MONOWAI TO THE RESCUE

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21685, 20 January 1936, Page 12

MONOWAI TO THE RESCUE

SICK WOMAN ON LORD HOWE ISLAND OPERATIONS HAMPERED BY HIGH SEAS PATIENT TAKEN ABOARD WITH DIFFICULTY tPRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.I AUCKLAND, January 19. In a special wireless message to the New Zealand Press- Association, Mr Eric Baume, a passenger aboard the Monowai, says: “Shortly before midnight on Saturday, Mrs W. S. Nicholls, semi-conscious, was hoisted aboard the Monowai, a quarter of a mile off Lord Howe Island, in the North Tasman Sea. The ‘first officer of the Monowai, Mr Ramsay, and the sick woman’s husband, held her in an armchair on a quickly rigged flooring, and were raised to the upper deck as the steamer rolled in an enormous ground swell. Six hours after having reached Lord Howe the Monowai took up her running to Auckland, where she will arrive on Tuesday

morning. “The deviation of the Monowai on her errand of mercy is one of the stories of sea courage which will remain in Tasman history. Faced with heavy seas, the islanders came to the Monowai in open boats, with auxiliary engines, so that one of the’ community might have a chance for life. In spite of long agitation, the New South 'Wales Government has refused to appoint a doctor for the island'. The radio told the story to all ships, and to the Government, of Mrs Nicholls’s plight. The Monowai, with 382 passengers, the Royal mail, and 2500 tons of cargo, was laden to her plimsoll mark, but she averaged 18 knots as she plunged into a deviation of 200 miles in heavy seas.

•'Captain Davey received the call for help on Friday night. By 7.30 p.m. on Saturday the Monowai was rolling in big seas off Lord Howe. Captain Davey, without any charts and

without fuss, achieved something in Tasman seamanship. Lord . Howe has its shoals and its reefs, and its submerged rocks. Captain Davey’s first request by radio to the islands station, at which the operators, Messrs Stan. Fenton and John Olle had been on duty for 48 hours, without rest, was for the patient’s condition. The ship's operator, Mr Lionel Jones, of Sydney, was also without rest from 8 pihi. on Friday. Anchored off the Cliffs “Having received details of the more obvious shoals, Captain Davey then awaited the islanders’ arrival in open boats. Lord Howe consists of precipitous cliffs, 2800. feet high, with 100 yards break in«the coral reef, on which the surf breaks incessantly, allowing the islanders’ boats to enter the long lagoon. Two leading lights usually guide the boats at night, but the seas were so heavy that only one was in operation on Saturday. Huge seas pound the cliffs, and Captain Davev came to anchor half a mile off, with a leadsman in the chains and the crew at their stations.

>' A special operating table had been - made from a big piece of kauri. This had been fitted with detachable supports. which could be clamped into place, constructed by the ship’s carpenter. An electrician had then constructed, at Ijhe captain’s orders, a special battery lighting system which could be taken ashore and fitted at the sick woman’s home, should an immediate operation be necessary. All the operating gear was prepared by the ship’s surgeon. Dr. Walker, and Dr. Butterfield, a young Hawke’s Bay doctor, who is. a passenger, and Nurse Anderson, who has had experience in the Gulf of Carpentaria, offered their services, though warned of the danger of the heavy seas.

“The shore party, in charge of MRamsay, included myself as ballast On the lower deck of the Monowai an emergency door was opened, as the lights of the outcoming boat were seen occasionally on the top .of a great wave. The Lord Howe islanders are great fishermen, and all their expert boatmen combined to make a dash through the seas. The leading launch was first out, but it broke down and tossed dangerously near the submerged rocks in the darkness. A rowboat took up the running, and managed to reach the Monowai, but could not be made fast because of the big seas. Then the broken-down launch appeared from .the gloom, her engine going again. The operating gear was lowered to the rowboat, and the rest of us, taking a chance with the rolling, jumped into the open launch, towing the rowboat. The passengers cheered Nurse Anderson and the two doctors as they took mem places. It took us nearly an hour to reach the reef. Once the rowboat l° s t its rudder, and we had to heave to, but finally, after an exhibition of magnificent seamanship, we crossed the reef and entered the lagoon. * At the jetty most of the islanders were waiting. Drays took the doctors and the nurse and the operating equipment to Mrs Nicholls’s home

where her husband and three children were waiting. After a consultation it was decided not to attempt an operation but to endeavour, if the sea abated and the wind dropped, to carry Mrs Nicholls out to the Monowai, and take , her to Auckland for observation. Back to the Monowai "Within three hours, during which v, in j e u l earnec * of the attempts which

had been made to obtain a doctor, it was to make an attempt to reach the Monowai with Mrs Nicholls Under Mr Ramsay’s direction, we slung ner into a basket covered with blankets and tarpaulins, and carefully balanced it in the whaleboat. I have n Jf ver , see i l , such courage as she showed. She could barely speak, but she smiled. “Without mishap, we got back through the huge ground swell. It was r,T en -o su P er b seamanship of M L ?? msa T ? achieved the almost imHe rigged a stage. This was attached to a derrick on the upper ueck. Mr Ramsay and the woman’s husband stood one on each side of the patient, balancing the crazy stage, and when the ship lifted, winches hauled them 40 feet up to the deck. The patient was rushed to the hospital. T.i j s 15 the tWrd case at Lord Howe island recently in which the services of ships have been called. Twice the Monnda’s doctor has had to perform j ons ’ once a freighter was called to send a doctor to staunch bleeding.’*