ANXIOUS TIMES

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 58, 12 March 1929, Page 13

ANXIOUS TIMES

DISABLED ARAFURA

THRILLING STORIES

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, 7th March.

For nearly a week tlio people oi' Australia followed anxiously the voyage of tlie disabled liner Arafura down tho Queensland coast, in tho midst of cyclonic -weather, ami when tJte vessel arrived safely in Brisbane last Sunday the passengers told stories which must count, among tho most thrilling of tho sea. They had a most anxious time, and it was not until after the full experience had been related that it was possible to realise how close to disaster tho ship had been.

It was on Sunday, 24th .February, that tho -passengers were informed that tho liner had baen hove to owing to damage to the propeller. Games and amusements continued as usual, everyone being in good spirits, for they had been informed that the steamer Peshawar would stand by; also that a wire-Jess-.message had-been sent for two tugß. The Peshawur was sighted the next day, and came close by. The first thrill for the passengers came whou the little tug Ooringa was sighted about 2.30 on Tuesday afternoon—a tiny spec on the horizon. Enthusiasm grew as the passengers watched the tug's progress through tho rough seas. Up to that time the weather'had been good, but :i very heavy sea was running when the tug got alongside. She raced up and down, endeavouring to get a line ou board. Sho dashed from one end of the vessel to the other, sometimes being only a few yards from the side of the Arafura. At a signal for full speed she raced alongside at an angle of almost 45 degrees, shipping tremendous quantities of water. A line was eventually got on board, and the towing began. The Peshawur then left.

Passengers say that the tug bobbed like a cork in the big soas. The second tug, the Forceful, did not arrive until the next, day, about 9 o'clock in the evening. By that time the Arafura was in the teeth of a, tremendous gale. Everyone sat clinging'to'chairs,' settees, and anything stable. Most of the' furniture was being hurled from one side of the steamer to the others The confusion in the cabins was indo-' scribable. Trunks and suitcases were sliding round, and everything movable was hurled to the floor. To stand was almost impossible. Tho marvel of it all was that there were so few casualtios. It took speed and dexterity bit tho part of thoso on board to dodge the flying Hrunks and furniture. There was little sleep for anyone on the Tuesday night, and next day conditions.were even worse, for the cyclone was at its height and there was a blinding rain, flying scud, and a wind approaching 100 miles an hour.

During the next night the Coringa's steering gear failed' and she cut the towline. .When the morning came there were no boats to be seen, and the Arafura was left with only a brokendown engine to carry her through. At 11 o'clock the next morning the Vviroles.s aerial was carried away. An act oi' heroism was performed by the Chinese sailors, who, in the teeth of the gale, climbed tho madly-swaying masts and effected repairs under indescribably difficult conditions. It was a wonderful act, and the passengers regard those men as heroes. The wireless aerial was fixod in half an'hour. The mon seemed to.be goiiig to their death, but they did not hesitate. The crucial moment, jib the passengers learned later, was about 2 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, when the Arafura was in the centre of the cyclone. The steering couplings gave way, and. then things looked as though they were at a finish, but the necessary changes wero carried out in a moment, and the vessel was being steered by the hand gear. During that time the engineers were on their backs beneath; the prppeller shaft tunnel, tightening up bearings that had become loosened by the constant vibration. At the'same time tho ship was rolling between 40 and 50 degreos, and was just able to keep her head to the sea. If the ongines had failed then, nothing could have saved tho ship from destruction.

A BREATHLESS MOMENT.

The climax was reached when two gigantic waves met. The ,captain rang the engine-room for just a little more speed. It was a breathless moment, bat by some superhuman effort the engineers responded, and the Arafura remained afloat. La^er on, when the storm had spent itself, the Peshawur, which had been ordered from port again, stood by once more, and signalled to the Fqrecful the Arafura's whereabouts. The tug went up and made fast, but not under the drastic conditions' with which the Coringa had to contend a few days, before.

It was in'tow of the Forceful that 'the Arafura made Brisbane in safety. The Coringa was lost sight of by the Arafura, and was not heard of again until she limped into port a day ahead of the vessel it had set out to rescue. The Cbringa had a gruelling time. Her bulwarks were swept away, and she showed vividly in other respects the dreadful battering she received from the cyclone. There were 23 men on board the vessel, and death faced them for days. The breakdown which the Coringa suffered was a snapping of the steering chains, and the tug drifted helplessly. 'So desperate was tho situation that, the water supply was pumped overboard, and the men stood by with their lifebelts on, waiting for the end. It would have been impossible to launch a lifeboat, as tho decks were continually awash, and for many hours there was little more than the bridge visible above the water.'

After cutting adrift from the Arafura a heavy list t6 starboard forced the skipper of the Forceful to order six tons of coal to bo thrown overboard. Tho pumps were choked, and the vessel was practically helpless. The greatest difficulty was experienced in keeping the water out of the engine-room. How the engineers stuck to their job and brought the little vessel safely, to port the sailors do no I; know. It was learnt that they worked for two days and two nights without any sleep, aiid that part of the time they wore up to their necks in water. Temporary ropairs were effected to the steering gear even while the gale was raging.' Passengers of. the Arafura are loud in their praise of the. seamanship which waß displayed on the Arafura and on the tugs which went to tho assistance. It is to this that they owe their lives.

Mr. P. C. Watt, of Wellington, returned by the Mauitgunui to-day after a visit to the Philippine Islands and Japan. Mr. Watt, who attended a Rotary confererioe. in Japan as a representative of New Zealand, waß a passonger by the steamer Arafura, which had a terrifying voyage, as narrated above. , .