NOW OR NEVER!

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3564, 2 July 1912, Page 5

NOW OR NEVER!

SALVAGING OF THE STAR OF CANADA.

| GETTING READY FOR A SUPREME I EFFORT TO FLOAT THE VESSEL.

CONDITIONS ANYTHING BUT IMPROVED,

OFFICIALS HOPEFUL AMID THE CENERAL PESSIMISM.

EXTRA CEAR BEING HURRIED FORWARD.

On the Kaiti Beach the stranded steamer, Star of Canada, is now dipping deeper at the bow and the name plate is almost covered by the sea. She presents a sorry picture, lying on the rocks not far from the shore, swaying and; straining like-a wounded thing. Yesterday’s weather did not better her position, hut it is pleasing to chronicle that '-hose in authority still maintain a cheerful optimism. While all are reticent the feeling among the experts is that the steamer will, after all, he successfully refloated. And this in face of the very obvious factors in her disfavor. To-mor-row, or Thursday, they say, the neopie of Gisborne will, in all probability, have the pleasure of seeing the steamer floating in the deeper waters of the Bay. What will happen, failing success, is a matter of conjecture, hut it is noteworthy that of anything hut the immediate future, those in authority will not speak. On the other hand, conies the ge-nerally-expressedl expert, though' un- ’ official, view that it is purely and simply, a case of “now or never.” Many more days’ grinding and Scraping on ;

the papa and swinging to the roil of the sea; will put the Star of Canada in a, still more sorry .plight. Salvage operations are, of course, postponed, and every day of waiting means a more difficult task for the salvagersInside opinions are to the effect that the steamer is suffering a severe strain throughout—a strain which she will not be long able to stand. A Calmer Day. Yesterday broke bleak and stormy, although the weather was distinctly calmer than on the previous day. A stiff southerly wind was blowing and rain showers came at intervals. The steamer was beat about and lashed at I by the waves almost as badly as ever and. she strained and weighed on the anchor lines. The stern was swinging freely, the apparent effect being to strain the steamer amidships. Still it is said that the structural defects I are of small consequence, and this f speaks volumes for the build of the vessel. Slightly over 15 feet was what she was drawing aft yesterday, while she .was more than four feet down in the how from the previous | day. This illustrates the penetration of the how into the papa and the already predicted danger of the vessel being seriously strained or even, breaking, forward of the engine room. Although salvage operations are suspended, it has no way lessened the. labors of those aboard. The engineering staff is having a particularly strenuous time in numerous ways. The engines have to be kept in trim and extensive preparations for salvage work made as well. A quantity of gear was removed from the forepeak to the shelter deck of No. 3 hold. TERAWHITI’S ROUGH EXPERIENCE WATER GETS OVER INTO ENGINE-ROOM. • ; The salvage tug Terawhiti was at the wharf all last night, not being able to get alongside the Star of Canada, on account of the choppy sea. All Saturday night she had a rough time of it out in the gale, but stood the storm well. At 2.30 a.m. on Sunday she had to put out to sea from her anchorage, owing to the sea that was running. It was a wild night for the wave little steamer, but Captain Robertson kept her head at it and* was . able to ride the mountainous seas airly easily. The sea was an angry

one, indeed, and kept the Terawhiti’: decks perpetually awash. At times, too, the.water swept down the engineroom companion way, and gave those below a trying time. At 7..30 p’.m. on Sunday she stood into Young Nick’s Head for shelter and was able to come under the protection of the head until early yesterday morning. She then steamed into port, arriving at about 8.20 a.m. She looked little the worse for her perilous night, as she lay at her berth at the end of the wharf last night. DESOLATE AND WATER-LADEN. THE VESSEL LAST EVENING. A DREARY SPECTACLE. The transference of frozen mutton from No. 4 hold to lighters was proceeded with busily until close upon midnight last night, the little tug Hipi bringing the last lighter alongside the Ivaiti wharf at ton minutes to twelve. The Star of Canada presented a dreary, hopeless-looking spectacle in the misty rain which blew chilly in from the sea.as night fell. She tugged and) strained restlessly at her anchor-lines in the heavy swell, the while her timbers groaned and creaked dismally. Round the aft holds' a few men were working, but forward <n the bridge the sloping deck was desolate, dark and wet. _ Peering through the the dusk into No. 2 hold one could discern the water lapping and surging round the pumps, well over the level of the top hatch, while No. 1 hold was- even deeper in distress, the water being enly a, few feet —perhaps three—from deck level- ' Forward at the vessel’s nose—only two feet from the level of the sea—the swell came (gently aboard and trickled-on its way down the scubbers for a dew feet before tumbling hack to its parent ocean. It was a dreary spectacle, _ rendered even more dreary by the misty rain and the insufficient and cold-looking moon. The only part of the ship inhabited at all was aft of the bridgp, and even here only those who must stay on deck. A. little knot of life was to be found in the engine-room, where several members of the watch off duty were preparing to turn in on the steel balconies.

