RESCUED FROM DEATH

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 10476, 5 January 1928, Page 3

RESCUED FROM DEATH

lIGAV THE GREW OF’ THE DORIS : CRANE-AVERE SAVED.

PASSENGER’S EULOGY OF NIAG- ; " ' AR'A.’S SEAMEN.

MARVELLOUS SEAAIANSHIP IN ; MOUNTAINOUS SEAS.

(Special te the Times.) AUCKLAND, Jan. 4. Additional details of the ..burning of the .schooner Doris Crane a.nd the rescue of the crew by the Niagara haw been given to the Sun by Mr Leon Gordon, the well known actor-produ-cer, who was a passenger on the Niagara. Mr Gordon says ho never saw a finer exhibition of seamanship than the rescue of the two ship’s boats from the burning vessel by tbe crew of the mail steamer, “They deserve every credit,” he said, “as mountainous seas were raging at the time. As a matter of foot, it took nearly three hours to bring the boats alongside.” If the Niagara had not_ seen the glare in the sky twenty miles away, there was not the slightest doubt in Air Gordon’s mind that all the men of thq Doris Crane would have perished. The next boat on tliis course was the Aorangi and she would not have passed until three weeks later. ' “There was no hone in the world for them,” ho said. “The schooner was without wireless equipment, copra laden and three days out from Fanning Island to San Francisco, and was burning to the water’s edge. It was obvious that no human beings could live in such an inferno. A yellow rocket shot upwards a quarter of a mile from the Haze. The Niagara swung. westward, where a tiny red glow appeared on the water, a thousand yar'ds or so to. the west. It was soon discovered that two boats from the Doris Crane were being perilously tossed on the menacing waves. When rlawn came, one boat could he plainly seen from the Niagara. It was almost unbelievable skill that eventually prevented both shells from being smashed to pieces on the sides of the liner.

Air Gordon says, “Six natives wore in one boat with a white in.nn at the helm. His smoke-stained face was blacker than any Ethiopian’s. The display of seamanship in the rescue was marvellous. It was almost magical to watch a rope ladder dangling perilously over the side, and a native sailor scrambling to safety. Two A.B.’s. joined the smoke-stained figure in the boat below and in good time the boat of the Doris Crane was heaved to safety. An elderly man was at the helm of the second boat unperturbed and unruffled, giving orders. There was a hodv jn the bottom of this boat. In less than half an hour the second lx;at was safely lashr ed aboard the Niagara and the gallant little band of men was saved, with the exception of one.

To quote Air Gordon again : “No words can describe the gamcnes.s ni the elderly English master, when he forced himself to smile as they pulled his scorched boots from his feet that had helped to fight fire and water since 8 o’clock the previous morning.” It was then that iho Doris Crane gave her final salute. As the Niagara sped awav from the scene of the disaster, her flaming masts toppled, headlong into the ocean. The master (Captain H. C. Davidson) and his men slept (he sleep of exhausted stupor. The native members of bis crew, child-like, celebrated their deliverance by weird native chants. lii addition to the man who was burped to death, another was severely burned on the left leg. The crow of 14 were' taken to Honolulu, and there left in care of the British Consul. The natives wore brought to Suva.

Mr Gordon successfully organised a concert in aid of the survivors, which resulted in £2OO being received within a few minutes of his appeal.