Thursday, 24 June 2021

WRECKED AT PORT HEDLAND

 Northern Times, 21 September, 1935


Port Hedland Notes

(From our own Correspondent.)
Port Hedland, September 19

The s.s. Minderoo ran aground on 
a sandbank near the Port Hedland 
jetty in attempting to berth
on Saturday morning's tide. The tides
are equinoxial, and would run at the
rate of 10 knots at the time the 
accident happened. The anchor was let
down and would not grip with the 
result that the vessel ran on to the
sandbank. The captain thought it would
be an easy matter to free the vessel
and used his engines, but although
the prow and stern moved, the vessel
was fast amidships. The tide rose five
feet after the first grounding, but had
the effect of leaving the vessel higher
on the bank, and the vessel became
pivoted in the centre on the top of the
sand bar. When the tide went out the
prow and stern sagged with the weight
of the cargo and severely strained the
vessel, causing leaks amidship, and 
disturbed the engine bed, throwing
the engine out of action. Steam can be
generated for steerage and winch work,
but it is impossible to turn the propeller. 
At low tide many of the townsfolk went 
out in boats and it was possible to 
practically walk around the vessel. A 
distinct corrugation could be
seen in the ship's side. The lifeboats
were ready in the davits for immediate
use. There were only 15 passengers
aboard. With the ebb of the tide early
Sunday morning the boat drifted off
the bank. Ropes had been made fast
to the jetty, enabling the captain to
pull his vessel clear. Passengers who
were going to Singapore returned south
by the Centaur, and the freezer cargo
was also transhipped. The Minderoo
is berthed by the jetty and with the
assistance of a diver, plates have been
screwed over the holes in her side, and
cement blocks placed on the inside.
The Captain himself donned the diving
jacket and examined the damage and
issued instructions accordingly. It will
be impossible to tow the vessel until
the next spring tides and it will re-
quire two tugs to negotiate the turns
in the channel. The surveyor will ar-
rive shortly and then it will be known
what can be done to the vessel. Only
cargo for Hedland has been removed,
and the master awaits further 
instruction. The Customs Department is
keeping a strict guard, and nobody
is allowed to board the vessel.

courtesy Flotilla Australia.


probably stranded on Middle Bank


The West Australian, 21 October, 1909. 


THE KOOMBANA AGROUND.

EXPERIENCE AT PORT HEDLAND.
DREDGING OF CREEK ADVOCATED.
Port Hedland, October 20.

After striking the bank about a mile up
the creek here at 1 o'clock this morning,
the steamer Koombana became fast about
200 yards from the jetty on the eastern bank
of the creek. The vessel will probably be
got off at high tide.

In view of the increased traffic likely to
take place during the next year or two the
dredging of the creek is a very necessary
work.

[Later services state that the Koombana 
sailed for Cossack at 12.45 p.m. yesterday.]










courtesy Trove and Google Earth.

Thursday, 3 June 2021

WALTER BARKER QUITS PORT HEDLAND.





West Australian Worker, 5 July, 1912.


A newspaper that unostentatiously 
faded out of existence recently was
the Port Hedland "Advocate". It
was run by Mr. W. H. Barker, an
outspoken person, who has little time
for Liberalism, and who told it so 
emphatically last October. For having
the courage to express his opinions
Barker was frozen out of Port Hedland. 
The victim of of a boycott (a
deadly instrument in a small rigidly
conservative town) then went up to
Broome, where he has launched the
"Nor'-West Echo." 

This was only 3 months after the loss of the Koombana (2 months after the Inquiry) and one does wonder if Mr. Barker's publicized criticisms of the Inquiry and his exposure of the truth landed him on the wrong side of Port Hedland's community elders; rather than anti-Liberalism views which surely would have resonated in 'a small rigidly conservative town.' ?

Mr. Moxon is well known to us as the manager of the Western Australia branch of the Adelaide Steamship Company - owners of the Koombana. And my distant relative.  Mr. Barker's undiluted criticisms of the ship and Company would surely have caused animosity?

Here is the rub.....

