RESCUED IN -OCEAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15554, 11 March 1914, Page 6

RESCUED IN -OCEAN.

CREW OF MAYFLOWER.

NEW, ZEALANDER'S BRAVERY.

! [fbom otto own correspondent.] London, January 30. Thrilling details of the • rescue by the Lusitania of the crew of the brigantine Mayflower were given by . the passengers of the Cunard liner when they arrived in London. It will be remembered that on January 15, the Lusitania found the Mayflower drifting rudderless in mid-Atlantic with all her canvas carried away and with a bad leak caused by a splinterod sternpost. The captain ordered a boat to be lowered and called for volunteers. Many more men than were needed came forward, and the lifeboat went off in charge of the first. officer, Lieutenant Alexander, R.N., and the third officer, Sub-Lieutenant D. T. Watson Foden, R.N.R.

The latter officer is a New Zealander, having been born in Timaru 25 years ago. Upon the arrival of his family in this country he entered the Bancroft Schools, passing from there to the training-ship H.M.S. Worcester. There he obtained his firstclass extra certificate. After serving several commissions in the navy, obtaining all his certificates and that of master mariner, he entered the service of the Cunard Company eighteen months ago, and he has spent his time since then on the Laconia and Lusitania. Grew Jump Into the Sea One of the passengers gives the following account of the work of the lifeboat crew: " With great difficulty the boat reached the brigantine, which was rolling under a heavy beam sea about a quarter of a mile astern of the Lusitania. A lino was thrown, but the bow of the lifeboat was struck by the counter of the brigantine, and for the moment it seemed almost impossible for the boat to right itself-again. The line had to be let go, and the boat's crew then endeavoured to get near enough ! to the brigantine for the men to jump into the sea and be dragged into the lifeboat. " After much hesitation, one man tied a line about him and jumped. He was pulled half-frozen into the boat, and one by one the remaining seven men were pulled through a raging sea into the life-, boat. Snelgrove, the mate of the Mayflower, was almost exhausted, but he refused absolutely to bo drawn into the boat until the ship's cat, which he was carrying in his bosom, had been taken aboard. The cat, however, was dead, Captain Halfyard was the last to leave the brigantine, and before he did so he went below and set, fire to the ship, so that she might not be j dangerous to navigation. Four Hours' Hard Work. "Exhausted by their efforts in making j the rescue, the crew of the lifeboat had to ■ pull half-a-mile back to the Lusitania. It' was an arduous task to • get the rescued men aboard the steamer, but it was still : more difficult to hoist up the lifeboat and its manly crew. The ' falls' of the davits were swung to and fro by the wind so rapidly that the crew were in great danger of losing their lives. First Officer Alexander was hurled to the bottom of the lifeboat, and received a very severe wound. When they finally came on board they were utterly exhausted by their four hours' labour, and their gallant efforts were heartily cheered. It. was nearly six o'clock when the Lusitania was able to. get under steam again, and soon after the Mayflower broke out into flames, and lighted up the whole horizon with a lurid glare." | The passengers on board the Lusitania' collected £354, which will he divided: 40 per cent, to the crew of the Mayflower, and 60 per cent, to the crew of the Lusitania's lifeboat. Commander Dow, of the Lusitania, received an illuminated address, 1 and Lieutenant Alexander and Sub-lieu-tenant Foden were each presented with a gold watch, suitably inscribed. Mr. Foden has been fortunate in saving life on two previous occasions— Beira,, South Africa, and at Taltal, South I America.