STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 314, 29 September 1908, Page 7

STRUGGLE FOR LIFE.

SHIPWRECKED MEN. ; FOUR SURVIVORS OF THE LOCH FINLAS. (BT TSLiGEArH—rRESS ASSOCIATION—COPTEIBHT.) , i' Launcestcn, September 28. The vessel which was lost at Cape Portlam/': north-east. Tasmania/ was., the iron ship Loch Finlas, 2170 tons gross, built at Southampton in 1885, and owned by the Loch Finlas Shipping Company. ( The ship was bound from Port Pirie to Callao, Peru. Residents state that about 9.30 o'clock on Saturday morning,, tho ship' was seen coming from the direction of Boobyalla Bay. She struck the reef, and. withiii half-an-hour had disappeared. On Friday a fierce northwest gale raged, and running as tho vessel was at the time, hor bottom must have been torn out. . .." Late last night word came that a boat had landed between Cape Naturalist and Eddystone. The boat, with four men, landod i about midnight on Saturday. They tramped to ;Mr.; Groves' s ' residence,•' a distance of about eight miles, reaching there at 4.30 this morning. - .The crew of the Loch Finlas .were all foreigners, and numbered 24. •; Four boats were'launched, but all were stove in. Nino men clung to the wreckage. l .The captain and mate stood by the sbip. "Tie last words of the captain wore: "Don't bustle, boys; \ don't lurry.""" " The 'second mate was out of his "mind: Ho was singing hymns and snatches of songs, and then jumped overboard. When last'seen ho was,drifting to seaward, with a belt tied around his neck. The survivors state that one comrade was seen clinging to the dinghy, and if saved would be on Foster Islands. ( The rescued men are Scandinavians. A oloso search for survivors has been made along the coast. • A CARGA OF WHEAT. . (Rec. September 29, j a.m.) Launcoston, Soptember 28. No. further details of the v, reck of tho Loch Finlas are yet to hand. Adelaide, September 28. The Loch Finlas' cargo consisted of wheat, and was valued at £27,000. . j