Mr. Moxon was a man who wore more than one cap and the following extract reveals the extent of his influence in Port Hedland; beyond port and jetty. He was in a position to open or close the door of opportunity in this under-developed little coastal town.

Hedland Advocate, 27 November, 1909.

Mr Moxon said he was pleased,
as president of the Fremantle
Chamber of Commerce, to meet the
local Progress Association (Port Hedland)
which had a desire to avoid centralisation.
A number of the questions brought
forward came under his personal
observation. Unless considerable
dredging were done the eastern
channel would be little availed of
by the ships now likely to visit the
port. 

The beacons on the west
channel made entrance easier, and
it was perfectly simple to have
those beacons properly lit up. 

He was quite prepared to advocate that
something be done to clear the
western channel. It would be as
wise to suggest that the train
should be run without an engine as
to suggest that shipping must come
into the port without something
being done to the channel. 

He would ask for the departmental 
report on the foreshore, and see what
help could be given. In connection
with the native prison labor, he
understood that it was desired to
divert the laborers from other towns
to Hedland. As a family man, he
thought proper accommodation
should be provided in tropical
schools, and in regard to the overland
telegraph line he was quite
sure it was urgently needed. Goods
shed.—Perhaps some departmental
genius had had old barns pulled
down and a new one erected, which
was not a step towards progress.
The Government should build with
an idea of a larger Hedland rather
than a smaller Hedland. He took
their reception as a complement to
the chamber of which he was president,
and thought their requests
obviously reasonable. He could
tell them that Mr. Smith had already
helped them in regard to the laying
down of rails at the old jetty.
Mr. Smith said he occupied no
official capacity, but would do his
best in backing up Mr. Moxon. 
Regarding the goods shed, there was
provision in the railway contract for
another shed, also a stationmaster's
house, yards,. workshops, etc. ,
about a mile out along the line.
Those present afterwards met
Messrs. Moxon and Smith and
drank their health.

Walter Barker started off his Port Hedland career brandishing an impressive arsenal of credentials!

Cootamundra Herald, 27 January, 1906.

Walter Barker.
Many of our readers will remember the
lad Walter Barker, son of Mr. Joseph
Barker; settler of this town, and he was a
apprentice in the Cootamundra Herald
works. By the ' Western Argus' we
note that he is placed in a group of
municipal councillors ; and we find that
he has been very much honoured in
Western Australia, besides being 
endowed with much good fortune. His
next promotion will probably be
to Parliament. At present he is in 
Claremont, but he recently sold out the
'Leonora Miner' newspaper for a nice
little margin of profit.
At Leonora he held the position of a
justice of the peace also, and on three
occasions he was selected by the 
Government as one of the justices to sit 
with the chairman of the Licensing Bench, 
a practice which is resorted to annually as
a check up bench packing. He was also
deputy mining registrar, having put
thousands of pounds through his hands ;
he was President of the Prospectors'
Association. The best news of him is that
he is the happy father of a fine, healthy
looking pair. He is about to start a
paper at Port Hedland, which is a growing 
place, and is likely to become a centre.
Mr. Barker has his mother and her two
youngest children staying with him, his
eldest brother (William) haying been
drowned two months ago in the Swan
river while bathing.
His present address is " Acrasia, ''
Claremont (W. A.).

By 1925, the loudest voice proclaiming Koombana-injustice fell silent, passing to a quieter place where I choose to believe commiseration and comfort could finally replace indignation and despair.

The West Australian, 6 August, 1925.

Mr. Walter Henry Barker, proprietor
of the 'North-West Echo,' published at
Broome, died on July 28 at Broome in his
54th year. He was born at Burrowa
(New South Wales) and served an 
apprenticeship to the printing trade in the
office of the Cootamundra 'Herald.' He
came to Western Australia in 1895 and
was subsequently connected with news-
papers at Esperance, Albany, Leonora,
and Claremomt. In 1906 he established the
Port hedland 'Advocate,' and after 
conducting it for six years he removed to
Broome where he founded the 'North-
West Echo.'



courtesy Trove.