CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS

Southland Times, Issue 19280, 26 June 1924, Page 5

CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS

STEAMER WAIHEMO DAMAGED. VESSEL PUTS BACK TO PORT. (Par United Press Association.) DUNEDIN, June 25. The Waihemo, with a heavy list to port, steamed to Port Chalmers this morning with No. 2 hold awash. The vessel left Port Chalmers last Saturday afternoon for Nauru Island via Newcastle. On Sunday, when clearing Foveaux Strait, she ran into heavy weather, and a heavy sea came up. Having no cargo, the position became critical, and the propeller was partly out of water. An ineffectual attempt was made to alter the course. Hours passed and conditions did not improve, and late on Sunday afternoon further trouble was experienced. There was a blinding flash of lightning, and a flame ran along the aerial of the ship’s wireless equipment, almost blinding the seamen on deck.

Eventually the Waihemo headed back for Foveaux Strait. About midnight yesterday, Donald Broderick, a seaman, fell down the hold and was severly injured. He was conveyed to the Dunedin Hospital after the ship’s arrival this morning, and his condition is satisfactory. Immediate steps were taken to repair the damaged bilge pump, in order that the water in the hold could be pumped cut. The extent and nature of the damage cannot be ascertained until the hold is pumped dry.