NELSON BOUND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 27 July 1909, Page 2

NELSON BOUND.

LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE.CONDITIONS *iPAST AND PRESENT. THRILLING EXPERIENCES AT SEA. Captain Maurice Yore, of the barque "Doe," now in port, is a champion of the sea. He believes in the sea. To kirn a "wet sheet and a flowing main" is to be alive. \n "Evening Mail" representative waited upon him the other morning for an interview concerning ships and the sea. The importer was taken to what he thought was going to be the saloon, but it had more the appearance of an ordinary dining room. But then ho found that the captain's wife was aboard, and everything there was homely. LIFE AFLOAT. Asked what were the conditions at sea at present, Captain Yore replied that they were very much better than they used to be. There had been 1 a great change since July, 1907, when a new scale -of provisions was brought in. Now the men got sove.ral little delicacies that would not have been thought of before. At sea there was very little difference between the living fore and aft. There was plenty of good wholesome food, and the wants of the sailors were well attended to. - "But what about the 'salt horse' and the biscuits?" asked the reporter. Captain Yore laughed. "There is. no 'salt horse,' as some of the meat used to be called; and the sailors hardly ever, come for ship's biscuit. On four days of the week they have bread, and on the other three days the equivalent in light pastry, <etc, is given. The allowance is one pound of bread a day, and you can see that that means enough generally without biscuits. Of course there are the other ordinary items of diet." ' ' ■ SAILOBS PAST AND PBESEIJT.,,, "Yes; I know there are some who declare that the true sailor js no more, and that the men who now. go down to the sea in ships are: not worthy of the name of a. sailor'; but all that is not true. I say this, and I have seen a good deal, and I think that I know what { am ta.lk"ing about here, that the "resent generation of sailors are a better class of men altogether than was formerly the ease. lam , talking of the sailor, of course; not the man on a steamship, who does not have the opportunities -for learning the sea that thise of the 'sailer' have, and il is a well-known fact that many of them can't splice a piece of rope. On" a steamer thore is everything that, is required handy; but on a 'sailer' makeshifts have to bo thought out, and tins develops the resourcefulness of tli« men.'' Asked what he thought of his crew, Captain Yore said he could not wish for better. They were all picked men, and he had had no trouble with deserters. On his last trip, which was to South Africa, Australia, South America, and Home, lasting scveuteen months, lie did not have a desertion. Previous to that he was three years with practically the same cvew. "1 don't want to boast; but I' was at Newcastle one time when there- was a strike, and my ship whs the only one on of forty with a full crew. Not a single man left the ship." ('FL.QATINO HOSPITAL." ''Please excuse my inqu'sltivcness; but does anything interesting binge on that big box?" Tho reporter pointed to something that had • a characteristic sea-clicst look about it, "Ah! That's tho medicine case. Captains have to bo doctors, too on the 'sailer.' And there is a good deal to do ono way and another. Somehow or other someone is near'y always getting hurt. Mostly it is in' the aeeident lino, such as broken legs and arms, and one man camo to me one day with n broken jawj and, my word, ho was pretty badly knocked about, and ono out ho Lad required seven or eight stitches. Even sailors can get banged about iv rough weather. No saliora know how to Lang on alo.ft It is one hand i'or the ship antf one for the man, and they don't let -go." "No, thero is very little sickness now. Sailors arc a pretty hardy crowd. But formerly bofora a medical inspection was necessary tho ship was oftou a floating hospital. When you got to sea you fount! you had a crew of invalids on board, and they had to bo looked after always; but it is all different now. Tkp doctof ashoro weeds out tiro unfit';, and wo get tho good mon. ' THE CAPTAIN. It will gurpriso many !NVsoaians to learn that Captain Yoro went to school here. Skippers of those oversea "sailer I ;'' generally call at Nelson as perfect strangers'. As n boy Captain Yore ' was a pupil- at the Catholic. School in Manuka-street; but. he left with Jii« parents for Wellington, and completed his education at St Patrick's College. The sea had a great attraction for him, and soon after leaving school he- was apprenticed to a Liverpool lino o f ships." After remaining j n that service for a ' considerable time, during which he made many voyages backwards and forwards to New Zealand, in both steam and sail, lie joined the Union Steam Ship Company, and for eighteen months he was 'in the West Coast trade calling .in the Walnul twice a week at Nelson Ho 'was also., on the Herald* and on the Southern Cross. In 1897 he left tho Union Company, and joinea a sailing ship as second mate. Since then he has remained under sail and has beea • a master - for a con-' siderable tim;e. ■ ■■■_ : "' WHAT MAY BE MET WITH AFLOAT. As soon as Captain Yore's modesty had been overcome, he. agreed to give gome of . Ms experiences afloat. He particularly 'did. not desire to be made out to be boasting; but with assurances f rom tho reporter he proceeded. • . "Yes, we do have some experienoes sometimes. We had a perilous time at Cape Horn in 1905. I was

