CAPSIZED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 178, 31 July 1933, Page 8

CAPSIZED.

BARGE IN HARBOUR. MAN RESCUED AT 3.15 A.M. rORTY-FTVE MINUTES IN "WATER* To-day at mid-day, seated round the cabin table, making short work of large platefuls of tomato soup, they made light of- their experience; but in. the early hours of this morning one of their number had struggled for bis life in a equall-whipped sea for three-quarters of an hour, and had been picked up only by the merest chance. The etory began at 2.30 this morning, When the barge Billy White, heavily laden from the island of Pahiki with a load of red shingle, capsized in the harbour mid-way between Hevonport and Mechanics' Bay, just after the only man on board had jumped overboard. And from that point the tale is best told in the words of the three men mainly concerned. "It waa a dirty night," began the master and owner of the launch Oinati, which was towing the barge to her destination, Captain C. P. Lannam. "It was equally, with a heavy sea running, 'but we were plugging along with the hope of a journey almost done. And then, in the channel between Hevonport and Mechanics' Bay, tilings began to happen. "Shingle Began to Shift." That was where the man on the Billy White, Mr. T. Daniels, took up the tale. "You're right," he said to the former speaker, "it was rough. The waves were coming right over the barge and right on to the load —she carried 100 tons of shingle—and they had been doing that for some time; but then suddenly I it got worse. An extra heavy sea came over, and stove in the cabin door and flooded her. Then the shingle began to shift. Perhaps the uneven distribution of the load caused it, but to make things worse, the barge began to leak. The cargo shifted more and more, and what with a stove-in door, a flooded and leaking barge and a shifting cargo, things •were only middling.

.'-Things continued like that for some time, -with me doing a useless best to settle the cargo. It was cold, as cold as— well, very cold —and I was wet through, not as wet as I was going to be in a minute, though. I was still trying to fix the cargo, when she began to settle by the port side. I saw nothing could stop her, and shingle began to fall all round me, so to avoid being caught cither by the shingle or underneath the barge, I lumped for it. "I said I had been cold before. Now I knew what cold was. The first plunge —" "Wouldn't this soup have gone well then?" his companion, the master of the launch, interrupted. "Hard to Find Me." "Good!" grinned Mr. Samuels. "Anyway, that first plunge was freezing. As I jumped I tried to grab one of the pieces of wood which had floated from the deck of the barge. But I missed the piece I aimed at, and had to grope round in the dark for another bit. I found a piece, which partially supported me when I put it across my chest. I was wearing a heavy woollen jersey, which, though heavy when waterlogged, kept me warmer than I would have been. Another thing I realised was just how rough it was. I could not see far, and I .was completely hidden in the dip of the waves. I saw that it was going to bo hard for anyone to find me. I began to yell out, but there was eo much spray whipping up that each yell ended in a gurgle. The tide was ebbing, and I began to drift away from the barge and away from everything. I could hear the launch chugging somewhere, but it was very dark."

That appeared an appropriate place for the- master of the launch to continue. He was towing on about 20 fathoms of line, which meant that he was SO feet away when the barge upturned. When he saw what had happened, ho cast off the line and made back to the scene. He could see nothing, for it was then half-past two in the morning. Luckily, ho heard a shout, so he knew that his friend was still alive. "Began to Think Him Drowned." "But where that shout came from I Hid not know. It might have been anywhere. So I began to hint round near the barge in the hope of finding him. Tive minutes went by, then 10; the time drew out to half an hour and still no trace, and I began to think that he had ibeen drowned. I did not know where j he might have got to, because he might easily have drowned between the time J that I heard him call and 30 minutes later. I could not see far on account of the sea, and I could not hear much because of the wind." On tho launch also was Mr. H. Ardern, and they both j •were on the look out. They got further B,\vay from the barge, until they thought that Mr. Samuels could not possibly! have got so far —and then they saw him. 1 He was still hanging to his bit of wood, and though thoroughly tired, could not ibe called exhausted. They found him after three-quarters of an hour's search, and he had drifted with the tide for Isomo 440 yards. Tho fact that the tide •was ebbing was the only indication that Captain Lannam. had had of the direction Mr. Samuels might have gone. After such an exacting 45 minutes none of them felt like bothering about the barge. Mr. Samuels said he did not care if he never saw her again. It had been touch and go, and though he made light of it this morning he realised chat he was a fortunate man. i Barge Recovered. i

This morning at nine o'clock the Omati went back to recover the barge, ■which had drifted into Hobson Bay. They towed it out into the channel and ■were then joined by the fug Lady EvaThey both towed tho capsized craft up into the harbour with the intention of berthing it at the. Western wharf. When they came near the wharf, however, they found that the mast of the. barge, -which was not broken, as they had thought, was touching the bottom. They thereupon took tho craft into the middle of the harbour, and moored themselves and it to one of the buoys to wait for flood tide, when they will attempt to right the barge, which has not been damaged. That was tho point which had troubled the owner, Mr. L. H. Julian.

And then, seated at dinner in the cabin of the Lady Eva, waiting for the tide to finish running in, they lived the whole thing over again. They were laving tomato soup, bread, piled thick with butter, and then still thicker with cheese. It was then that the funny side fcegan to appeal, and they 'Tagged Mr. Samuels for his escape.