DEATH OF CAPTAIN BOYD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 11

DEATH OF CAPTAIN BOYD.

News has been received by cable from London, of the death of Captain Boyd, local manager of tho New Zealand Shipping Company, which sad event took place on Sunday (9_th). The intelligence was received in town with manifest regret, and flags on most of tho business places were displayed at halfmast. For some two years past Captain Boyd has had but indifferent health, and as his ailment — an internal complaint — assumed, towards the latter end of last year, an acute form, he wafc advised to consult "&' Home specialist. Wilh that end "in view he left for the old country with Mrs Boyd in December last by the Huahine, but apparently medical skill could not afford' the relief hoped for, for, " as stated, the patient succumbed to the malady. Captain William Boyle Boyd was a native of County Cavan, Ireland. Ho was born in 1843 and spent most of his youth in the Channel Islands. A life on the ocean presenting attractions for him, he went to sea, and his first visit to New Zealand was as master of tho ;New. Zealand Shipping Company's ship, Piako. The thrilling experience which he underwent on a voyage to the colony in command of that vessel is graphically re* lated below, and it will be -perused by our readers with very great interest. When the J New Zealand "Shipping Company introduced j steamships into their service, Captain Boyd ac- ; cepted flic position, offered to him by Mr J. j L. Coster, of local manager, at Dunedin. He assumed his new duties in 1882, and con- ' tinued to discharge them till within a few months of his death. The deceased gentleman, although not figuring prominently in public life, manifested a keen interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the colony. His penchant in the matter of sports may be said ' to have been aquatics. On occasions when local regattas were being held he was generally in attendance, while in bygone times he devoted a good deal of his leisure to yachting. He enjoyed a large amount of popularity in commercial circles, and tho energy and skill with ■• which- he directed the affairs of tho New Zealand Shipping Company contributed in no small degree to the success and extension of its operations. By-his personal friends and -by tho -officials of ih,e company at the head office in London . and fchp Christchigrch arid "Dunedin offices he - was held .in - the - very highest esteem. Captain Boyd leaves a family of eight. The eldest son is in tho service of the Bank of Now Zealand- in London. The" foll6~wing "account of the fire on the Piako was given in the Strand Magazine by Captain George W. Banks, captain of tho Waikato, who was third officer in 1878. The Piako was a sailing vessel of 1075 tons, engaged in the immigration trade. ' She was under the command of Captain Boyd, the first and second officers being respectively, Mr Holbeach and Mr Hazelwood : — " We left London on the 10th of October," said Captain Banks, " and took our emigrants on board at Plymouth. There were 317 of them in all, besides a crew of 40. All went well xintil we had reached about 4deg south of the equator, our west longitude being 30deg. The weather was very calm, and, /is you may imagine so near the equator, exceedingly hot. It was a Sunday- — 1 remember it as though it were but yesterday. We had a clergyman amongst the passengers, and he had been reading service under an awning aft, when one of the crew going for'a'd noticed smoko rising from the fore-hatch. You may imagine the consternation - there soon was on board among the passengers. Wo tried at first to keep the fact of the fire from them, but this could not be done long : for when we raised the hatch to try and get at the fire, the flames leapt out of the hold to a height of 15ft or 20ft. Wo poured in water to try to subdue the flames, but in vain, and wo were compelled to batten down tho hatch again. " That was all that we could do to keep the fire under subjection. " JL is impossible for me to give you a consecutive narrative of • what occurred. Wo never knew what caused the fire. We had a general cargo, and from tho way it was packed we could not get near the fire. All we could do was to pour in water fore and aft to keep it from spreading as much as possible. By that means we checked the progress of the fire to some extent, but it gradually spread, nevertheless. "When Captain Boyd perceived that we could not subdue the fire, he had all the boats lowered, and as many of the passengers put into them as they woald hold, the women and children being sent down first. It was at this point that some of the passengers behaved the worst, and it required all the captain's coolness and determination to prevent a panic. Amongst the emigrants were 160 single men, and a lot of them, when they saw tho boats being lowered, tried to rush- them. Things looked nasty for a minute or two ; but the crew were all staunch and cool to a man, and with the assistance of the married men and the better-behaved of the unmarried, they soon put the unruly ones to the rightabout. But while the rush lasted it was pitiful to see the terror ol the women — eppecially the mothers, who would hold out their babies to the captain and the officers, imploring them to save the little ones. " The boats were towed alongside the ship, which we sailed as quickly as we could in the direction of the nearest port. An officer was appointed for each boat, and they were given their courses and distance for Pernambuco, in case tho Piako were destroyed and the boats had to part company. We, at the same time, placed look-outs at the mastheads to see if they could discover another ship to help us. About 4 o'clock on Monday, the day after the fire broke out, a vessel was reported on the starboard bow. which turned out "to be the barque Loch Doon. We. immediately bore up for her. She was on the lee bow, as we were in the south-east trades. . "All this time the smolie and stench from the .burning stores below together with the paint and oil, were so ba { that the crew had to put their heads over thi ship's rails to get a breath of fresh air. The smoke cams up in volumes through the crevii \s of the planking — thick, black smoke, that jiused the men to vomif a black, slime- ike stuff. At the canie time the heat was so great that when the vessel made a lurch in sailing, the waloi -ec-tliod from her side. Of couise, all Uif. while we had been letting water into the hholed c and

