STORM-TOSSED SHIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13486, 13 May 1907, Page 5

STORM-TOSSED SHIPS.

NORTHERN CHIEF BADLY

DAMAGED,

PUTS IN AT SYDNEY FOR REPAIRS.

A SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE.

Thkre was quite a stir in shipping circles and among the waterside workers yesterday afternoon (says the Sydney Herald of Wednesday last) when • a. ; report was received from South Head that the well-known barque Northern Chief was making for Sydney evidently in distress. She sailed from Newcastle on the 30th ult. with a cargo of coal, consigned to Auckland.

It was at onco apparent that she had been very severely handled, for her decks were strewn with debris, and her sides were in a badly crippled condition. The day after leaving Newcastle the barque was assailed by violent south-westerly gales. So perilous were the conditions that sail was reduced to the utmost extent, and the Northern Chief ran under her two lower sails only.

During the height of the gale on Wednesday evening the vessel shipped a gigantic soft, which played terrific havoc. The man at the wheel had seen the sea approaching like an enormous moving mountain, and instinctively he clung for his life to part of the ironwork of the. ship.

The great greet 1 sea, which Captain Spruitt estimates contained 50 tons of water, struck the Northern Chief on the starboard side amidships, and travelling aft carried great destruction wit> it. The sea' broke over the poop, and the cabin, about 30ft in length, was reduced to a mass of debris, being removed from the starboard to the port side of the ship. Captain Spruitt and his mate, as well as Mr. Jenkins, a passenger, who happened to be inside the cabin at the time, were thrown cut of their bunks, and their escape is described as a miracle. The partitions, doors, etc., were smashed and thrown into a heap, the furniture was re-" duced to atoms, and practically all the navigating appliances were damaged beyond repair. The railing on the starboard side or the barque was carried away or broken from amidships right aft, together with about 10 of the stanchions. In order to provide against another sea of the same dimensions, which would have flooded the holds, the wrecked cabin was covered with tarpaulins and old sails. A quantity of water, however, had made its way into the holds, and it was found necessary to resort to pumping operations for a couple of hours. On examination it was also ascertained that practically the wholo of tho stores of tho vessel had'been damaged by sea water. Captain Spruitt therein, Dn determined to make for Sydney for repairs. The gales from the south-west,* however, continued to rage so violently that it became necessary to heave the vessel to. Early on Thursday morning last the wind had shifted more to the southward, and a terrific sea was still running, the Northern Chief being driven before the hurricane, until she was abreast of Port Macquarie on Saturday last. The winds and seas having then moderated somewhat, the Northern Chief was turned round, • and stood on her course for Sydney. Captain Spruitt has had many sensational experiences in his career, and was master of the ship Atacama when that vessel foundered off this coast some years 'ago.

THE MARORO IN THE GALE.

A MAN WASHED OVERBOARD. The little scow Maroro, which arrived at Sydney 011 Tuesday from Raglan, New Zealand, with a cargo of timber, had a sensational experience on the Ist inst. During the height of the storm an A.B. named Hans Petersen, 19 years of age, fell overboard from tho upper topsail yard, a distance of about 60ft. In his descent the unfortunate man struck the screen on the vessel's side, the blow fracturing his. thigh. Notwithstanding the fact that sever© northwesterly gales were ra'ging, with heavy seas, ~tho;Maroro„was, hove-to-and: a. boat quicklylaunched, in charge of the second officer, who took two members of the crew with him. The boat's crow acted very pluckily, and succeeded in picking up the injured man, who was just able to keep his head above water. Within 12 minutes "from tho time Petersen fell overboard he was safely 011 board again. ANOTHER RESCUE AT SEA. The barquentino Mayflower, another arrival at Sydney last Tuesday from New Zealand with timber, was severely buffeted by the violent gales, and on Friday week last was hove-to for several hours. The second officer was washed overboard by a terrific sea which' struck the vessel, but a heaving line was immediately thrown to him. He managed to grasp the rope, and was thus hauled on board again, little the. worse for his experience.