HONOURING TAHITI RESCUERS

Evening Star, Issue 20612, 11 October 1930, Page 4

HONOURING TAHITI RESCUERS

AMERICAN SKIPPER DISCLAIMS CREDIT TRIBUTES TO BRITISH PLUCK [Fjiom Our Own .'Correspondent.] SAN FRANCISCO, September 11. During the Boer War u new term was originated coincident with the memorable relief of Matching, and the scenes in San Francisco were reminiscent of “ mafficking ” when the American steamer Ventura arrived carrying ninety-one of the survivors of the illfated New Zealand Union Steam Ship Company’s liner Tahiti, which foundered near Rarotonga. It was a triumphal marine procession from the time the Ventura entered the Golden Gate and dropped anchor for quarantine off the Marina at 2.45 o’clock. With shrieking sirens, shrilling whistles, the drone of aeroplanes overhead, and yachts dancing alongside, the ovation to the heroism and scamanrjii'i of the Ventura and its erfv continued until the liner was finally moored. The welcome began the moment the Ventura entered the Golden Gate. There she was met by a big Standard Oil Coniflynny aeroplane, which circled only a few feet higher tiling the masts and funnel and dropped California poppies and other field (lowers on the decks of the rescue liner. SHOWERED WITH FLOWERS. The decks were literally showered with blossoms, and as a result the lapel of every Ventura and Tahiti passenger —or coat, if the passenger wore a woman—was gay with bright-coloured blooms when the liner docked. As the Ventura came alongside Fort Winfield Scott she was met by the fireboat David Scanned, and from every one of the nozzles of the big fire-lighter poured streams of water high into the air, surrounding the incoming vessel with a milliion rainbows. Very business-like, the Vontura steamed directly opposite the St. Francis Yacht Club, on the Marina, and, witn a rattle and splash, dropped anchor not far distant from the spot where the World’s Fair and the Australian and New Zealand pavilions wore located. This was the signal for and outburst of noise, and thousands • upon • thousands of automobiles parked along the shore, and the horns and shouts of tho welcoming crowds mingled in a great burst of sound. Under a cloudless sky, and a still, sweet breeze, scones . upon scores ol sloops, sailing vessels of all kinds, speedboats, tugs, stately yachts, and all other variety of craft danced on the sparkling waves beside tho solid, dn!Jred hull of the liner. Then came the official boats. First tho quarantine physicians, to examine tile health records of passengers and crews, and next the official welcoming party from city government and civic organisations. But first up the lowered gangway of the Ventura came Mrs Meyer, wife of the skipper of the liner Charming in a blue costume and hat, Mrs Meyer embraced her hero husband for all to see. Acting-mayor Angelo Rossi nest welcomed the Ventura and her crew and captain in the name of San Francisco, the Chamber of Commerce officials coining next with their welcome.