opening valves — to try to get at the fire— all over the place. "About three hours after sighting theioch Doon, she came close enough to render assistance. "We told them we were on fire, which they had "been pretty sure of before, on account of th smoke they saw rising from thh~ Piako. "We got all the emigrants on board the barque, with the exception of a few single men, who volunteered to stand by and help tho crew. The Loch Doon was loaded with grain, and had several feet of spare room bei tween the upper deck beams and the cargo, j so the emigrants camped out on the top of ; the grain. After the transfer of the passen- ! gers was finished, the Loch Doon and the I burning ship both made sail for Pernambuco, where they, arrived the next day, the Piako four hours before the barque. All this time we had had nothing to eat but raw Bait pork and biscuits, and the water was black with the smoke. "But with our arrival at Pernambuco, out adventures were by no means over. Smallpox turned out to be raging so violently there that we could have no cufnmunication with the town. People were dying at the rate of 400 a-day. When Captain Boyd discovered this, he hired an island about seven miles up the river, called CocaQ-nut Island, on account of being thickly covered in th* centre with cocoa-nut trees. The ship's doctor and I were sent in charge of the emigrants, who were 'carried up to the island, in barges. When we landed, the thermometei was standing at '92deg in the shade, and then were four, miles to walk over burning sand tc .reach "the camping-ground. The horror pi those four miles was something indescribable. Many of . tho people — especially the pooi women — fell down fainting upon the sand. "When we got to the camping-ground w< had to build huts of bamboo canes and leaves. There was an old barn there, and that was all, and, in it we had to lock up the unmarried women of nights. There were 80 of them, and the 160 unmarried men made love to them all the day, wandering among the beautiful cocoa-nut groves. Here we camped out fot nine weeks, food being sent up to us in boats from Pernambuco ; and if the life was not altogether idyllic, it was pleasant enough at limes. "While wo were stationed on the island, Captain Boyd and the other officers found it necessary to scuttle the ship in order to put the firp out. She went down under water all but the poop deck. When the fire was quite subdued, she was, after several vain attempts, finally' successfully floated. We then got out all tho burnt cargo, which was sold by auction. Nearly all the emigrants' luggage was burnt,, and. many of the poor people landed with scarcely anything on. There was little dama.go done to the Piako, however, beyond the destruction of the cargo, the galley, and the donkey engine, so that by the time we had got fresh stores from England, she was ready to proceed, .on her voyage, and we finally reached New Zealand two months behind time. In spite of all the hardships and adventures tho emigrants went through, not a life was lost, except that of a baby,- whjcji, however, diqd from the effects of violet powder, not from the^fFectß,of the voyage.-" At. .the aunual. meeting of the company in Christchurch, the chairman (Mr J. L. Coster) stated. in l\& bourne of his speech: — "It must bo satisfactory to the shareholders to know that their large trade had been conducted during, the year without casualty to any of their ships, except the Piako. In that case no blame was attached to the captain, officers, and crew of the ship. On the contrary, the captain, officers, and men were highly complimented by the Naval Court at Pernambuco. The directors and 'shareholders had, he thought, reason to be proud that they had in their employ, men who, in the time of need, would do their duty in any emergency that might arise. The directors in the case of the Piako thought that in recognition of the abilitj', courage, and discipline displayed by the captain, officers, and crow in a time of great difficulty and danger, a gratuity should bo given to them from the funds of the company and this had accordingly been done. (Hear, hear.) The Hon. E. Richardson, C.M.G., said that he quite agreed with the chairman' in the eulogy passed by him on the captain, officers, and crow of the Piako for the courage with which they discharged their duty under the most trying circumstances. Captain Boyd had been placed in a most awkward position, and the manner in which ho parried out his duty deserved the highest praise. The general manager (Mr Harold Selwyn Smith) in acknowledging a vote of thanks to the officers of the company, stated that he had become acquainted, perhaps more Ihan the shareholders, with the trying circumBtances under which Captain Boyd was placed and the admirable manner in which he had dono his duty. — (Hear, hear.) In an incredibly short time — only some four minutet — after the alarm of firo was given he had the hose laid on to the fire, the ensign of distress hoisted, a man at the yard arm to look out for passing vessels, and the ship's course altered to the nearest port — Pernambuco — i and everything done' that could be. Then ' again there was the disembarkation of passengers. This was achieved most successfully under great difficulties, notwithstanding the number of women and children. He though tho company had indeed reason to he proud that they possessed men in their employ who could display such qualities in the hour of | trial, and which had been so highly praised b,» the Naval Court held at Pernambuco.