State Library of South Australia

P.S. Gem snagged in Higgin's Cutting near Cal Lal, N.S.W [PRG 1258/1/1355] • Photograph

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Summary

Side view of the upper decks of P.S. Gem, which snagged and partly sunk, in Higgin's Cutting near Cal Lal, N.S.W., November 1948. [From information provided by Frank Tucker, the Gem sank at Cal Cal, not Higgin's Cutting]. According to another researcher, the Gem hit a snag next to what was then known as Scotty's Woodpile on Lindsay Island about 500 yards upstream from Wompinni House on the opposite bank.(Wompinni was part of Kulcurna Station then owned by the Higgins family and is still standing). The Captain realised the boat was in trouble but also knew that if he abandoned ship on that side of the river, they would not be able to get help because no-one lived there. He allowed The Gem to drift downstream and steered it to a sandbar next to what the Higgins family referred to as the First Creek. This was close to where the old Police Station and Customs House once stood. The Captain ran the boat aground on the sandbar, the passengers were able to get off safely onto the bank. One man had suffered a heart attack during the panic and had died. He was left on his bunk. Someone went for help to Wompinni and soon Mr J.T. Higgins and family were on the scene. His daughter Denys Higgins, aged about 19 at the time and mid-way through her nursing studies was rowed out to the Gem by her father to examine the body of the man to see if there was anything that could be done for him. In the meantime, all the crew and passengers were cared for by the Higgins family with cups of tea and food. Efforts were made to engage buses from Renmark to transport the passengers and crew back to Renmark but because the roads at the time were in a poor state, they were eventually all taken on trucks and by private transport.

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Physical description

Photoprint; 15 x 10.5 cm

Dates / Publication details

1948

Collection

Part of Godson Collection

Subject

Gem (Paddle steamer)
Shipwrecks -- Paddle steamers -- New South Wales -- Cal Lal Region
Paddle steamers -- Murray River (N.S.W. - S.A.)

Catalogue record

Return to catalogue

Historical information

Ronald Parsons 'Ships of the inland rivers', notes that a passenger died while packing his bags, prior to being taken ashore.

(Godson number WW/26).

Digitisation information

Date

18/10/2001

Format

image/tiff

Resolution

3,113 x 2,006 pixels (6.2 MP)

Size

6.25 MB

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