|
You can also help us to provide you with more resources by making a payment, just click on the PayPal™ button on the left.
The Argus, 28th September 1863 :
“TOTAL WRECK OF THE MIMOSA STEAMER. - A telegram was received yesterday announcing the loss of the above-named steamer on Friday last, at three p.m. The intelligence, which is very meagre, reached Moruya by special messenger. The Mimosa was from Merimbula bound to Sydney, and is supposed to have struck a sunken rock about twenty miles south of Montague Island, or ten miles north of Bega River. The crew and passengers were saved with the exception of Mr. and Mrs. Ivall. The vessel was the property of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company, commanded by Captain Keft, who, with the chief officer, Mr. Barten, have had considerable experience in the trade. She is uninsured, and having lately undergone considerable repairs, was valued at L11,099. Immediately on the news being received at Moruya, the Mynora, s., was despatched to the scene of the accident; and it is probale that the crew and remaining passengers will come on to Sydney by the Kembla steamer. - Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 23.”
The Courier (Brisbane), 15th October 1863 :
“WRECK OF THE MIMOSA (s.)
(From the ‘S. M. Herald,’ Oct. 8.)
“Messrs. Hixson and Moriarty, and Mr. M’Nab, returned yesterday morning from the wreck of the Mimosa. We are therefore unable to give full particulars. The Kembla (s.) left Sydney with the above-named gentlemen on the 1st instant, at 1 p.m.; arrived at Wollongong at 6.30 p.m., and left again at 10 p.m. Put into Bateman’s Bay on the 2nd, at 7 a.m., and sailed again at 2 p.m. for Moruya. Here they were transhipped on board the Minora [Mynora] (s.) and finally arrived at the wreck at 7 p.m. on the 3rd instant. Mr. Hixson’s first care was to lay down bouys in the proper position for the steamer to be moored, and this being done, the Minora [Mynora] was brought in and properly secured. Mr. M’Nab having arranged all the diving apparatus, including 250 feet of hose, went down to the wreck, which is lying in twelve fathoms of water. On getting below he first passed along both sides of the ship, to ascertain where she had been injured, but without being able to discover the slightest signs of collision; the ship had settled down head first at an angle of about 35 degrees, some five feet of stern being about the distance from the bottom. In going down she had apparently ploughed up the sand with her stem, as she had formed a complete furrow on both sides, but was perfectly upright. The following day he again went down, this time going on board. On going into the fore-cabin he found a considerable quantity of sand which had been forced through a hole in the vessel’s bottom, which he judges from the appearance to have been made about four feet from the bottom of the fore companion ladder on the starboard side and right in the ship’s bottom. He examined the ship most carefully, but there was not the slightest appearance of strain in any part. The pannellings in the cabin was perfect and everything below in the same order as before she foundered. His search was now directed to finding the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ivell, stated to have been on board at the time of the accident. His search, however, was fruitless at that time, from not being sufficiently acquainted with the arrangement of the cabin. He, however, found the mail bags in the chief officer’s cabin, and which are reported to contain valuable property in cash, &c. These, with sundry articles at hand, were sent up, and he returned above water, having been down two hours. After a short rest, he again went down into the fore cabin, and, breaking open the door of the ladies’ cabin, he discovered the bodies - that of Mrs. Ivell was in an upper berth amidships, while her husband was partially in a berth on the side, and he had apparently been in the act of arousing his wife when overtaken by the rush of water that must have speedily deprived both of life; to convey the bodies to the surface was a task of no small difficulty, independent of the nerve required under such circumstances; he, however, succeeded in carrying them to the companion-hatch, and in a few minutes they were lying on the Minora’s [Mynora] deck. the bodies were searched, and a considerable amount of money was found on the female. An investigation was also made by Mr. Caswell, P.M., of Moruya, who had accompanied the Minora [Mynora]. The bodies then being very much decomposed, were sewn up in a tarpaulin, with a sufficient weight of iron attached, and, the service for the dead having been read, they were taken out to sea about half a mile, and again committed to the deep, at three p.m. Mr. Scott, the diver employed by the government, then went down and sent up some more articles, such as the ship’s wheel, the brass ventillators, the bell, &c., remaining below until dusk. Mr. M’Nab had also been instructed to make diligent search for the cash-box, said to contain the freight and passage money of the ship, and reported to be in a locker in the chief-officer’s cabin, which is situated abaft in the paddle-box. he accordingly opened the locker described and brought up the cash-box, which, however, on being opened was found empty, the drawers not being in it. He again, however, went below, and at last found the remainder of the box, but no money or papers of any kind in it. He went into the saloon, and describes the startling effect produced by viewing himself in the large mirror at the end of the cabin, in which he was reflected as distinctly above water. He opened the captain’s cabin, and sent up all the clothing, instruments, &c., and was about to secure other articles when he received a warning signal from the Minora [Mynora] to at once come up, which he did. It appears that the wind had been gradually increasing, and Mr. Hixson considered it dangerous to trust to their moorings any longer; they accordingly left the wreck, and returned to Moruya, where the party again embarked on board the Kembla and started for Sydney. Mr. Hixson reports that he examined the rock on which the Mimosa struck, and that a portion of the water-worn face had been knocked off, and that it is a very considerable distance nearer the land than reported by Captain Keft.”
See Also
|
