EXCITING EXPERIENCES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLVIII, 19 December 1914, Page 4

EXCITING EXPERIENCES

CHASED BY CRUISER. The Rev. J. P. Kempthorrie has received a very interesting letter from his son, the Rev. L. S. Kempthorne, who had a very exciting trip home on .the s.s. Remuera, as the following extracts clearly show : _, v..'.:.:• The voyage was quite uneventful as far •■■'■ as Cape Horn, except for icebergs. ;• We went a long way south, practically to 60 • ■ deg south, Which is nearly 500 miles south of the usual course. A few days before reaching Cape Horn we got into a ••'•' regular series of icebergs, and passed iin all nearly 200' of them. The first wa*: •' interesting; but.-then, one wished to ;;see ■-'. the last of the'm i realising hov*.danger- •_ ous they were'should a fog come• up diir-;• V ing the night. .We. began auspeefc'.' some danger as we'rieared Cape' Horn. It '•" was extraordinary- how soon after leaving > New Zealand, and being away from all news, that we seemed to forget all about the war. We were made, to realise that it was still going on as bitter as"ever th© night before reaching the Cape, as tho cabin windows were all fixed down and darkened, and on deck not a light was to be seen, unless it were well'screened.'in. They also had boat drill twice in succea- .;.- sion, so that, all shoidd.be accu*». tomed to the"work' in..case' of necessity.. An anxious time- came for the c&plaMJ when one night ho heard... two . Gj&rmami ships talking to one another, and he ha.'3_ a very anxious time all the way upT to Monte Video, in spite of being shep?,, herded by a British cruiser, which, ho\\> • ever, kept put of sight. Three days, leaving Monte Video, one .evehwgi^-we'. came'np from our- meal;t't> nri<i a ruifece; up—"Passengers to assemble - on. Pcfrrt; promenade deck if ..order 19.given to taKo/''' to the boats;; small baggage 0n1y.., allowed. A few minuses later we/heard that a cruiser was, fyakihe for ub astor'iiC-' The whole ship was darkened, and all lights put out. I can tell you there was some excitement, and we passed an eve D :'.'. ing of severe tension.. However, * vre• • lost sight of the cruiser in the- darkness-; . changed our course, and laid on steam, going back on our old course at night; and saw no more of ,tho;,<3ruisbrIf "the ship was. German she inade'a very '"' poor show 1 of catching u'sl' Yesterday 'wV were the unwitting cause of giving another ship a scare.. With our yello\y" funnel and high deck we ai:e.Apparently very similar to.the North German JLlpyS . boats. The'boat was travelling south, and on sighting, us turned back and rao for it. However, as we. got nearer she discovered our identity, and turned back and proceeded on her way, proving to-bo. a tramp ship from London.'Each night we are well shaded in, with no lights showing, and we should not bo visible except to a ship to us. Wo arrived at Monte .Video r just in times to learn of . the taking of . Antwerp. .■'-'., The* few . passengers we took, bnJsit .Buenosi Ayres were almost ill Englishmen going home from Argehtiria to volunteer. They told us that over, 500 men.had gone, amt still more were going from there.