THE RECENT GALES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11401, 19 April 1899, Page 7

THE RECENT GALES.

: j LOSS OF THK LABRADOR. | A DESPERATE SITUATION. /.{ THE TEUTONIC'S EXPERIENCES. 7/ On Wednesday, March 1, the mail steii7Timer Labrador, belonging to the Dominion iline, was wrecked on the Mackenzie Rock, '.'about four miles off Skcnyvorc Lighthouse, jiu the Hebrides. Fortunately, uo lives

were lost. On receipt of a message from ,''.'•) the captain (writes the London Daily V.' Chronicle) Messrs Richards, Mills, and Co., ..!'] managers of the Dominion line of steam■j ships, whose headquarters' are at Liverpool, •I despatched the tug Great Emperor, with ,_.( divers and appliances on board, to the J scene of the wreck. The Labrador then !lay in a most exposed position. She left Halifax (Nova Scotia) for Liverpool ou Tuesday, February 21, with 31 cabin, 19 i intermediate, and 24 steerage passengers,

including nine women and four children, and a crew 0f.92 all told, making a total

of 166 souls. The Labrador had a summerlike passage all the way from Halifax, and made good running. But as she neared British waters, Captain Erskine and his officers -wore unable to take sights for three days.. Consequently the position of the vessel could only be determined by dead reckoning—lliac 'is. by compass and log distance.' By reason of the currents, this could not Le relied upon for absolute accuracy Eveiy precaution appears to have been taken' to ensure the safety of the vessel. Captain Erskine himself remaining on deck since 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday. The second officer was on the sick list,' and tho third officer had taken his watch with the captain. Tbo vessel struck on the rock about 7 a.m. on Wednesday. The p#ssengers were rudely awakened by a terrible crash. They rushed from their berths, anxiously seeking to ascertain the cause and the position of the. steamer. It needed . but a most casual survey to realise that the liner had run well up* the rock, and was fast amidships. It was apparent, too that further danger was imminent, as the^ vessel was tiling quickly with water, and might slide off the rock or break in two at any moment. The situation was desperate. The fact that all on board were 'saved indicates that the ship's officers must have had their crew well in hand, and that their efforts were well seconded by the passengers. '■ A heavy swell, w-hich is never absent from this'"part of the coast, was running, and the rocking of the ship.made the launching of the lifeboats, which had been ordered,

a work of great difficult! It ui= iccom plislicd. Notwithstanding the mci easing dangers around, there v . . not the shglite I panic. Not a man tned to bie.l to the boats. The passengers dnected their it tention to allaying the ui\iet\ of the -womenfolk, while the ciew about their duties with most ptiiscuoith. dis ciplme. When the fii.t lifeboat wis letdv for sea the women and childien were care 'fully lowered into it by meanS of ropes. Foiir men took charge, and she pushed off from the wreck. The preparation of the

-other Iboats was being made when another vessel-, loomed in sight. She proved to be the: German steamer Viking, from Glasgow co Stomoway, and her captain (Mr '"irland), realising the necessity for his

* .-.!!_iediatc assistance, took off the occupants ov'all the remaining lifeboats with one exception. This lifeboat contained 12 persons, and made straight for the Skerryvore Lighthouse. Here the passengers landed, and at present remain prisoners with the lighthouse-keepers. The lighthouse is on an exposed lonely rock, about 12 miles west of Tii'ee, and the Labrador's passengers, are likely to rejnain there for some . time, as the -wind has freshened, and to land there now is -impossible. It was evening on Wednesday before the Viking landed her succoured passengers at Tobermory, where they were taken care of at the Nishmsh Hotel. The sufferers landed in good spirits—all they seemed to lament ivas the loss of -wardrobe. For the most part they possessed only the garments they stood in! A few had secured some of their effects in bundles. The lifeboats in which they left the Labrador were cut adrift after the Viking had rescued their occupants. . The cause of the disaster will have to be established later. One thing is clear, that

the ship ivas between 50 and 60 miles out of her course. Soundings had been taken immediately before the disaster. Agoncillo, the Philippine agent, who was hunted out of the United States, was one of tiie' passengers, and one of the 12 in the lighthouse. Captain Bowles, of the Empress of India, and Captain Chisholm, who was familiarly referred to as the " Old Hero," were also among the passengers. There

