126
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

General Post Office, Wellington,
25th March, 1867.
NOTICE. It having been reported that several
letters have been posted in the Colony with
Stamp Duty Stamps instead of Postage Stamps
affixed to them in payment of the postage: Notice
is hereby given, that any letters not having the
proper postage labels affixed, will be detained.
E. W. STAFFORD,
(in the absence of Mr. Hall.)

General Post Office,
Wellington, 25th March, 1867.
POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS.—Notice is
hereby given that Savings Banks will be opened
by Government at the following Post Offices, where
Deposits will be received and Payments made from
the 1st of April next :—

AUCKLAND—
Otahuhu
Russell
Wangarie
Raglan
Mongonui
Onehunga
Alexandra
Cambridge
Newcastle
Tauranga.
NEW PLYMOUTH.
NAPIER.
WELLINGTON—
Wanganui.
NELSON.
Collingwood.
BLENHEIM—
Picton
Havelock.
CHRISTCHURCH—
Lyttelton
Kaiapoi
Timaru
Akaroa
Hokitika
Greymouth
Waimate.
DUNEDIN—
Clyde
Lawrence
Arrow River
Manuherikia
Queenstown
Oamaru
Tokomairiro
Port Chalmers
Waikouaiti
Balclutha
West Taieri
Hamilton's.
INVERCARGILL—
Riverton
Campbelltown.

1. Interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum
   is given on sums less than £200; at the rate of 4
   per cent. per annum on sums over £200; and in the
   same proportions for any shorter time on every
   complete £1 deposited, provided that no interest be
   allowed on more than £500.

2. Depositors in the Post Office Savings Banks
   have direct Government security for the prompt
   repayment of their money.

3. A Depositor in any one of the Post Office
   Banks can continue his deposits at any other of such
   Banks, and can withdraw his money at that Post
   Office Bank which is most convenient to him.

4. The strictest secrecy is observed with respect
   to the names of Depositors in Post Office Banks, and
   the amounts of their deposits.

5. Married women may deposit money in the Post
   Office Savings Bank, and money so deposited will be
   repaid to the Depositor, unless her husband gives
   notice, in writing, of marriage, and claims payment
   of the deposits.

6. Money may be deposited by or on behalf of
   Minors. Depositors over seven years of age are
   treated as persons of full age, but minors under
   seven years of age cannot withdraw their deposits
   until after they have reached the age of seven.

7. Applications to the Chief Office in each
   Province on the business of Post Office Savings
   Banks, and the replies sent thereto, are free from
   charge from postage.

E. W. STAFFORD,
(in the absence of Mr. Hall.)

General Post Office,
Wellington, 25th March, 1867.
THE following Report of the Court of Inquiry
held under "The Inquiry into Wrecks Act,
1863," on the wreck of the s.s. "Star of the Evening"
is published for general information.

E. W. STAFFORD,
(In the absence of Mr. Hall.)

Resident Magistrate's Court,
Wellington, 6th March, 1867.
SIR,—In compliance with your instructions I have,
with the assistance of Captain Johnston, Nautical
Assessor, made inquiry into the circumstances
attending the loss of the s.s. "Star of the Evening"
on the morning of the 13th February, seven miles
north-east of Poverty Bay, and report,—

That the s.s. "Star of the Evening" was an iron
screw steamer of 166 tons register, and 35 horse-
power; rigged as a three-masted schooner; built in
1863, at Newcastle, and owned by Robert McIntyre,
of Nelson; was well provided with charts, and in
good order; had been swung for compass adjustment
in Melbourne last April; was valued at £9500, and
insured for £9000; she was commanded by Angell
Cooper Turner, who holds a Melbourne certificate of
service, and had a crew of 17 hands. She left Napier
on 12th February, at 1 p.m., with a cargo of 1300 sheep
and three passengers—the weather at the time fine,
wind light S.E.; at 8 p.m. she was off Portland
Island, distant about 15 miles, and when it bore
W.S.W., a N.E. by E. course was shaped to pass
outside of the Bull Rock; at 9.30 the course was
altered to North, the master intending to pass inside
of the Ariel Reef, and the square-sails set—the
weather was thick, and the south-east end of Mahia
was seen indistinctly to bear W. by S.; from this
time until half-an-hour after the vessel struck the
land does not appear to have been seen—the master
and first officer were on deck the whole of the first
watch, looking out and watching the steering; at
midnight the wind freshened, with rain, and the rate
of sailing increased from 7 knots to 8 knots; the
course was altered for a short time to N. E., and
again to North, nothing to leeward—the weather at
this time very thick and squally; at 2.20 the vessel
struck—first slightly, afterwards heavily—and soon
became a total wreck by parting amidships, leaving
only the masts and funnel above water. The crew
and passengers clung on to anything they could until
daylight, when it was found the vessel had ran on a
reef extending about a quarter of a mile from land,
and 7 miles from Poverty Bay. The boats were soon
broken up after the vessel struck, and nothing saved
from the wreck except 100 sheep, which swam on
shore.

By swimming, assisted by pieces of the wreck, the
master and fourteen of the crew managed with great
difficulty to get out to the reef; the remainder of the
crew and passengers were unfortunately drowned.

The Master attributes the loss of the ship to a
slight error in the compass, arising from the damp-
ness of the weather and leak in the binnacle, causing
a card made of talc, covered with paper, to absorb
moisture and act sluggishly after the vessel was put
before the wind, which explanation, probably, may be
correct; but the question is,—was the master, at
9.30, justified in taking the inside passage? He
states that all vessels always take that passage, and
in this he is borne out by the evidence of two ship-
masters' long experienced on the coast.

Taking into consideration the darkness of the
night, I am of opinion a course outside the "Ariel"
should have been steered, passing 7 or 8 miles to the
eastward until he got into 40 fathoms of water, when