in this wwy taken off by< eight o'clock, the completion of the work eliciting a ringing cheer from those on I board. The last boat load consisUd mostly of married men. who were then qoiefcty tt* shipped. Oaptam Wetter i and aboat half a dozen *n<*n wem left the sole occupants of th» illlsisoT ship. * Wb«t first »n# n*w*-tf tV-*mM having sir tick haeaiashwww^ eoarUsiati

and tarnr •••.•t^n^l supreme ; hnt soon the wvi;^« m j;v ■>•' I -h-h' composure th.» h! : " "'■•■'l'^-v v't 1 , »*.■> •T.-tt-gt w?m or ■• ir ' "" ' :<'^"'<^ -*-«^ n^V.»!v I -V -. . • i > ■•'■■' 3:ii-t e»miiiiv. v. ■» r- •■■• ■• •■ O -'- i y "f wotnau, And c ii! } "v-r t ><' iwe, jind to whose con rt-4f a.d s >u'id sense 18 to be attribat-J the happy fact that not « lifn was lost. An pq-iaUmonnt of praise i* doe to Mr J-joifv. the ->co.nd officer of the B-irwali, --v'l'W 'oic com Uct hi the boit wlii'h -.vm-eceivi.!.' ! '»e "'- --senders f t -om M,- s H : :i. »*ve=7 i»ov:--n ■ ' I»Mtis; surmnndMd with the utmost peril, deserves sppcinl 'nation. Special mention sli:»'i ; .l •'-'' " n '&' "J *} r Jobnsto:i, f-'i'i :v-'.i J . -rfa r of r ■<• Cahoi-s. A thrilli..* incident occurred while th-s ai • i v • • >■'■'•' ' throu^li tim w.»»fV \ '/'r-T" shark was observed lyin^ alo ><»side the boat waiting for h vioti.n. The wo-k was stopped for a while, nuti l "ur hm••'•:---co'.u« visitor disnpp ir >1, bit a considerable scare whs cP't'-"! * n :);1 r; ti! men who had still to bo r^'-«ovol. , Much digi?aM^f action was expressed at a vessel like th« Cihora being so ba-lly provided. Scar-'eW t fh^n^ i ■:•■'•" rope conld l»e found to work with, and the jib halyards hid to be cnt do*n for a down rope. Th* turner of - '!:r"s And bine lightson hoard did not amount to a dozen. An iron cannon w:«s O(| board, hut there *m no p-.»w !;•;-, ,: ! onr means of signaili"? wciv i'<"l" • '■■' to a minimum.