i The aii* heie. too, was warm and inviting after the chill outside. IN THE BOWELS OF THE SHIP. CAN THE ENGINES BE SALVED? Away down in the bowels of the ! ship the engineers were moving lovingly round their big machines, oiling them, placing them in order, all heedless of the water only a- few feet away through' a frail bulkhead. “Them johnnies/’ observed a watcher above, “knows quite well that the ship’ll never come off, and yet they cleans and messes about from dawn till dark and dark till bloomin’ dawn.” A friend ventured to interpose: “The. engines would be all right, anyway. They could easily be saved.” “Don’t you believe it,” retorted the first speaker. When this ship goes the best part of them engines will go with her. Why, there ain’t a crane in Gisborne big enough to lift them !” Asked what he thought of the possibilities of salvage, an engineer said that they were hopeful of everything j going well, but there was a good deal of risk now. “You see,” he said, “the tiling that we’re moist afraid of now is that the bulkhead for’ard of the stoke-liold will give and flood the engine-room and the aft part of the ship.” “But what about the men working there ” the reporter broke in. “Olid They’ll have plenty of warning and will be able to get out all j-ight, but that would mean the end of her. If this part goes under we’re finished!” In answer to a question as to whether he thought the bulk-head was' likely to last long enough to enable the fore part of the ship to be emptied, the engineer replied that if they ever raised the ship he’d be astonished, though they were doing their level best. In his ‘ opinion some of those “in the know” were now satisfied that they would never ge(t> the ship off, but they simply had to keep going as long as the stem part of the vessel remained dry. “What’ll we do?” he repeated, in answer to a question as to what*the crew would do if salvage work were abandoned. “Why, we’d just pack up and come ashore, and let someone else have a go. CAPTAIN HART HAS NOTHING TO SAY. Booking for a leak. When approached Captain Hart was

just-allowing himself a few minutes to go down to supper. ' He informed the pressmaii'that he had nothing to say and nothing to add to what had already been said. No. The pressman ;could not state, that he was still confident after Sunday’s gale that the operations were bound to be successful .

And that was all that Captain Hart would say, except that he coiim-ouv ly invited the reporter to take a cup of coffee and remarked that the papers seemed to! get all the facts—whoever were their informants. Preparations were made last evening for the pumping out of the forepeak, where 100 tons of compressed fuel, intended for use in an emergency, are -stored. This' fuel will be removed and it is expected that a hole in o the ship’s bow will be brought to light. Another 150 tons of compressed fuel are stored in the after parif of the ship, but this will not be touched in the meantime. What Will To-morrow Bring Forth? It is improbable that any attempt will, be made to lift the" Star of Canada to-morrow. In addition to the collision mats ordered from Auckland, Messrs J. F. Jeune and Co., of Gisborne, are' manufacturing a huge pad, some 70 feet long .by 70 feet wide, which it is intended to wrap round the injured part of the vessel should an opportunity present itself while pumping is being carried on. Probably to-morrow—or at any rate on Thursday—the extra, pumps which have been ordered will be put into position and the Terawhiti will be brought alongside and her* powerful pumps brought into play. It will be a grand and, it is hoped, successful effort to once more float the vessel. That is all that can be done in the meantime, and to-day will be one of preparation for what it is hoped will l-e the final effort. SUPREME EFFORT TO-MORROW OR THURSDAY. WILL THE COLLISION MATS BE EASILY FIXED? Several small necessities are being manufactured in Gisborne, and a quantity of gear was taken out by the Hipi last evening. In addition, mere gear is to arrive from b-oth Wellington and Auckland. When pumping commences, there will be the ship’s own pumps, with a capacity of >,,<JO tons per hour, the Terawhiti’s powerful plant and the pumps to arrive by steamer —probably a 12-inch pulsometer and two lOin. centrifugal pumps- ~

Nothing will be done to-day, as regards actual salvage, but either tomorrow or Thursday—as soon as everything is ready—a supreme effortwill be made to refloat the Canada. Another diver arrived by the Navua yesterday and several more will be in attendance before long. The divers will bo necessary, of course, if the collision mats are to be placed on the vessel’s bottom. The fixin'g of the mats, it was explained -to a •“Times” reporter yesterday,- will be an unusually difficult matter in the case of the Star of Canada. This is on account of the contour of the keel and the fact that the greatest damage is, believed to be near the actual keel. A large amount of packing will have to be used in order to fill in the suace between tbe keel and the vessel’s sides.

THE WEATHER GAUGE “GENERALLY FAIR.’ 5

The official weather summary telegraphed last evening from Wellington was as follows: — “The barometer rose fast on Saturday and Sunday, with southerly winds, increasing strong to gale. The weather became very cokl and stormy, with rain and hail, and snow and sleet on higher levels- Seas were very heavy on the East Coast, especially about- the East Cape, and-conditions are still somewhat unsettled there. InToveaux Straits present indications are for moderate to strong southerly winds, generally veering to southerly and northwards of Cook Strait, hut backing to westerly elsewhere ; showery about the East Cape and in Foveaux Strait cool and changeable, but with fair weather prevailing generally. Little movement in barometer, but with falling tendency shortly in southern districts.” -

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY

(to the editor.)

Sir, —I notice that some of the officers of the Star of Canada are complaining that attempts have been made on the part of some individuals to intercept the messages which were being communicated, to the shore. Now, what are the facts? On Sunday morning several of us young fellows who understand signalling quite well were strolling along the beach- Naturally we looked at times in the direction of the vessel, and could not fail to observe that signalling was in progress. What struck us as very peculiar were the constant calls from the receivers at Mr Euscke’s house to “repeat.” As well as anybody else wo knew it was the custom to repeat important messages. But it seemed to be “repeat,” “repeat”, ‘“repeat” all the time. So as we thought the receivers had not much experience, one of our party thou gift he would help them out of a difficulty. We therefore called up the ship, and offered our services to take any message and deliver it to the ‘professionals’; up on the hill. What was our surprise, then, when we were told not to worry ourselves! And so we simply sat down and 1 watched the slowest signalling we have ever witnessed. And T may say it was no fault on, the part of the sailormen. —I am, etc., * “ONLY AN AMATEUR.” Gisborne, July 1.