A BRAVE PILOT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 242, 12 October 1908, Page 6

A BRAVE PILOT.

A correspondent writes as follows to the Brisbane Courier :-r- "About 24 years ago an aict of heroism was enacted, in Victorian waters tfta/t, m my humble opinion, has never beeni excelled, and should not be avowed to pass into oblivion. The part|otsaiT3, as. related in the London -Daily Telegraph, are these:—The piloi schooner Rip was cruising outsfde Port; Phillip Heads, looking out for ships needing a pilot, when she encountered a severe gale, during which one of the masts snapped off and fell overboard. There was a pilot aloft at the time, who fell into the sea with the mast. The loiter, being held by the shroudte and stay?, beat violently against.the side of'th,e vessel, threatening to stave her in, McLeod (I think was his name), seeing the imminent peril of foundering the vessel was in, shouted out, 'Cut away, mates, cut away; let me go, and save yourselves.' They cut. away, and were saved, but ppor McLeod drifted away to leeward with the wreck, and was seen no more. The Telegraph gave a leader on the subject, which was the most eloquent I ever read in its columns. To. its credit, be it said, the Victorian Government pensioned the. widow for life, and made some provision for her children."