The Wreck of the Tasmania.

Hastings Standard, Issue 392, 6 August 1897, Page 4

The Wreck of the Tasmania.

♦— — A HASTINGS PASSENGER

Mrs Bayliss, one of the passengers by the ill-fated Tasmania, v/ho has returned to Hastings, states that she was in bed when the vessel struck and was awakened by a severe shock followed by a slighter one. She in common with others knew something out of the ordinary course had happened, but no one entertained any sense of danger ; in fact Mrs Bayliss herself did not consider it necessary to leave her berth, and was only persuaded to do so by another lady passenger who was getting somewhat alarmed. She arose and made enquiries, but the people in authority would give no information further than that there was no cause for alarm. It, however, soon became apparent that this was not the fact, as the boats were launched and preparation made for transhipping the passengers into them ; but even then the officers stated that they only intended to hang round the boat for a few hours when all would be right and they could return to the steamer. The immediate result of this assurance, given with evident sincerity and even in a bantering style, was that the passengers left the steamer in perfect order and without fear of any kind, and such was the confidence reposed in the officers' statement that hardly one went back to their cabin to gather up their few necessaries. Mrs Bayliss, however, went to her berth, packed her things and laid them on her bed ready to hand when she should come back on board. Mrs Bayliss cannot speak too highly of the kindness and chivalry of the male passenge's and crew in dealing w : ith the women. In every instance the men made way for the ladies and children. The poor lad familiarly known through the ship as " Harry," and who was unfortunately drowned, was particularly noticeable for his attention to the requirements of the women and other passengers ; lie was to be seen flitting from one to another distributing life belts, comforting, reassuring and browbeating. In illustration of the coolness in which things were done Mrs Bayliss tells how Stewardess Mcßride in the midst of the danger insisted on making tea for herself and some others before taking to the boats, saying " Come on my dears and I'll make you a cup of tea before you go." Mrs Bayliss was taken off in the first boat with four other ladies and a number of men, and after hanging around the steamer for some time they were cut adrift as the situation was getting dangerous. This was a little after midnight, and from that hour until 7 o'clock in the morning they were tossing about in a rough sea. The party never lost heart although the night was pitch dark and the seas washed over the boat, which had to be bailed out frequently, and she attributes their sfifety to the men's pluck and forethought in not exhausting their strength in the darkness but waiting until the morning before striking definitely for the shore, where they landed safely at 7 o'clock. They called at a Maori house where they were told that Ormond's station was about three miles distant. Thither they trudged through a bush track, the women arriving there very much exhausted by cold, wet, and exposure, and some of them had to be carried to bed.. Under the care and kindness of the housekeeper and others at Ormond's the pocr shipwrecked people soon recovered. The second boat which arrived from the wreck had a narrow escape from destruction in the breakers. The men on the oars were quite spent nearing the shore, and the final struggle to reach the beach kept those watching from the land in a strained and painful suspense. Sometimes the men failed and seemed on the point of giving in when they were nerved to fresh efforts by the encouraging cheers and gesticulations of the watching Maoris and Europeans. This boat would have most assuredly been lost but for the people along the shore warning the crow against the dangerous places by red flag signals and guiding them by shout and gesture to a sheltered landing place, which they reached safely about 11 a.m. Mrs Bayliss has lost everything she possessed in the Tasmania, and even if they are recovered, of which there is little prospect, they will be utterly useless.

LIFEBELT DRILL. Wben the Wairarapa was lost on the Great Barrier reef many were the tales of heroism told anent the brave stewardesses and stewards who stood by the passengers arranging the lifebelts around them and who lost their lives while attending to this work. At the wreck of the Tasmania many of the stewards remained behind to adjust the life-saving apparatus on the many passengers who in no way understood the management of the belts. At the last moment most of these brave fellows lost their places in their proper boats and the chief steward and six of his assistants were forced to leave in the ship's dingy. Unfortunately they were all drowned. Had the passengers known how to adjust their life-belts there is no saying but that some of those manly fellows would still be in the land of the living. In a late issue of the Nelson Evening Mail a corresspondent signing himself " A Traveller makes the following sensible remarks which have a distinct bearing on the point:— ' ; Now that the air is full of wrecks and wreckage will you allow me to make a suggestion, which I proposed on the voyage out to the captain of the Salier, and which he said was a very good one, but never acted on. This was to have a weekly or bi-weekly drill for the passengers, who should be initiated into the mysteries of putting on the life-belts and go through the whole performance, as if a wreck were imminent. It would relieve the monotony of the voyage and insure discipline in case of need. Every \veek at a given signal the boats in ths Salier

used to be swung out, and the crew went through all the evolutions ne-ccs-ary for saving themselves in case of a wreck, but wo passengers only looked on, though two or_ three times we were in danger, and on one occasion the captain never left the bridge for Wo days. On reaching the vessel the steward took us into our cabins and told us our lifebelts were under our berths. I looked at the cumbersome things and wondered how they were worn, but no one instructed us. When the Wairarapa was wrecked some people were reported to have put them round their heads and others round their necks. I should naturally put mine round my waist, but really, to this day I do not know how it should be worn. "At the mishap the other day I noticed that the stewards helped the passengers put on the lifebelts. Now I maintain that the passengers should have been able to put them on for themselves. If the captains would allow the stewards in fine weather to give the passengers an object lesson how to adjust the life-belts there might be some sense in it; for there are only a few stewards to many passengers, and in a time of panic they are likely to be surrounded, and their usefulness impeded. Last year I read in an English paper that the reason crews are saved, and not passengers, in most of the wrecks, is that every man knows exactly what his position is to be in the boat, and he takes it without hurry or bustle when the occasion requires it. It is the result of discipline. Now, if the passengers were disciplined in the same way more lives would probably be saved. At first they should know that on a certain day and hour, and on a given signal, they were to come out of their cabins, in a certain order, with their lifebelts on (first having been taught to adjust them), and then, when they are proficient in their drill, the signal should be given when they were not expecting it, and it should be the endeavor of the passengers to see who would be the first to appear at the appointed spot ready for any emergency. There was not one passenger on board the Salier who knew how to wear a- life-belt, and they were all in favor of being taught. I think the reason my suggestion was not carried out was that the captain was very auxious and preoccupied. We followed in the tail of a storm all the way from England ; three times the oil bags were had out, and twice oil was thrown on the waves to calm them. I used to lie awake at night wondering how to use the life-belt which remained curled up underneath my berth the entire voyage. It seemed to me as if it would require the strength of a Hercules to drag it from its hiding place."-