WRECKED LOCH FINLAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13868, 30 September 1908, Page 7

WRECKED LOCH FINLAS.

STORY OF A SURVIVOR.. - > ADRIFT FOR FIFTEEN HOURS. A. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. Br Telegraph.— Association.—Copyright. : Hobart, September 29. A THRiMiiNO story of the wreck of the barque Loch Finlas is told by one of the survivors." ; .;-' ' ■'" ; .-"« ' , The barque left Adelaide on the 16th inst. with a cargo of 30.000 bags of -wheat. Heavy "weather was experienced, and she ■ was hove-to several times. Early on Saturday morning the ship was running close to the land, and order? were given to keep away. A strong wind from the west was then" blowing, raising a moderate sea. * ■ . "The first' intimation that anything wae wrong," said the narrator of the; story of the wreck, "was a. heavy bumping. "The captain was below, and the chief mate was in charge Orders were given to Ret the boats out, the carpenter re- ; . porting a lot of water in the hold. "The crew became excited, but the , mates told them not to hurry;'*arid to take tilings quietly. '-.."■.. "Two boats were got out, hut were smashed in by the breakers, several men being thrown into the sea. One boat, with nine in it, including the second mate, got clear. ■';\\ ) . " The captain, who looked out of the ! companion way after the barque struck, went below again. ,'T'ie 'bosun asked him to come with the boat, but he replied, ' No, I am going to'stop here.' .That was ; the last seen of him.;/,v- • ■'-'-■ •' * ''-'";■■ ':■:<■ '!-.. "The first mate was engaged in launching the port lifeboat when he injured him- " self.'■;'; I saw him subsequently in the 'rigging, awl "lie must have. gone under with the ship, as did also the cook and steward. . "The vessel disappeared in about half an X hour's time after striking., > - "Our boat, which had no oars, capsized, .. but nine of us clung, to it, and drifted away... \. " • ' ■ ?.,.' , '■■'' "We saw one man, Svensen, in the ship's gig, and another on a floating plank. These two. passed towards Swan Island. ■'..,.• With the current wo drifted along the coast. Several times we were washed off -V, the upturned boat. One by one the men , ; . became exhausted, and let go their hold ' ■ of the boat, most. of them to be seen no i. more;.but we succeeded, however, in get- „ . ting one or two back. . "The second mate then became delirious. We drifted about throughout the day; hop-;" i] ing against hope to reach the land. We had great difficulty with the second, mate..;: He twice got away, but, I brought ; him : back. Towards nightfall he became dan- ~; gerous, and-slipping out of the lifebuoy, ; threw up his hands and disappeared. "Some hours later, when only four Of the nine left were clinging to her, the boat <■ drifted into the"'breakers. With- great ' } trouble we managed; to land, all being severely bruised. We remained huddled to- .;■-:.;; gether on the beach till daylight, and then ; made our way along the coast to a fisher- '.-■■ man's hut. We drifted for 15 , hours with the boat, and could not have lasted much longer." He could not explain' how the ship came to be so near the coast. The search is being continued for pos- . sible survivors from the wre^k-c£,, I tbj;^ilp s rSr One.body has been washed , A sum of £1000 was spent in repairs to • the Loch '> Finlas while she was lying in Melbourne. .", ' ..'■' ' ,'■;■'■■' : : The crew when she left there consisted of Captain iLoimen* .mate, Logan; second r mate, Rogers; steward, ' Petersen; cook, 'Mahor; boatswain', Cowan; seamen, : Solberg, Svensen, i Jerieoii, Saagor, Petersen, ' Brown, • Gnstfeen, Pisakri, Hagerbind, Ahlgra, McCarvoh: Cibilisb, Neil, Lushington, Parkes, and Zachlison; f arid four, survivore— Iteeder, Alyagren, and , : Braca. ; Captain ■ Lonnen stated his ' inten- • tion of making this his last voyage, and of settling down when he reached lingland.