WRECK OF THE CITY OF AUCKLAND.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 109, 26 October 1878, Page 2

WRECK OF THE CITY OF AUCKLAND.

The West Coast of the North Island is fast obtaining an unenviable notoriety for the number of vessels being stranded upon its shores, and speculation ia rife as to what may be the immediate cause of so many disasters following so closely the one upon the other. In the space- of three months as many vessels, perfect specimens of naval architecture, fully appointed and equipped, and ably officered, have come to- grief m a manner which almost amounts to a mystery. The City of Auckland, the latestvictim, left London on the 13th of July, calling at Plymouth, from which she sailed for Napier on the 25th July, just three months yesterday. Referring to the cause of the catastrophe, the 2feu> Zealand I^mesdraws attention to the faot that the bulk of her passengers must have been on board for about 112 days or more, because it may throw some light upon the disaster. A ship containing a large number of immigrants grows rapidly lighter- on the voyage. The water iv the tanks is also generally allowed to run low when a ship neara- her destination, and the consumption of provisions by nearly 300 people soon makes, a great difference m the draught of a ship. The lighter- a ship is the more leeway she makes m beating against a foul wind, and the less sail she can carry when trying to beat off a lee shore. We believe this fact may have had a good deal to do with- loss of the City of Auckland. A great many hypotheses have been mooted ta account for the series of wrecks that have recently occurred nea.r Otaki, among others it has been suggested that come occult influence may be exeerised by iron-sand or other causes upon the compasses, or some lights of a house inland may have been mistaken for a lighthouse, &c. The real reason seems probably to be that the land is low and fiat, and therefore not readily observable, and that tho heavy galea have caught several ships at a disadvantage. As soon as the news of the wreck of the City of Auckland reached Wellington, Captain Fairohild, upon his own responsibility ordered steam to be got up on board the Hinemoa, and waited upon Captain Johnston for instructions. The latter gentleman obtained the necessary authority from the Commissoner of Customs, and it was arranged for the Hinemoa to leave at noon. Meanwhile Captain Rose, the Wellington manager for the New Zealand Shipping Company (by which firm the City of Auckland is chartered) made active preparations for rendering all possible assistance, obtained a gang of men from the Rakaia, and also an addtional life-boat for the purpose of aiding m rescuing the passengers and crew if necessary. The City of Auckland was built at Sunderland, m 1869, and is therefore niue years old. gfcs j| oomposite-built, 790 lofcj register,.

and owned by Mr George S. Simpson, of 9, Clements-lane London. The ship went ashcre about twenty chains north of the Otaki River, and aboat forty chains from the wreck of the Felix Stows-. All the passengers, of whom there were 240. and the crew were safely got ashore, and lodged m the College at Otaki It was. first decided that the. unfortunate passengers should be taken on to Foxton, and Constable Purcell set about making preparations for their conveyance and reception, but the order was afterwards counter* manded, and it Was decided to take them overland to Waikanae, where they were to. embark by the Government steamer Hinemoa, which was anchored under lee of; Kaptti. There can be no doubt that theremoval of the light from the Maria to the Brothers was m a great measure the causeof the disaster, tbe captain evidently mis* taking Kapiti for Stephen's Island.