WRECK, OF THE PERICLES.

Grey River Argus, 27 April 1910, Page 2

WRECK, OF THE PERICLES.

STORY OF THE WRECK,

A, VIVID NARRATIVE

A contributor to the "Sydney Daily Te'egraph" who was a" passenger by the Pericles, writing from Perth, etat«d ;— It seems odd to tie sitting quietly m j good hotel in Perth, looking over the crowded events of the ' last two da/^. Ifc la incredible that if was only ( «i > Thursday the 1 Pericjes struck a rocls off the Leeuwin, and that all things that happened of Hate had taken, place since then ; and yet my damaged head and* my losi 1 - voice bear 'clear" testimony to much of what has occurred. When they were lowering No 11 boat, in which we got our places, . from : the boat deck, I noticed the plug was not m, and I dived into the bottom of the ~big 'boat to find 1 it. It was there all right, fastened by a chain, and as I was inserting it the boat was lowered €0 tlie next Meek, " where many third clbss passengers were awaiting our coming. A woman' sprang in and her heeds struck my head, and left a couple of marks which will' probably last tor some time. But 1 that was not the moment for worrying about scalp wounds. You have heard how we reachedl the shore, but I sang so lustily to help my wife in cheering the crowd that I was as husky as a crow befpre wo reached the shore. By the time we reached Perth I was' like : t(he cicada's wife — voiceless. • 1 As soon as we landed I rushed to the lighthouse where there is a telephone to Karridale, where there is a telegraph office. After long trials I got the operator, and would fain hava dictated a message to the Sydney papers. But my voice- was so hoarse with singing that she could not make me out, and, besides, she was too much' rushed. The nexti day, when I reached- Kamdale, I found that the young woman, Zdiss Howe, had never I been in bed nor res-ted since the ship struck. Mr Smith, manager of the company, had organised the hospitality, and when a train load of our passengers -came up seven miles from Fli» ders Bay there were beds and food and welcome for every one of them. How kind everybody has been. The lighthouse-keeper and his assistants at the Leeuwin were kind beyond all

expression. It was baking day ax, tho .Cape, and nearly everybody got a sfice of fresh bread and butter and lots vi tea. It) was perfectly marvellous to tbink of that little community of four families doing so much for nearly 500 strangers at a moment's notice. And Mr Smith and the people of Augusta sent bread and beds, and all they could.- Poor little Augusta, -three males and a hal : f distant, consists of a pier for shipping timber, and a few shacks for shippers. But they *snt such a lot, and tho lighthouse-keepers ,noi> only gave up their beds and .their houses, but they gave up their clothes as well, for the unfortunate firemen, who- came ashore in shirt and pants, 1 as they left the stokehole of '-the 1 - Pericles. The 'clergyman came from Karridale that day to hold service at the Point. His name is Rev. Scott Clarke, and Jus parish contains a vast area or territory, but a very limited population. He had driven down to the Point io hold a Communion service with tho handful of people there, and, 10, there were more people at the Cape ithan in all his broad parish. And that rector worked like a hero When the women and children were scattered about the beach, terrified and hysterical 1 after the strain was relaxed, the brave little parson sent his little daughter for the botte of Communion wine, and she gave the trembling .mothers a sip out of the bottle, «nd it did them good. About 9 o'clock at night orders came for the crew to march to Flinders Bay, ivhree miles and a half to the east, and away, 'they went, taking with them as many children as a cart would carry, and as many 'women and men of the pa-ban-gers as cared to face the march under ihe stars.

When my wife and I tramped that three miles and a half to Whaler in the morning it seemed as if we were in another world. In the midst of tho new world we met the lightkeeper, J J.* Lyons, coming back from Whaler, where he had been already with a load of women and children. He stopped and spoke, and as he saw my dam--1 aged, hatless head, he said, # "Have you lost' your hat?" I had lost all my hats, a silk, a Panama, the lot of them. However, I just answered in the affirmative that I had lost my hat. He whipped off his own. c<4> at once and said, "Take mine, «ir." God bless the man. 1 didn't want 'his cap, but his kindness was so sudden and unexpected that it shook mv'ihora than the wreck. I was unnerved, evidently, for the tears came to my eves, and it was foolish, and my wife turned away so that I should not see the" tears 111 her eyes. A shipwreck .'does unnerve you — after it's over. The next man we met, driving a white horse- to the lighthouse, stopped and bade us a good morning, and awced I us to stop at his house and let his oIJ woman" make us a cup of tea I Oh, 1 pshaw I It makes me cry yei> to think of it all. FH try and never say a -hard word against anybody my jmore. . We went up to Karridale on the. tram, all free, and the schoblmas-,-fcer. Mr «E. M. Dyer, took us and some others to his house for lunch And they had salt fish, and he apologised for it by saying that they were J Koman Catholics. And I said to myself, .. as he- spoke, . what the Hindoo .said -.-. centuries 1 before . Christ : "Thero js no caste in blood, which runneth 'of one hue; nor caste 111 tears, which trickle salt withal 1 for pity, and need makes all flesh kin." All 1 the people ■v/e met an. Westraha seemed jto be of the one religion, and we'll never forget them. The Monaro came and took us away

from the pier at Flinders Bay, as 7 told you, and Captain Neale wag a* heroic as any of them. From the tim» ho got orders to come for us till 1 helanded us at Freemantlo pier he r»eve>* had a wink of sleep, and it mus,t( hay* 1 been about 70 hours. What men they are! And they are all our own It's no use me trying to write aobufc it, but let me toll you some of th<* funny things — some of the , weird things. When we reached Fremantle, some friends • came and drove us off to tea. But, there, I must leave ,that par of it v alone. We went off to Perth, and when we were shown lo a room in. the hotel I took my keys 6ut -of my pocket and laid them ou the dressing table and we laughed. Then we cried. All thie boxes the keys fitted were lying 25 fathoms under water at Cape Leeuwin, and the ■Keys would never be f any more use. Yes, it) was funny, wasn't it? And iwe; were so dirty that we wanted a bith; but -v\e had to go find buy clean clothes before we could have one, and it w^as splendid to be real dirty and fees the chnage the /water made. We don't often enjoy that. v They are having^thansgiving services in a]j % the churches in Perth to-day for our narrow escape, and I asked my wife if she would go. No, she could not stand it, and very few of U3 could. We are not of the race that carrie-3 its heart on its sleeves. We don't fall on« each other's necks and kiss and weep in public, but we feel a good deal.