was also a Mr Mercer, who was returning to. Scotland after a long absence abroad. All the rescued persons loudly praised Captain Hurland, of the Viking, who did his utmost to alleviate their hardships. There were 17 horses aboard the Labradoi, in charge of a man known as "Scotty." Before leaving the wrecked ship he cut the animals loose and left them with a feed of corn—all that could be done for them in the circumstances. Nothing but fair weather and daylight saved the passengers from distressing sufferings, and perhaps death. It is a remarkable circumstance that a few yards on either side would have enabled the liner to clear the rock. The captain made creat efforts to take off -hemails for Moville and Liverpool, but they had to be abandoned. The vessel carried a general cargo, a large part of which consisted of wheat and apples. The boats were about three and a-half hours at sea before the Viking could get to their rescue. No accident happened during the transference of the passengers, though the situation was one of grave danger, sens dashing over the funnel ot the Viking. It is stated that one lady lost £600 worth of jewellery, and a; gentleman JBiOO in cash. The Labrador was by no means one of the oldest vessels plying, on the North Atlantic route, and it had earned among Dominion liners the sobriquet of " The Greyhound of the St. Lawrence." Its record pace between Hali-fax-and Liverpool was a splendid average of 16£ knots—of course Under excellent conditions, —and it was regarded as most certainly not the least popular of the company's steamers, though its tonnage was only 5500, in comparison with the 11,600 of the New England, which was launched last year, or the other twin-screw passenger vessels —the Scotsman, the Canada, and the Dominion, all of which exceed 6000 tons, and are well up-to-date with the most modern improvements. The . Labrador's complement of passengers was, as a rule, fully made up at the worst of seasons, every confidence being placed in the ship and the crew.

Lan Maclaren (the Rev. John Watson) was on the Atlantic in the Teutonic in the recent heavy storms. He has described the voyage in the British Weekly, and particularly the " whole gale with' hurricane squalls," on February 13. He says: — "It was an awful, a majestic spectacle, such as one is never likely to see again, and certainly does not desire to see. /The wind blew from three different quarters in turn, and the waves were about 45ft high. At th.ir base and in the trough they were black; midway upwards they were a very dark green; towards the crest the dark green brightened into emerald, and the waves were crowned with clouds of white foam, through which once and again the sunlight broke. As a wave of this size and fearful beauty approached the vessel one felt that it was certain to cover it from stem to stern. If it had, such a wave would ln^ye broken in the whaleback deck at the Ijiw, have swept away the boats, possibly,;, might have carried away the officers' quarters forward, and even have destroyed '.he bridge. As it was, the vessel lifted 011,'ihe approach of the wave, and rose like'a sea-bird on the billows till at last her 'bow passed through the crest of the wave, while the stream of emerald poured along the side of the vessel, and the white spray was driven by the wind over the bridge and above the funnels. Now and again the crest of a wave would strike upon the beam, flooding' the decks with water nnd making the ship quiver from end to end."

A glowing tribute is paid to the seamanship of the captain, ahd Mr Watson observes :—" So cleverly was the vessel managed that during the height of the fearful hurricane, While the roar of the wind was like thunder, and the aspect of the sea like nothing else but the Bernese Oberland as you look at it from one of the mountains, there was not the slightest discomfort for the passengers (at least those at all accustomed to the sea), and the vessel was really quieter in the hurricane than during some of the moderate gales.1 The behaviour of the Teutonic was altogether admirable, and she seemed, indeed, like

a thing of life —a marine 'creature, buoyant and glad, rejoicing iv the waves beneath ber and the wind which she cut in two." No damage was done to tho ship, nor to any passenger or seaman, but there were "incidents." Of course there wero incidents, as there must lie in such a voyage, and it was not wonderful that when a bottle of water emptied itseU on the face of a sleeping passenger in the middle of the night, and ho heard at the same time the crash of a huge wave upon the side of the vessel, he should feel that it was timo to make an effort for his life. It is interesting to know what a man does in these circumstances, and this particular passenger rushed up tlio companion equipped, besides his night things, with a life-saving apparatus-, which he found in his cabin, and a pair of boots. What he was to do with the boots, and where they could bo of any par.i.ulnr service in that emergency he had not stopped to consider : but it was not more foolish than the action of another passenger in a like emc.vgeno'.,, whose provision. 0 besides a life-belt, and that, was everything else that he had, was a tall hat.' The Teutonic arrived only two days late. " As we came up tho river we saw ivith great regret the Germanic sunk at her dock tlu-migh°an accident, with only her funnels above the water to remind us of one of tho'most comfortable, though, not the largest, of Atlantic liners. Slowly the Teutonic is worked round into her berth, grinding away the ice before her bows until she comes to rest."