WESTRALIA'S GROUNDING

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 90, 16 April 1920, Page 7

WESTRALIA'S GROUNDING

ALMOST ON THE ROCKS

DIFFICULTY WITH THE BOATS,

(BHJTIID\ PREBS ASSOCIATION.;—COPYRIGHT.)

MELBOURNE,' 15th April,

A passenger in the Westralia states that the voyage from Bluff was uneventful until the unlucky thirteenth. The passengers were holding a. concert in the saloon, enjoying the contrast between the light and laughter inside, and the noise of tha waves hammering against the ports and the rain Relting on the deck, when the ship suddenly bumped, causing a breathless hush,, but ho panic. Mrs. Cook, of Christchurch, bravely finished a song she was singing, while the steamer was bumping. Mr.. Sand, chief steward, ordered everyone to don a lifebelt. This was carried out quietly.

The scene on deck was a stra-nge one. Some women and children "were clad onlyMn their night attire. The night was black as pitch, and the wind was lashing the sea into foam. "The crew were busy with the boats, but We were told that'the davits were old-fashioned, and judging by the difficulty experienced in swinging the boats out that was easy to believe. By 9.15 p.m. everything was in readiness for any emergency. The ship was dragging' and bumping, and waves were dashing? over the port side. At 10 o'clock we were told the wireless had spoken the Loongana, 180 miles away, and she was .coming at full speed to -the rescue. Morning light showed how miraculous our escape had\been We were within two hundred yards of rocks, which showed above the foam. If in the darkness the ship Had got off the sandbank which she had providentially grounded on, nothing could have saved us from the rocks."

Every effort was made during the night to put the ship astern. The moat trying moments were those when the engines were started, and the ship strained and struggled to get free, without result. The passengers behaved splendidly. The long night dragged by until tho engines were put full speed ahead, and the vessel slid off the bank, with the Loongana standing by. The Westralia was making water, and took a list to starboard. On clearing the banks the tanks were trimmed and the ship righted. The pumps kept the water in check. The vessel reached port at.7.30 this morning. The passengers opened a subscription list for the crew, and handed an appreciative letter to the skipper. "