SWOOPING AEROPLANES, Over., the liner zoomed and swooped aeroplanes; a squadron of observation planes from Crissy Field, several commercial planes from Mills airport, and oihei bay airports; and two 'Standard Oil aeroplanes, still dropping their wreaths and nosegays on the decks of the anchored liner. And at the Ventura’s feet danced and skimmed the little vachts by the dozen, adding their colon" and grace to the scene, And then in came a long of gaudily painted fish-boats from Meiggs Wharf. Acting-mayor Rossi expressed vho gratification of San Francisco at the heroic deed of Captain Meyer and his men in racing for two days and two nights through practically uncharted waters of the South Seas to the side of the sinking Tahiti, and taking aboard her crew and passengers without a single mishap only a few minutes before the Tahiti plunged to the unplumbed depths of one of the deepest spots in the Pacific. Mr Wilson Meyer, of the Chamber of Commerce, handed to Captain Meyer an illuminated scroll commemorating his heroic action. And then, while camera shutters clicked and talking newsreels ground, Captain Meyer fold ,_ simply and modestly, the story of his thrilling exploit. Flo began, in low tones, by disclaiming any credit for the rescue. “We wore not the first on the scene,” said Captain Meyer. “ The Norwegian freighter Penybryn had been standing by for three days when we arrived, and her captain is deserving of far more credit than wo. But to Captain Toten, of the Tahiti, should go the principal credit. He put the lives of his passengers first, and "sent out an immediate appeal for help as soon as the propeller of Jus ship was thrown off, the shaft flow out, and tho sea water rushed into the engine rooms. APPEAL GETS RESULTS. “ Another master might have delayed sending out the S.O.S. and have th is endangered tho lives of the passengers and’■ crew. But not Captain Toten. Only his prompt appeal got us there in time. Our answer to his appeal was nothing. Any sea captain would have been glad of the opportunity to do the same. It was merely our good fortune to he nearest tho stricken vessel. When we came alongside the Tahiti she was already low in tho water. All of the passengers and most of the crew had been put into small beats without injury to a soul another tribute to tho skill and seamanship of the master of the Tahiti. Indeed, his courage and resourcefulness in keeping the Tahiti afloat until tho last possible moment, in launching all boats without a single person even getting as much as a foot wet, his saving of practically all his mail and his other great feats, aro deserving of far more, praise than our own. “ After Captain Toten had come aboard the Ventura—the last man to leave tho Tahiti, of course—-we stood by to make sure the Tahiti sank, so that she might not become an obstacle to navigation or a menace to other shipping. We had not long to wait. The stern settled first, slowly, and thou "lore rapidly. Wo watched while the doomed vessel settled lower and lower into the water. A cloud of steam hurst up as tho water struck the boiler rooms. As she slid hack until the water came almost up to the 'Tahiti’s funnel, the funnel broke otf and clattered down on the docks. TAHITI’S SINKING. “By now the low was almost vertical, practically a third of the length of tho liner being 'hove water. Thou she k with a roaring sound, and only a few pieces of wreckage on tho surface marked the spot where the big liner had floated a few seconds before.”

Isut Captain Meyer’s modesty failed to make the feat of the Ventura seem any simpler, for it,was no easy matter to drive a liner at lull speed through the South Seas off the beaten tracks, where shoals, reefs,, and rocks arc thicker than chuck holes on a country road. And his declaration that ho “ had done nothing at all—nothing any captain might not have done ” —served only to increase the ac'Claim for this thirty-nine-year-old man of the seas, who had spent most of his life afloat. The ceremonies over, the Ventura weighed anchor and proceeded on her triumphal march alone; the waterfront of San Francisco. Practically every ship at dock was trimmed with flags foro and aft in her honour, and whistles of all pitches and ranges of noise shouted the three long blasts of the merchant marine salute. As Market street was passed tire crescendo whine of the Ferry Building siren added its clamour to the toqtings and shriekings of others. Captain Meyer gracefully glided his charge into the dock and hauled in on his mooring lines. The scone alongside was almost beyond description for its outburst of enthusiasm. A ' crowd of over 25,000 persons had climbed over point of vantage to shriek, hurrah, and cheer the adventurers. The Municipal Band was there to add its noise in welcome, but the strains wero scarcely audible above the deafening din. The Australian coo-ee came frequently from a large delegation of members of San Francisco’s Australian and New Zealand Club, and the display of the flags of those countries vied with the Stars and Stripes.

SOME SHED TEARS. Hundreds of relatives and friends of incoming passengers wore in a specially enclosed section at the foot of the gangplank, and shouts of greeting, ■smiles, laughter—and a few tears—were exchanged between those who banked the rads of the liner and those with upturned faces on the pier below. As the passengers streamed down the gangplank the hubbub grew, and when Captain M. Meyer and his crew made their appearance to go ashore the crowd seemed delirious in the boistcrousness ot their delight. There was a rush that all hut swept the cordon of police oyer the pier side With the utmost difficulty they hold the crowd back so that the skipper and his mon could rejoin their families. At last, tired and hoarse from cheering, the hundreds fell back to provide a passageway for the Tahiti rescuers, and Captain Meyer escaped to his home across the bay" at Morkeloy.

A parade up Market street to the City Hall .in the morning, a reception in tlu' i otimda in U’lncli civic officials joined with ranking officers of the airny, navy, and marine corps’, and a banquet at the Commercial Club tendered by the club and the Junior Chamber of_Commerce comprised the official recognition ot Captain Meyer’s bravo act