SHIPPING DISASTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13069, 8 May 1913, Page 6

SHIPPING DISASTER.

BABQUE MIMI CAPSIZED AND 18 LIVES LOST. j SYDNEY, April 30. Details of the capsizing of the German barque Mimij with the loss of 18 lives, were brought to Sydney by the mail steamer . Sonoma. Tho disaster occurred on the north spit of Nehalem Bay (Oregon). The vessel had gone ashore, and salvage operations were proceding when the barque turned turtle. Captain Wcstphal, the master of the Mimi. told tho following story : — "We had got the vessel into deep water under favorable conditions, and apparently all was well. Suddenly the donkey engine, on shore, which was used m conjunction with another on board the Mimi to float her, gave a sudden pull on tbo cable. This drew tho Mimi around so that she was thrown broadside to tho sea. A tremendous wave struck her before we could alter her position, and she went over. i "It was unfortunate, indeed. Everything looked so well for us, and we were so elated by, our success m again' placing her m deep 1 water, that this blow is hard to bear. I would not mind it so much but for the los£ of so many fine men, not only my own good sailors, but those who represented the engineering company and the underwriters. | "When tho wave struck the ship I was standing well forward. It caiight me| and carried me aft, hurling me into the' mizzen rat-lines. Here I clung. Beside 1 me, Captain Fisher and the cabin boy had also caught hold, while Captain Crowe and Koenen were clinging to the lifeboat close to us. We lashed the boy fast, but within a very few minutes Captain Crowe's -hold was broken, and he floated! off. We did not see him ajjain. Kronen called to us that he was 1 i slipping, and we got a rope under his arms and tried to pull him up. We raised him 2ft or 3ft, but we were so numb with cold and hampered by the waves that we could do no more, and lashed him there. . "Although we shouted continually, our cries failed to attract notice for three hours or more, and after that it was a dreary, hopeless wait until daylight, when we were removed." i Tho drowned included : Russell Black- ' man, Portland, secretary of the Fisher Engineering Company; Captain Albert Crowe, Portland; Edward O. Estes, formerly of Portland, more recently of Brighton; William Sipp, North Plains,; Oregon ; Jack Fitzpatrick, Brighton ; W. j C. Koen, Kevby street, Portland; A. Vergt, cook on the Mimi ; 0. P. Fischer, ship carpenter; F. Behrens, engineer; B. Meyer, sailmaker; W. Birchendin, H. Jurgensen, N. Jorgensen, H. Neilsen, W. Kruschort, H. Knaus, sailors, all of , Germany.