TRAGEDY OF THE 'SEVENTIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 201, 4 May 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

TRAGEDY OF THE 'SEVENTIES.

THREE SURVIVORS OUT Ol< 400. The Auckland Star of March !). IS?S, contains a story of a marine tragedy that is probably one of the most sensational of till time. The narrative of the second mate, Henry Maedonald, one of the three survivors, is a terribly graphic and human document, and is rendered the more so by the fact that the unfortunate man at the time that he was interviewed was still physic-ally exhausted, although a couple of months after his terrible experiences. The Cospatrick had about 400 emigrants on board, and took fire at sea some few hundred miles from the Cape on the voyage from London to Auckland. Here is the second mate's story as he told it to the Standard correspondent:— On Wednesday morning (18th) I was on my watch below: I had just fallen asleep when the report of fire was given. I jumped up. 1 was not quite asleep. I ran to the door and met the captain. Said he to me, "There is an alarm of fire; jump forward and see what is the matter." I went forward. When I got there the mate was getting force-pumps and everything in working order. I saw flames and .smoke coming out of the forescuttle. When that was coming out I ran aft again. I put on my trousers, for I had been naked. The men and passengers were tumbling up by the time I came forward, and were plying the pumps in great alarm. But both the crew and passengers were behaving splendidly. The truth I've got to speak and nothing but the truth. We worked away at the fire until the llames burst out at the fore hatch. Tt seemed as if the fire was right forward in the ship. The great thing was to go down that fore-hatch if any man could have done it. The captain called for volunteers, and I and two men tried it, but were beaten back by the flame and smoke, and had to tell him we could not do it. All fell back a bit, but we managed to get on the "foksle" head, and the captain was tacking the ship to keep her before the wind, but she would not answer her helm. She came head up to wind, and this was what drove the fire afte on the foksle. We hauled the foresail up, but by this time the fire was aft between the fore-hatch and the main-hatch. DISASTER TO THE BOATS. The boats forward were on fire. I had asked the captain before this whether I should get boats out, but lie said, "Xo. in such a time as this do your very best to get the fire out. and leave the boats alone." All had gone aft except those who were working at getting the fire out, and the women were in a terrible way. The fire began to come out of the main hatch, and (hen there came a rush on to the poop. I came aft to see about the boats, with the chief mate, the third mate, and others, to try to put the boats straight. The starboard boat and the quarterboat were full of women, and a mad panic round. It was the women's quarters on the quarter deck, but by this time it was everybody's quarters. The starboard boat was lowered away by the crowd anyhow by themselves. God knows who did it. It capsized when it touched the water; the davits bent down with the weight that was put on them. There were about eighty people, chiefly women and children, in it. They were all drowned. Was there a trouble in the water? Great God! what coukl I notice about this? By this time the foremast was on fire and blazing to the truck. All three masts fell aft and over. Wo had tried to lighten the starboard pinnace, the biggest boat in the ship, but we had to leave her when her bows caught fire. Xot till then 1 stationed two men at the port quarter boat, with strict orders not to leave the ship's side before the captain gave orders. She was all right till after the captain gave the word, and then, my God! there was a rush. I was the last to make for her, except them that jumped overboard, that was the chief mate and a woman, an Irish girl, whose petticoat was afterwards used for a sail. I had tried to get a compass, but had to leave it. else I would not have got my passage. As I jumped in they were cutting away the tackle falls. I jumped to the helm and shoved her clear. We had thirty-four in the boat then, and

wo had to keep ofV. because the people were pouring down the falls, and would have sunk her. She had not above six inches of freeboard, 'We pulled well off from the ship, and lay by until morning. But just as we were clear of the ship's side, the mainsail came down after the stern blew out. This was the spirits (about 200 tons were included in the cargo). I had before thrown overboard the rockets in Her. This mind you, was all in the darkness, HORRIBLE SCENE.-MEN THROWING WIVES OVERBOARD. After we had backed oil' the scene was horrible—men throw-inn; their wives overboard, and women their children. 1 saw one man throw thirteen children overboard, and then jump in himself. They were praying, yelling, crying. T did not personally see the captain' and his wife jump overboard, but a man T picked up told me that be saw them jump, and also saw Dr. Cadle throw over the captain's boy and follow himself. The captain, when I left, was standing by the lee wheel, and was as cool and composed as ever a man was. T wish you were done, for I have not had a blessed night's sleep since the terrible time T was in the boat. [ don't think many were about here by this time, for she was burning from end lo end. The mizzenmast went overboard; this was about an hour and a-balf since the lire broke out. BOAT. ENDANGER ED BY PEOPLE IN THE WATER. We stood off from the ship until the next day to avoid the throng of people in the water, and then the morning came, and still she was blazing inside, but the outside of her was to the good still. We were a good distance off. and we heard some cries of people on spars who had floated a good way out. We found that the starboard quarter boat, bad floated, and the people hanging to the spar had uprightcd her. They told me that they had tried her six or seven times, and she had capsized as often, but ultimately they succeeded, and got her near. The cry was for an ollicer to come on board. ' ; Eor Hod's sake, Mr. Macdonald. come with us, and bring some men with you." Cotter and I went with Lewis, and that divided us, leaving :>2 in each boat. We were deeply loaded then. We kept by the ship all that day and that, night. We saw people all around her. but we could not render them any assistance. We lay oil' till the next afternoon, about half a mile oil', but after the ship sank it was no use. She was liurht down to the 'copper. My boat had no oars. The other boat gave rue one and a-half. DREADFTUi VOYAGE. We steered for the Cape of Good Hope; but we had no compass or anything in the boat, and nothing to eat whatever. The (wo boats kept company to the 20th and '2lst. when it commenced to blow, and we got separated during the night. T whistled and shouted, but when daylight came we could see nothing of the other boat. Thirst began to tell severe-

