TRAGIC VOYAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23840, 16 December 1940, Page 9

TRAGIC VOYAGE

DERELICT KETCH ONLY ONE SURVIVOR STORY TOLD IN LOG [from OUR own correspondent] SUVA, Dec. 9 When Pastor W. G. Ferris, of the Seventh Day Adventist mission, boarded a derelict ketch which he found bumping on a coral reef in a remote part of the Fiji Group on November 22, a tragic discovery awaited him. Three sails were set —jib. main and mizzen—• and the vessel lay with a heavy list to starboard. On the jib was written "Help" in letters about 3ft. high. On the mainsail was written "No Food.'' and on the mizzen again the word "Help." On board the ketch in the small cabin was a dead man and a dead woman, and a woman scarcely ajive. Pastor Ferris had been proceeding through Visoqo Passage, which is in a remote part of the island of Vanua Levu, the most northerly part of the Fiji Group. From the mission ketch Loloma he saw the sails of a vessel apparently aground on the western side of the passage, and decided to investigate. Terribly Emaciated The small cabin was awash with oily sea water and furnishings were floating about. .He heard a faint voice, and saw a woman's head above the water. One of his Fijians entered the cabin, the water in which was up to his armpits, and the woman let go of whatever she was holding on to and fell into his arms. It was seen that she was terribly emaciated. She was scantily clad in shorts and short jacket and was wet through and covered with oil. . Under a mattress floating in the cabin was found the body of a woman floating face downward in the water. The body was stiff and death had apparently taken place some time earlier. She appeared to have died of starvation. Mr. Ferris had a further look in the cabin and, not seeing anybody else, decided to proceed as quickly as possible to his own boat with the survivor. Death from Starvation On board the Loloma, Mr. Ferris sponged the oil off her and gave her small quantities of whipped-up egg between sips of hot water. In the meantime the native boys were sent back to the stranded boat to obtain papers and charts and anchor the vessel. On their return they reported having found the body of a man, but they said it was too decomposed to toncli. , All haste was then made to JMnlau, further down the coast, where a telephone message to Labasa brought police, doctor and a nurse from the Labasa Hospital. On the voyage down the survivor became delirious, calling frequently for her husband, to whom she referred as "Chad." Ihe body of the other woman was also brought to Malau and taken to Labasa Cemetery for burial. An examination revealed that death was due to starvation. Ship's Papers Salvaged Papers salvaged showed that the vessel was named the Wing On and was built in 1910, and that the late owner bought her in January 15M9, for 1400 dollars. She was a doubleended ketch-rigged vessel of three tons and appeared to have been built by an amateur -builder. When the po ice visited the wreck three days laterthey could find no trace of the body of the man and it is presumed that it was washed overboard. The papers showed that those on board were Dalton Arthm Conlv, aged 28, seaman, waster and owner, of 660 32nd Street Oakland; Fve Conlv (nee Larson), his wire; Chester Arthur Thompson, seaman, aged 21. of 115 th Street, Los Angeles, and Fern Thompson., his wife It also appeared that Mrs. Con v hadan infant born on January 14, 19 0 and that Mrs. Thompson bad two children. According to the log, the vessel left Los Angeles for the Marquesas on August 15 and immediately struck bad weather and was leaking badly, with the bilge pump giving trouble. Uii August 2S the vessel was riding out a eve-lone under a sea anchor, and on \u<nist 31 was running before the sea under head sails with the mizzen reefed On October 2, after further rough weather followed bv calms, the vessel had reached the latitude of the Marquesas and changed course. On October 4 an entrv appears as follows: Have discovered' that my suspicions are correct. The chronometer is haywire or else could not see the islands because of the clouds, so am laying a course for the Tuamotus." The First Death There followed long periods when the boat was becalmed and on October 20 it was stated that the crew were becoming too weak to steer constantly and get the work done. Endless rain squalls were reported, and the increasing weakness of those 011 board. November 7 records the first tragedy. "At 6 a.m. discovered that diet had died. What next? Help us, oil God." November B.—The log reads: "We buried Chester Thompson, aged 21. at 8.10 a.m. Died of starvation—collapsed stomach at any rate. He was far too gone to stand anv of the remaining can of apricots we had. (Signed) D. A. Conly, Master. Yacht Wing On." A Last Message The log was written up by two men in pencil. An undated entry in what is evidently Thompson's handwriting savs: "Should I go, I go with my mother's name. Please take my insurance money and take care of Eve and Pat tie. Return the books to my mother and also my toddy bear ... 1 ask that my sisters be told that I always loved them. Tell dad that I die with a different understanding, life, belief and faith. Bud." Having missed the Marquesas it is indeed tragic that the yacht should have proceeded so far without having gone close to at least one of the various islands which lie between the Marquesas and Fiji. In the short time that Mrs. Thompson, who was the survivor, was conscious, she stated that they had been 011 the boat for three and a-lialf months and had provisions for. only one month. She added that once they were near Pago Pago. The latest information from Labasa is that she is still in a serious condition, but showing signs of improvement. Evidently she is a woman of strong vitality, and her will to live was indicated in the manner in which she supported her head above water in the wrecked boat when in such desperate condition, and unaware that after such suffering and hardship help was close at hand for her, but too late for her companions on that ill-fated voyage.