SAVED BY A LANTERN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17769, 3 May 1932, Page 5

SAVED BY A LANTERN

CAPSIZE OF A CUTTER SLEEPING MAN AROUSED SUVA, April 22. The valuable part played by a lantern in perhaps saving ‘the lives of the engineer and crew of the Fijian cutter Tui Vunimacawa was told at the Marine Board, inquiry held into the loss of the cutter, when she was on a voyage from lvadavu to Suva.

According to the evidence given by the crew the cutter was struck early in the morning by a whirlwind and heeled over. A heavy load of bananas was being carried and the weight of the deck cargo assisted tho wind in turning the vessel over. So quickly did she turn over that her propeller could be seen revolving as she lay upside down in the water prior to sinking. The engineer and four Chinese passengers were dozing in the cabin at the time. As the vessel heeled over to the force of the wind a lantern hanging from the roof fell upon the engineer and aroused him. He seized the lantern and scrambled outside only to be flung into the sea as the vessel turned over, the Chinese passengers following suit. To illustrate how quickly the cutter turned over it was mentioned that two of the Chinese came up on one side of the vessel and the other two on the opposite side. The engineer was still, clutching the lantern which was yet to give further service. The ship’s boat was hanging over the stern in a tangle of rope. None of the company, had a knife, but the engineer br-fico the glass of the lantern and with this tho ropes were cut through. The crew then scrambled into the boat and pushed away from the wreck. Tim Chinese passengers who were not swimmers had meanwhile been assisted by the Fijians and all were pulled safely into the boat in which the Kadavu coast was reached after a hard day’s work.

The board held that the master was in no way to blame for the disaster and bis certificate was returned,—Auckland Herald.