l,y on all of ns. A man named Bentley fell overboard while steering the boat, and was drowned. Three men became mad tle.it day. and died. We then threw the bodies overboard. On the 2:3 rd the wind was blowing hard, and a high sea running. We were continually baling water out. "We rigged a sea anchoi', and hove the boat to, but it was only tied with strands to the boat's painter, and we lost it. Four men died, and we wore that hungry and thirsty that we drank the blood and ate the livers of two of them. We lost our only oar then. On the 24th there was a sfcroii"

gale, and we rigged another sea anchor, tying it with anything we could get. There were six deaths that day. She shipped water till she was nearly full. On the 2,5 th there was a light breeze, and it was awfully hot, We were reduced that day to eight, and three of them out of their minda. We all felt very bad that day. Early on the morning of the 26th, not being daylight, a boat passed tdose to us running. We hailed, but got no answer. She was a foreigner. I think she. must have heard us. One more died that day. We kept on sucking the blood of those that died. The 27th-was squally all round, but we never caught a drop of water, .although we tried to"do it. Two more died that day. We threw one overboard, but were too weak to lift! the other. There were then five lefttwo able seamen, one ordinary, myself, and one passenger. The passenger was out of his mind. All had drunk seawater. We were all dozing when the madman bit my feet, and I woke up. We then saw a ship bearing down upon us. She proved to be the British ship Sceptre, from Calcutta to Dundee. We were taken on board, and were treated very kindly. 1 got very bad on board of her. I was very nigh at death's door. We were not recovered when we "ot to I

St. Helena. I had dysentery. °They handed us brandy, and'we we're in such a state that we should have drunk all of it had we not been prevented. We made 540 mile? in these eight days. We took a north half-east course. The latitude where it occurred was 37deg. ].-), min. S„ longitude 12 dog. 2omin. E. °That was at midday on the 17th. T know that we had kept in near the same longitude ; all the time. We knew we were to the northward of- the Cape. My opinion is that the first boat never survived the wind of that night. A woman in that boat was frantic. She leaped overboard more than once. COTTER'S NARRATIVE. Some sidelights on this nine days spent in the boat were given by Cotter, one] of the three survivors. The following ! conversation with him, printed in the! Telegraph, supplemented Maedonald's j story:— "Well, Cotter, when you managed to get into the boat, and she was fairly off, how was it you could not pick up some of those who were floating away from the burning ship and being drowned?"— "We did pick up as many as our boat would hold. If we had' taken in another we should have gone down ourselves. Such a high sea was running that we could not see many of the people when they once threw themselves over the ship's side' to avoid being burnt." "Where are the rest of those who* went in your boat?"—" They all died, sir, every one, except us three and the man who went mad before he landed from the British Sceptre, and who afterwards died, too." "Did anymore go mad besides this one?"—" Yes, sir; most of the men did before they died." "Did they jump overboard?" "They would have done so, but we prevented' them; but they did not last very long! alive after the madness took them." "What provisions had you on board' the boat? What did you eatt?"—"We{ had nothing in the boat, and we ate one another," was the horrible reply, given, however, with a practical earnestness which showed that this dreadful step was only resorted to as a matter of dire necessity. "But you did not eat one another alive?"—"Oh, no; no one whs eaten until he was dead." "Because," said the questioner, "the other day we had a story of a shipwreck in which the men in a boat had to east lots as to who should die, and an Italian was killed in order to be eaten."—"We did not do that, and I do not think we should ever have done it."

XEGLECT OP THE BOATS,

There is just one more point of interest, and that is the absence of any provisions and water in the boats 'which consigned those who did get away from the burning ship to such terrible' privation. An explanation was given when the three survivors were examined by the owners of the vessel. Mr. Temple asked the mate, "How was it that when there was a regulation that each boat should always have a keg of water in it, there was no water in the boat which lived?" The first answer was that the boat which was saved had at first capsized, and that was the case. But it was confessed that there was no water in either boat. The kegs had been taken out of each that very day when the boats were, cleaned, and had not been put back. "Was it not the duty," said Mr. Temple, "of the captain or somebody to inspect the boats and see that they were re-stor-ed after being cleaned?" The mate could not say. lie afterwards said that soon after leaving port he was told off to one boat and the first officer to the other. Neither of the boats had its keg, but the boat of which we have not lieprd hud about a'gallon of water in it in tins, which the emigrants brought up.