A N.Z. GRACE DARLING.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18070, 12 May 1924, Page 8

A N.Z. GRACE DARLING.

LITTLE GIRL'S HEROISM AND SEAMANSHIP. CHILDREN IN PERIL. TIMELY RESCUE FROM THE SEA. A tearing south-west, gale fairly "smoking" out of Lyttelton Harbour, the wind lifting the tops off the waves in sheets, blinding squalls of rain and Kail, and on the wilderness of heaving white-topped waves, off Lyttelton Beads, a foUrteen-foot dinghy, a mere cockleshell, containing not strongmmetn t but five children, the oldest a girl of thirteen, the youngest a baby of two years. That was the commencement of a drama of the sea enacted off Addefley Head shortly before midday yesterday. Through tho heroism and seamanship of one of-.the children, a girl of thirteen years, all were saved. The" Children concerned wore: Isabel Burns, 13 years. Jack Burns, 10 years. Stanley Burns, 9 years. Phyllis Burns, 4 years. Garry Burns, 2 years. They comprise all of the children of Mr Jack Burns, chief signalman at tho Harbour Board's signal station at Adderley Head, at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour.. They live in one of the Board's houses at Little Port Cooper.

A Sunny Morning. , . In the early pairt of yesterday Jnoriiihg the weather was wonderfully fine and calm. The sea in tho harbour had a surface like glass. The older children decided to go for a row, taking the little ones with them. Aboot 10.30 they set out and paddled about the little bay, tuver more than two or three hundred yards from the jetty. (Then came a sudden change in. the .weather; black clouds appeared as if from nowhere, and the wind sprang up. The' little boat was caught in the middle of the. bay, and in a few moments a tragedy. was impending. In spite of the efforts of .the children the dinghy' Was blown out into Lyttelton Harbour, where the gale was raging its fiercest, ■'the eldest girl struggled to keep the draft's head on to the breaking seas, but it took het ; all. he* time. The anchor had been dropped, but it was dragging. The girl decided to, try to make for the shelter of Adderley Head. They pulled up' the anchor,' and taking an bar apiece, she ; and theeldeSt boy Commenced the seemingly impossible task of rowing in the teeth ;6t the gale. Half-an : hout's hard battling and the boat crept into the comparative shelter of the giant cliffs at Aflderley J Head. Close in to shore the anchor was dropped. But although somewhat sheltered, there was stUT a cofisidr&ble Sea ttibfliiig, ftfld the anchor threatened to drag.. Bo the two Children kept plugging aW&y' With J thq? oars. t 'The bOy's hands had become 80 iiUftibed With the I gold that, encountering a heavy sea, I the oaf was from his grasp and carried away. A Gallant Effort.:,

• It Was then thatthe girl Isabel committed an act' of exceptional bravery;* There Was plp.nty of rope in the boat, ind she decided to make a lifle fast to the rocks. True, the shore -«ras bnly about a hundred feet away, but It was ft hundred, feet of freezingly cold WatfcJ, With tumbling Waves and thick kelp, find there was the added risk of being dashed' upon tlie tacks themselves. Yet, nothing dailnted,, and willing to : risk everything for the of jitJr little brothers ahd sisters, she stripped off her Shoes ahd Btockihgs, and, tjring a line aroiind her waist, plunged over-boafd-te • swim ashore; : Gamely she struggled, but the task proved too much,-- and she was pulled back exhausted to the bOat by the other children. \ ' Tag to the Bescue. , . In the meantime,the alarm had b66h given frbnl tile felgnal-statioh/to Lyttelfofl, ahd at ten minutes to twelve the tug whistle blew. A representative of "The Prosß," knowing that th 6 tug had no regular , jcj) on order, hastened down to see what was ainiSs. He Was nust ih time to jump aboard the tug as she moved out from the Whaiff at noon. . j As the ttig tufhs tlla cornet Of the tt oie the. full force of the gale is felt. jjloWr she has her stefn to, it, and is Sddtt racifag full steam doWn the harbour. The message given to • the skipper. Was rather tfhe*e Waß, a boat "oft the Sotith Head." Silt in the meantime she might have been blown to sea. Binoculars and , telescopes are Soon in usfe. Anxious eyes aCan the water for a long time Without result. It is the. skipper himself Who first sights the %at. "Therathey are, uilder the rocks," and sure ehOUgh there is a little White boat heaving and tossing Close inshore. A girl s coat, of brilliant Orange colour,- is inost cohBoicuoua, and then a white painted 6af is Been waving. With the helm hard over, the tug swings round and heads fof them. Easy now, dead slow. We Art close inshore, much closer tl\an we ought to be with the tug's deep draught. The girl i s working at the remaining .oar, gamely trying to get the boat out from the shore. The younger children start to scream out something, but the eirl. intent on hearing orders from the tug, silences themi At last they are near enough. A linens thrown, and falls fair across the dinghy. One of the boys tries to make it fast amid' ships, but, realising the danger of the boat being capsized, a seaman yells to him to make it fast in the bow.

