A marked exemplification of the old adage that misfortunes never come singly" has just been afforded the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company in the wreck of their river steamer Kiang-chang (Into Scechwen) following within a few days of the Joss of the Housang, already announced in our columns. Itwas, indeed, whileen investigation into the circumstances of the loss of the Hovsang was taking place, that the news of the wreck of the Kiang-chang arrived. She left Shanghai at daylight on the Ist inst. for Hankow, under the command of Captain Friend, and made a favourable passage until beyond Kiukiang. Between four and five o'clock on Monday morning the 4th inst., when, as we understand, there was nothing exceptional in the weather, she struck heavily on the rocks off Porpoise Bluff, down on the chart as the Hen and Chicken Rocks; and it was at once apparent that the damage she had sustained was too great her afloat for it to keep any great length of time. All efforts wereconsequently directed to saving life. The boats were lowered, and the crew and passengers, numbering altogether about 80persons, were transferred from the steamer to the South Bank. 'This work was vigorously pro-secured, much to the credit of the Captain and his officers; otherwise many. lives would doubtless' have been sacrificed for about twenty minutes after the steamer first struck the rock, the fore part of the vessel settled below the water; and forty minutes afterwards her stern went down also, and nothing then remained visible but her masts, smoking stack, walking beam, and a portion of the upper deck. At this time it was thought that all persons on board had been saved, and a house was taken on shore for their accommodation. Subsequently, however, it was found that the firemen's cook, a native, was missing; and it is supposed that he was drowned in his eagerness to save his own personal effects, or that the galley door was forced to by the water and prevented his escape with the remainder of the crew. This, 80 far as we could hastily gather yesterday afternoon, is briefly the account of the total wreck of one of the largest and newest steamers running on the river.
Immediately on the occurrence taking place, Captain Friend despatched a messenger to Hankow for assistance. The Company's steamer Kiangching, Captain Paul, wasin port at the time the messenger arrived, and at once steamed down to the wreck, arriving there about eleven o'clock the same night, Measures were then taken to salve as much of the cargo of the Kiang-chang as could be reached; but it was impossible to make much progress, and though the operations were continued until three o'clock the following afternoon, very little cargo was saved, Howerer, being Chinese New-Year holidays, the ill-fated vessel had only a little over one thousand packages of cargo on board, and her treasure hold was empty; so the loss in this respect will not be so great as it doubtless would have been any other season of the year.
Having done her best to save the cargo, the Kiangching returned to Hankow with the wrecked crow and passengers, a boat's crew being left in charge of the wreck, She stayed there until 4.25 a.m. on the 10th, when she left for Shanghai with Captain Friend and his officers on board. They arrived here yesterday about half-past two o'clock in the afternoon, and in an incredibly short space of time exaggerated news of the disaster spread throughout: the Settlement, one account being that the Kiangchang had not gone to the bottom, but had been blown to atoms by the explosion of her boilers.
That the vessel is a total wreck is beyond adonbt. She was the last new vessel added to the fleet of the Shanghai Steam Navigation Company, and had only made a few trips at the time of the transfer to the China Merchants'Company. She was looked. upon as one of the finest vessels running up the river, and her loss, coming so close on that of the Howsaug, is severe upon the Insweance Society.
The place of the wreck is where the Confucius was lost in 1869, if we remember rightly, and the new wreck is described as being on the top of old one.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.