CUBA PASSENGERS SAFE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 218, 12 September 1923, Page 5

CUBA PASSENGERS SAFE.

LINER BREAKING UP. 29 NAVY RATINGS DEAD. MEN O' WARSMEN INJURED. INEXPLICABLE NAVIGATION. (By Cable.—Tress Association.—Copyright. (Received II n.m.l LOS AN U ELKS, September 11. The passengers and crew of the liner Cuba were all saved. The bullion cargo, worth 2..">0O,000 dollars, was salvaged. The liner is breaking up and will he a total loss, as also will ihe ordinary cargo worth :500,(MlO dollars. Casualties from Ihe wrecked destroyers, as far as can be ascertained, are twiMity-nine dead. Three arc still adrift on one raft. Thirteen were severely injured.—(A. and X.Z. Cable.) AMAZING NAVIGATION. FEATS OF HEROISM. NEW YORK, September 11. An inquiry has been ordered into the loss of ihe seven navy destroyers off the South C'alifornian coast, which is regarded as the most amazing accident in American naval history. Heavy seas continued to-day, crashing the bulls to pieces. The destroyers were running at 20 knots following the Delphi like sheep following a leader. Kadi was steering by the light on the boat ahead. They had'believed themselves eight miles oil the shore. Officere assert that they were the victims of a new uneharte'l current. There are 22 dead still aboard the Young, who were caught in their bunks when the ship capsized. After the Delphi struck only an instant elapsed before the Young rammed her. The Delphi's propeller was still racing. It caught the Young in the bow, and aided by a big swell "kicked her over. The ('•hauncey, which was next in line, had a slight warning, and full speed aotern was ordered, but it was too late; the Young's propeller ripped her side open. Four other destroyers repeated the performance. The rapid disappearance of lights warned the 11 destroyers behind, and they stood off shore. The seas were too high to launch lifeboat* an,d everybody remained aboard till Sunday morning, when Seaman Carter, the hero of the occasion, piloted a raft IS times between the ships and the shore through raging surf. Boatswain Peterson swam 40 yards through rocks from the Young to the Chauncey, carrying a lifeline over which 70 comrades clambered hand over hand.—(A. and X.Z. Cable.)