ON THE ROCKS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 135, 31 July 1911, Page 3

ON THE ROCKS.

GRAPHIC STORY OF SHIPWRECK; THE LOSS OF THE BELLE FLOWER. C AITAIX JUT IPS 0 VERBOA RD. A graphic description of 11m events lending up to the wrecking of the schooner Hello Mower on July 23rd, iuul the rescue of the ship’s coinpuny wes told by TL Way, the mate of the ill-fated vessel. “We left Dunedin ou Sunday at daylight,” said Mr Way. “There was then a moderate southerly wind, suitable for carrying all sail. Towards afternoon, however, a very strong wind came up, and the sea was increasing all the time, and we had to shorten sail at 8 p.m. The wind and sea still further increased, a fid we had to reduce sail further at midnight; ■ It Avas-blow-ing a strong southerly gale, with tremendous seas sweeping the ship fore and aft. The patent log then showed that we had' run 12.8 miles. The captain remained on deck with me, and from time to time one of us ascended the foremast to try to pick up the Akaroa light. The last time I went aloft was, at 2 a.m. on Monday, and then I saw high land directly in front of me. TJie ship was fetched to the .wind immediately, and all hands wore called, but it was too late. We let go the port anchor, and paid out fifty fathoms of chain. ANCHORS NO RISE. •■ ; . She started to drag,' and we lot go ■ the starboard anchor, but the ship still continued to drag, and in a very few minutes she struck the rocks, swinging stern-on. The fact of her striking this way was, however, the ultimate means of saving our lives. Tremendous seas were breaking over the vessel, and she rapidly filled with water, and sank by the head. ] immediately served out life-belts, but owing to the rocky nature of the coast and the tremendous backwash then running it was deemed inadvisable to atempt to launch the boat, which was smashed to atoms a few seconds after. That was the only boat we had. The seas continued to break over the ship, and every removable portion of the deck fittings, etc., wore immediately washed into the sea. I fired fourteen signal rockets in the hopes of attracting attention ashore, but met with no response. It was impossible to attempt to land, and we therefore hung on to the ship for our lives the best way wo possibly could till the first grey of dawn appeared—about G o’clock.

WEDGED IN BETWEEN HIGH ROCKS. “We tlion discovered wo wpre wedged in between high roel>s from 80ft. to 100 ft. high, witii a big spa running, and there, was not the ghost of a chance /of; ijio very best swjminer possibly getting through the .waves until the sea had greatly calmed. I saw it was feasible to reach the overhanging cliffs, so I cut away the mizzen booin', and with a deal of trouble lashed a, fjpaye, spar . op,, tp,, .it.,,and, got it orci;,the side. le|vtng the wreck. - “Ahlc-s|eanjan Watson, in the most heroic mdhhor possible, made hi; way along the hfiom, which at times was tilted to ijaii angle of 10, degrees, and after many unsuccessful attempts got a small heaving line caught on an overhanging crag,, and .so himself off the end rtf s fhe bnon'i on to the rocks. With the assistance of AHeceaman Pope, .1 then got the two boys, Heron and Roberts, passed along tiie boom. The sdrtonds were then becoming very precious, and 1 did my best fo persuade the captain and cook to leave the ship, hut they absolutely refused to leave I then set about saving my own life. I lit ship’s dog was also passed along the boom and saved. When wo got u.-.hore I immediately sent one of the boys to the top of the nearest hill to look round, but ho could not see anything. Wo then called out to the remaining two men on the ship, the captai i and the cook, hut they would not conic ashore. After about ail hour’s wait the cook attempted the passage. The captain fastened a rope round him the cook by this means was dragged to the top of the cliff. We the nstood by for the captain, who-seernea' to be quite dazed, and not to know what he was doing. Up to the time of our loayiiig the wreck he was c.ilrn and collected, and acted in a most seaman-

like nimuicr, but lie seemed to collapse afterwards. He took no liotice et cur repeated calls to Idm; and limdly jumped overboard into the sea. His bead appeared once above the backwash, and wo then Inst sight of him, and ho must have been dashed to pieces on the terrible rocks below. FINDING SHELTER. “Against my express order, the cook left ns when wo were trying to induce the captain to come ashore, and although wo searched about we could not hud him again. Ho must have away by himself and got lost, or collapsed. [The man has since been found.] Wo then . started to look for shelter, and after travelling about for an hour or two we discolored a post and rail fence, and following this for some miles we came to a little tin but, where wo took shelier for a few minutes. One of the boys completely collapsed at this time, and we left him in the shod in the meantime. The other hoy then went ahead, and was successful in. finding the homestead of .Mr McGirr, of To Oka, who conducted the hoy to-his home, and then set out to onr assistance. “By this time one nr two of us were completely played out, ami,Mr McGirr helped. us along to ids house, where ! e and Ids good lady did everything they could possibly do for us. At 1 dttlo iliver, too, every kindness was shown.” In the course of further converse-

lion, (Mr jWay. said that lib- had saved the ship’s log,, papers, and articles. Ou the run up the coast he was reckoning by the log to pick up Akaroa between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning, and he was not very far out, but the gale of wind and the set of the current must have taken the vessel out of her course a little. He had only hecu on the ship a fortnight, and all the crew were now hands, with the exception of the captain, who had been with the ship for two and a half years. The ship went to pieces soon after the party landed, for when Mr McGirr arrived on the scene about an hour after the ship’s company loft there was scarcely a trace of her fin bo soon. “Two- of the men, while getting ashore, injured their feet against the rocks. The only other injuries sustained by any of the crew were scratches add bruises. “1 have been .in some pretty bad weather,” said Mr Way, in conclusion, “but the weather on Sunday night will take a lot, of boating.” ANOTHER VERSION OF THE CAPTAIN’S DEATH.

John Heron, aged 19, one of the crew, gave the following account of how Captain Howell died ; A final appeal to the captain to save himself was of no avail, and his only response was: “This is the end of 30 years’ savings, boys.” (The, captain, was reported to have been a shareholder in the ship to the extent of about £600). After making his pathetic statement, ' the captain lashed a heavy axo around his shoulders and climbed out on to the boom. Ho reached the end of the boom safely, but all of a sudden lost bis balance, and toppled over. Ho bung on to the boom for some seconds with Idlogs, during which time he was struck by a lingo wave which washed his cutaway. The next wave was, however, too strong for him, and when the crow saw the boom again the captain had disappeared from it. Each member of the crew waded out for some distance in the hope of assisting the unfortunate man, but they had to desist owing to the cold and cramp, though the captain was seen by them about thirty yards distant.