["Yongala Wrecked", The Northern Times (Carnarvon, WA), Saturday 01 April 1911, page 2]

Yongala Wrecked.

OFF QUEENSLAND COAST.

Brisbane, March 25.

The steamer Yongala left Cairns on Thursday and was due at Townsville on Friday. The serious apprehensions felt for its safety have been increased by the fact that two steamers which left Cairns on Friday have arrived at Townsville and report that they saw no signs of the Yongala. Rough weather prevails. There are numerous passengers and a large crew.

March 28.

The Collector of Customs this morning received a telegram from the lighthouse keeper at Cape Bowling Green stating that bags of chaff, pumpkins, bran, and pollard have been washed ashore. The Queensland manager of the Adelaide Steamship Co. stated that the bags of bran and pollard have been identified as part of the Yongala's cargo. The bags in qnestion were placed in the lower hold, a secure part of the vessel, and the fact that they were washed ashore caases him to entertain the gravest fears regarding her. The tug Alert, sent out by the government, has returned. She found floating two cases of kerosene, a life-buoy, two pillows marked A. S. Co., a basket of mails, and a door with glass bearing the word "Festina" and the date "1900." It is supposed the latter is part of the music room door upon which was the Company's motto "Festina Lente."

March 29.

A telegram received to-day from the captain of the Tarcoola states that his vessel made another fruitless search as far north as Bowen. A thorough search was made of the Great Barrier Beef, but no trace of the steamer nor of wreckage was found. The Tarcoola has left Bowen to search as far as Cairns.

March 30.

The steamer Alert arrived in Townsville to-night from the vicinity of Wheeler Reef. She brought the door of the music-room of the Yongala, with the top broken off, three grating hatches, and two lifebuoys. The Alert saw other hatches floating in the sea. A search made along the beach for twenty-six miles by police and black-trackers was resultless, as no trace was found of wreckage or survivors.

TOWNSVILLE, March 28.

Wreckage is floating about Cleveland Bay. The passenger list totalled 45.

March 29.

A telegram from Cape Bowling Green states that the coast has been searched by the steamer Magnet for five miles south for traces of the Yongala, but nothing bas been discovered.

MELBOURNE, March 29.

Another addition has been made to the passenger list of the Yongala published.

Mr. Northcote, general manager of the Adelaide Company, when interviewed to-day, said it was evident the Yongala had foundered with all hands during the recent bad weather. He hardly thought any lives would be saved, as no boat could live for an instant in the sea during a cyclonic disturbance. The loss to the company would be a large vessel, which cost £102,000 to build, but this loss was overshadowed by the loss of life.

March 30.

As the cargo of the Yongala mainly consisted of produce, there is no possibility of any search being made for salvage. If the wreck is discovered in an accessible spot, the company intends to dispose of it by auction.

SYDNEY, March 29.

Mr. Black manager of the Sydney office of the Adelaide Company referring to the loss of the Yongala said:

"Our masters, and others who know the Yongala and have travelled in her, scout the idea that she has foundered. What happened they think, is either that she struck a rock or was blown out of her course to the reef. If any passenger got ashore anywhere, we shonld have heard something of them. There seems little hope, but the search will be continued until every vestige of hope has faded." Captain Boyle, who has had great experience on the Queensland coast, thinks, that the Yongala was driven between Holbourne Island and the reefs forming the western edge of the Great Barrier.

A Carnarvon resident informs us that a leading captain on this coast, in discussing recently the stability and seaworthiness of our coasters, remarked: "But I wouldn't like to travel on the Yongala or Grantala in a storm."