mate at the time. It was in tho barque Peri, during a trip round the world from London to Launeeston, Hobart, Southport, Tasmania, Manila, Auckland; New York, and Home; I am describing the vessi' nearing Cape Horn.. Going lull all the time the Peri had made most of her southing, and squared away for her passage around the ilorn, the wind holding west about southwest for several days of gales. On Tuesday, 21st February, she ran into fog, which ■ continued until 2Stn February. - At two bells of the morning watch on 28th February land- was sighted about six nriles .off the port bow. It • was supposed to bo the Diego Ramirez reef. The ship was going at nearly nine knots, with a following sea and a gale of wind. A half-hour later land closed ir. on all side 3, with breakers ahead. The ship wns brought . up in the wind on the port tack to head off shore. Finding we had no chance - to clear the rocUs, we reefed the foresail and vrorc ship on the starboard • tack. Lifebelts were distributed, the port .lifeboat made, ready, and the captain's wife, be- . low was preparing, if necessary, to abandon the ship. I kicked off my scaboots and peeled. off my.- oilskins ready for a jump. . Now. the ship went about on the port, tack.; The captain east his eye .to "leewant .for a favourite place to beach ;ter., 'between two rocks; but' he decided t<>_ pick his way out between' the teeth of the reefs, and squared -away. The crew were waiting around the decks, . expecting every minute ' to strike, when suddenly, with- the most delineate steering, the ship negotiated the pass, scraping past a large rock on. the lee bow. She had literally manoeuvred through the .Ijaws of death. For three days there had been no sights, and the ship had been swept forty miles to the north- . ward of her assu.mcd position, and thus cone through the narrow pass instead, of round the islands. The * place lias wrecked "many a vessel. Tt was a most miraculous escape for us. .SURROUNDED BY ICE. . ( !Not very long ago— let me see, it was last September— we had another remarkable experience. Some time after rounding Cape Horn one morning in September, latitude 49.5 south, and longitude- 50 west,' we sighted an immense Iceberg stretch-, ing E.N.E. and W.S.W. in direction, and judging by the distance run by the log, it was about 50 miles long,; and from 200 to 250 feet high. It was snow-capped, and there was . no sign of life on it, not'even a bird. It was-.witnout break or crack, and had a bay at one end; but otherwise its formation appeared to bo _ very regnlar. The iceberg clearly came oiit from the Antarctic circle. The Dee kept abont . two miles clear of it. In its vicinity a number of other icebergs, from one -to five mile« long, were., observed in latitude 48.20 south, and. longitude .48.29 west. The extent of the ice fields could bo imagined when it was stated 'that it took the vessel 16 hours to pass throngh, and whild stealthily getting through the terrible danger to shipping which- the ice unquestionably was, we sighted a PARTIALLY DISMAiSTED BARQTJI which had been in contact with the ice, and all but lost. We bore flown on her, and asked if they roquired. assistance. She was a Norwegian barque, named the Trafalgar, from Lobos, with guano. ; for ■'■•-.■ Hamburg, She presented a pitiable ' appearance, with her "bulwarks stove in and several of her spars gone. Sh« had evidently been in serious . col- . lision . overhead with the .ice. Her captain said that he ' intended : to Hfyfor Buenos ; Ayres ,in the ship's crippled condition,- and hoped to reach there. About 150 icebergs in all were passed, and a huge quantity of drift ice. The temperature of the water gave no indication whatever of the ioe, being, I think, 38 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature of the air was 41.1. '■•■ Captain Yore gave the saying that it is almost possible to smell, an iceberg a flat contradiction. The.' ship was right' on top of the ice before they know of its whereabouts. There was a big backwash /whilst passing the ice, and it' broke on the decks continuously. For the ice to be in that position, .especially in- Septem-<---ber, was most unusual. It -was stated at Home that never before was ah ice islands of such, dimensions seen so far north of the Horn. "It was a thrilling experience to be surrounded on all sides by ice, for so long; but we eaiuc through it all right. You never know what yon are coming in for at sea." TjOCAL HOSPITALITY, ' ' Ne!spn, of course, is not new . to ' me," continued Captain Yore; "but I feel deeply indebted to its people for the kindness and hospitality^ towards us during our stay here."