THRILLING TALE OF THE HIGH SEAS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 130, 3 June 1899, Page 5 (Supplement)

THRILLING TALE OF THE HIGH SEAS.

! HOW BRITISH COMPARE WITH ' FRENCH SAILORS.

In the British Admiralty Court, on Monday, April IT, before Mr Justice Barnes, assisted by Trinity Masters, a stirring tale of a fight with flames on the high seas was told, and showed ■the superiority of British sailors over 'French in the matter of pluck. The plaintiffs were the owners, master and crew of the Whitby steamer NorthI urabriu, belonging- to the InterI national line, and they claimed sal- ! vage remuneration for services render|ed in December last to the French steamer Eiise in the Mediterranean. According to the evidence of William Winspear, master of the Northumbrian and others of the crew, their vessel was bound from the Black Sea jto .Rotterdam with a cargo of man-. ganese ore. On December 0 they fell in with the French steamer Elise, abandoned by her master and crew, who were in "boats. The Elise, which: was bound from Tunis and Algiers to Dunkirk with a cargo of barley, was then blazing fiercely. The lire had, broken out in the lamp room, under the bridge, and although her crew had got the hose to work the lire had gained, and as it threatened to burn the two lifeboats just abaft the bridge they (and a. third boat) were lowered. Shortly afterwards as the whole woodwork on the bridge deck was in flames her master and crew took to the boats, and whilst waiting to see if the fire would subside the Northumbria came up. The master and crew of the Elise were taken on board the Northumbria, together with a cask of wine, clothes, ship's papers, and a dog. Captain Winspear said the Frenchmen seemed to have lost all control of their wits. They were panic stricken and perfectly unable to give him proper information as to the nature of the lire. He accordingly steamed slowly round the burning'ship. The fire was blazing fiercely" near the bridge, and later on names" were seen issuing from the cross bunker hatch and No. 2 hold. The Elise also had a heavy list to port. The Northumbria was in dangerous proximity to the flames, and had to be put astern at times to avoid the risk of fire, and when so revei-sing her propeller was fouled by the rope holding the Elise's third boat, which had to be cut adrift. On December 7th Captain Winspear, after consulting with his chief officer, resolved to save the Elise if possible. The chief officer with a volunteer crew of seven men boarded the Elise, and he and the chief engineer and a fireman descended into .the engine room to ascertain whether there was risk of explosion. It was found that by taking precautions and raking out.some of the fires the risk of explosion would not arise, and the salving crew thereupon turned their attention to the lire. A hose was found and fitted into the water service pipe, the pump was worked by getting steam on the donkey engine, water was poured on the flames, and ultimately it was seen that the fire could be "g ot under. A boat was sent to report this fact to the master of the Northumbria and to fetch a sounding rod for the tanks. The chief officer, owing to the amidships steering gear being destroyed, proceeded to put the after gear into working order. More assistance was sent from the Northumbria, whose captain refused to comply with the Elise's master-'* request to be put back with his crew on his own ship. The heat was terrible, and the smoke so dense and blinding as to render it impossible for the salvage crew to remain below lono-er than a few minutes at a time, notwithstanding that they had their mouths covered with wet cloths. The deck in places was red hot and rising up, and some of the plates on the ship's sides were bulging with the heat. The fire was eventually extinguished, and compasses and lights having been supplied by the Northumbria to the Elise, the latter started slowly ahead for Gibraltar (150 miles distant), the Northumbria being in close attendance. During the voyage the fire smouldered, and at times broke out again, giving the salvage crew plenty of work to do. On Dec. 8 the two" vessels arrived safely at Gibraltar. The value of the property salved was £23,850, In cross-examination by Mr Spinall, Captain Winspear said he refused to put the Elise's crew back on their own boat when the fire was got under because he considered that his own men, under the circumstances, were the proper persons to take charge of her until she got to a safe port. If a man (said witness) would leave his ship when there was no fire at either end of the ship, but, only in the middle, and left it for other people to go on board and put out the fire there was nothing to stop him from leaving the ship again should the fire break out again. Witness had no confidence in the Frenchmen, and he had confidence in his own men to take the ship safely into port, and in refusing the Elise's master's request he did | what he considered best to save the property. The defendants alleged that the | master of the Northumbria was guilty of piracy in keeping the Elise's crew prisoner's on his ship, and in not letting them go back to their own ship, but" the plaintiff pleaded justification for what he did. i Mr Justice Barnes, at the resumed hearing, said the case was a some-1 what unusual one, and very important services had been rendered to the salved property, which was of substantial value. He did not think that, although _ the Frenchmen were frightened and* in a i panic, they intended to abandon their j ! ship altogether. They probably would j ' have gone back when the fire . had i subsided. What had astonished him ! -was that such little, attempts had j I been made by the French crew to cope 1 with the fire, which was confined to I that part of the ship under (>e | bridge. He did not think that any-1 i body on the Northumbria cut the French boats adrift with the object of casting them away, and the probabil-1 ity was that in the confusion of taking : the Frencmeu on board the boats were not properly secured, and they got, adrift themselves. With regard to the ! demand of the French crew to be put ; back he thought they were not so j eagerly desirous of getting back as they seemed to express, and then it : was not until the Northumbrian boat had been more than once between the vessels, and had shown that something could be done to save the property.: If the master of the Northumbria felt that by putting part of the crew of the Elise back there would be confusion on board resulting from the attempt of both crews to conduct the salvage operations, it could hardly be sa°kl that he was guilty of misconduct in saying, 'Well, it is better to I leave my men to handle the matter

rather than create a difficulty.' The Elder Brethren took the view that he was .quite right in completing thfe salvage operations. The services were plucky and extremely well performed, and rendered at great risk*. He awarded the plaintiffs £ 6000—owners, £2500; master, £1000; and crew, £2500; the men who went on the Elise to take double shares.