"Man Overboard." There is some confusion amdng the Children, but the girl never ceases to work at the oar, watching- and ihanretivrifig the boat Over every wave. Suddenly the tug swings round and the dinghy is heaving and dipping alongside. All this id being carried out in the inidßt of a blindiilg hail storm. A deck hand,. J. Hardwick, dfdps into the dinghy and takes the line. Before he can make it fast, however, the dinghy is-swept astern by the force Or the gale. The man hangs on grimly, the bow of the little craft dips dangerously, an cxtrfl large 86a.8trik6s it, dud tbcn Hardwick is pulled clean Out of the dinghy into the sea, while, the children are adrift once more. ( "Man overboard!" com<ss the cry, but the skipper has already takes, in the situation and stopped the engines. It is just as well, for the man is swept right under the stern.Of the tug, alongside the pTopellers. . Fortunately he retains his hold of the line, and he is qfcickly drawn alongside, most of the passage being made under water. Then, ''HOaVe alii'' and he is pulled up to the rail and scrambles aboard, none the Worse for his immersion. Another-ap-proach is made to the, dinghy. This

(Ooßtlaaed at lotto of nart caiman.)

time two lines are thrown, and ' the boys make them fast to - the ftfrW&rd thwart. { > RescW Effected." ' The dinghy is alongside once' 1 aiftre, but in danger of- being, ftwftmpedv ®be deck hands ate mancßuvring the lines to avoid - this..: '' Take' myf-Uttle brostreams the girl above the toat Of the gale. It hag been a cage of "Ail hands and the cook—and- the pfessmafu" 'So the latte*, by kneeling on the belting jUBt manages to reach with one hand the frozen little: fcrmj and hands the child up to-;the cook. The others ate giving a hand atjw, and seen the ehiidfta afe all aboard. , A pitiful Sight they present, hatless, boots are washing about in the; bottom of the two youngeY ones. blue afld stUpelfied with the c6ld. The baby, a . tihtlbby little urchin, has received a blow from the end of an oar and *his month is bleeding. But Isabel," tt Weil'built girt, With a plump,. freckled face, ,smiles in Spite of her sodden clothes and shattering teeth. It is a smile ,of relief, and of a -knowledge' of' duty acsomplished. Intothe Stokeheld. | Down into the stokehold they go, where, in front of gleaming, futn&ceSj willing hands chafe the little hands and legs back ttf life. Once itt the Wafihth the threo older ones quickly recover. The g{rl tolls the pressman tha't they had Oiliy been allowed to Use the boat in vefy'fine weathet; "but it came up so suddenly." " Did you have any. -trouble in getting back into the boat after yon tried to swim ashoref" she Was asked. 4 4 Oh, yes. 1 hung 6h t6 the side for a long time. Then a big wave dame and neafly lifted me into the jioat," she replied. . . "While they were under tne .cliffs two launches passed quite close.* The Children called out ftnd waved, but the launches passed on without making any sign of recognition. The Waiting Paiente.

The tug is feeling her wayintb Little Port Cooper. It is nearly low tide, and she cflfttiot make thg jetty. On the end of the jetty are seen a few iGgurest the : parents of the childten and ono or two other adults who comprise the little community. * They are plainly tense With anxiety. "All Bare," cOmes a megaphone voice from the tag, * and there is an answering wave frOm tho jetty. The children" ate brought up from below. Thefe is Another boat joufhey to be mfide, this time in charge of two seamen* Boofl tliey are being hurried up to the house, to warm beds and a hot meal, no doubt. The tug- swings round the point into the teeth of the gale, homeward bound., "I hope the wife has put the dinner in the oven," remarks a seaman as he goes below to change his wet gar-, ments. The tug is alongside agaih at 2 o'clock. The father of the children, When telephoned -last night, stated that the children had fully-recovered. He was asleep When the Children took the boat out, and he had. not given them permission to 'do so. In any. cfise, he Would not have. allowed the yfillnger ones to go. . ' Great credit for the rescue, -made' under west difficult, fihd at times dangerous, circumstances, must be given to the acting-master of the tug, Captain A, JBiodio. and his crew> I