CAPT. MILLS OF THE MINDEROO.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12748, 27 April 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

CAPT. MILLS OF THE MINDEROO.

The s.s. Mirideroo, Cabtain _t_iH_ 'm , charge, has gone m search of the-missr ,mg t Koombana. .ymj_. *-k_i Th? wireless word goes wni-jy'ritie „/■ forth, .-.'■*. „...-,•/. .Seeking the- ear of a missing fship, i Leaping the leagues of brine and f froth , Where the blizzard breezes rbar arid . , rip ; ■With bunkers crammed with a fortnight's coal, The cattle-ship' sturdy gops^to ittelin'*! A straining hulk on a dying rolli"'*'' Or wreckage whereon • the. _. seagulls shriek, ' '* '-, '< And over the Avaste of waters wide. ~ A speck op,, the ocean deen and blue, A cyclone chart by his sleepless fsßfe,)!;;, Goes Captain Mills of the Minderoo. The storm came roaring from not'*noreast, The schooners fled and the luggers sank, '.)'. Y/m __ ./ With the snarl of a thousand-leagjier long beast ..'.,.. ■.. .... The blood of a hundred', men % drank. . '^'" , It bleAv them down with * its ••awful breath ; . ." , • It held them under , the • maddenedi tides, ' * And the floor of the sea was strewn* Avith death -..'..'. Where the pearl m its prison, (sh^h. abides. So out Avhere the corpses, ,horroKeyed, Stare up at the sunlight ' filt'ririg ; through,- ■• >iYU#Q, With a thousand' prayers to heart and / guide, >lt . s Goes Captain Mills of the MiuaerooT The storm raced an from . the vqystjsr- '' i . beds, -.■ : t '. % V • And met the ship on her nor-ard' way, Ripping her hamper . light to shxeds, (Drowning her boiler fires witH' s^nty. Deep down in_ the. waist the gallant . Scots ■-..' .Stand by to steady the racing .shaft, Shutting the steam from the '-pistcrtV- ' StOtS, • , :,. , Braking the bronze, revolving ajFt^* And Avhether she lived or whether she • died, v : Whether she drowned her chief and crew, In narrowing sweeps across, the tide ' ' Goes Captain of the Minderoo. I :. '■_ ,-.-* It isn't often a' poet pray s— !j He's far too busy to dream of death, Or buildjng glory-embroidered bays j That Avither within to-morrow's hre^t-ir-But. l'll, .spare, an hour from the busy i .!ink „.' '■ ;,',.;/ , To wish God-speed to the vessel brave Whose hammered crossheads .clang and clink / ■ / Day and night , on the Northern wave. So it's ?'port a little" and "hold her head," „..,.■. '■. Where the distant reef-fang breaks the blue; ...'.■ May you 'bring -tha living back from the } . dead — Captain Mills o£ t/h? Minderoo ! - — Drybloweui m. Perth Sunday Times.