THE SURVIVORS' NARRATIVES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 1352, 15 June 1907, Page 5

THE SURVIVORS' NARRATIVES.

W. DUNNING'S STORY. The story Is best told in the i WORDS OF THE SURVIVORS, those who bore the stress of the battle with the waves, with the hunger of a desolate shore, with the cold of a. wet winter's day on a shelterless beach, and with the exhaustion of arduous plodding to the warmth of the Maori whares. " I was swimming about for nearly an hour "-—an intelligent looking fireman was .telling the tale without any gush. He was induced to start from the beginning. "It was about three o'clock when, she struck," he said. "There was a thick fog. The sea was not very rough. If it had been we would never have got in. The second mate was on watch,. There was a tremendous bump. The.ship all but BROKE IN HALF. Then she hung on the rock, and rocked about. She nearly turned over. That's how the people were knocked about. - 1 was asleep below. As soon as I*iieard the bump, I went on deck. - 1 was in my shirt and pants. The others had just put on what was handy — the women an 4 children, too:' They were in their night* dresses, and just grabbed a skirt or something to put round them. It was about a quarter of an hour before the ship went down. The mate's boat had* got away, IJfe were trying to get the other boat out, when the mainmast broke, but itidid not let -go altogether. ■When we let, go the .passengers, we madefor the raft and cut it adrift.' When I went to pusfi the hoat off, I saw the skipper. He was standing with a lifebelt in hi 6 Hand; but he didn't seem to get a chance to put it on. He was too cool. When the boat was about full, he saw .the stewardess looking after things as though nothing had happened, and ho. said, ' Now, lassie, it's time for you to 1 get on board, if you want to be saved.' Then the stern half was sinking, so I had to scramble up on the fore part of the ship. Then I said, „ 'NOW SHE'S GOING! LOOK OUT!' and she shot away down into the water, right out of sight. The raft was taken down by the suction. There were twelve people on her. They were taken down with the raft. When they came up again, e.Jeyenjof them got on. to the raft. There was only Forbes, a. seaman, and I and two passengers." i "And what's your name?" he was asked. " " "Dunningr— W. Dunning, fireman. One of the passengers was named Forbes, too. We, were swimming about. The mate %ad lit a flare when his boat was leaving -the wreck. If he hadn't- we Would never have* got there. We could, see the pasenger boat by the light, and we swam for it. While we were swimming, Forbes, the passenger, said * GOOD-BYE, 1 ' and then went under. Forbes, the peaman, and I swam down and just reached the boat # in the nick of time. We weren't good for much by that - time. We'd been swimming for about an hour. We got into the mate's boat." "There ,waß room f§r you in the boat, then?" "Yes!" ' " But why didn't you get in in the first place?". "We were trying to get the other boat out. We had to see that the passengers and the others were safe before we could think about ourselves. If we had all tried to get into that boat, none of us would . have been* saved. We waited about .for daylight before tangling. It was a sandy beach where we landed in the end. As soon as we got ASHORE,, we got some of the fore-and-afters and some ti-tree. ; We got, a good fire going by about dinner time. We tried to get some shelter by putting the raft up on one side and the boat on the other. But we had to lie down in the wet. As quickly as we dried our clothes the rain wet them again. As soon as we had landed, the chief officer and chief engineer set out to find a settlement. They got to Matakopo, and some Matakopo people came over with SWAGS OF PROVISIONS of all kinds, and blankets and clothes. They reached us about three o'clock ibis morning — a day after the wreck. They had to come down a cliff like this (mdi-> eating a sheer drop). I can't make out how they managed to get down there, iniihe dark with their swags. We ate the and about seven this morning we set out for the Maori whaues' at Turua point. . It was an awful track we had* to go — mud up to your waist. They say it was four miles ; it seemed to me to be twenty. It took us about four hours to get there. Three horses

/were brought to the top of the cliffs. Mrs. Cox rode one. The passenger whose leg had been broken rode another, and the stewardess took turns with others on the third. So the women and children stood the journey all right; but some of the men were pretty well done. The pantry boy was pretty bad." "And didn't he sing out!" said another of the crew. " I think I hear him singing out now!" Said another: "I heard the skipper sa y — w hen he was holding 6n to the funnel — " I'd give my life to save that boy!" And so he did — and more. FIREMAN SYMES'S STORY. "It was at about three o'clock , on Thursday morning we struck," said Fireman Symes, who was knocked about considerably, receiving" a fracture of the right arm among other injuries. "When the Kia Ora struck she lurched over, and I got slung across deck. I caught hold of the ladder on the starboard side, but this gave way a second or two later, wh*en she gave another violent lurch forward. The boat was rapidly filling, and then 1 SHE BROKE ASUNDER, the after part being taken away first, (ans the remaining portion followed soon after,- being in a perpendicular position, the last I saw of her. The water was very 'deep at this point, and the captain, another member of the crew, and,myself clung: for a time to tKe top of the funnel. One of our boats was smashed to pieces in an .attempt to launch it, but the other was got away safely ; also the raft. I suddenly found myself in the water, but was picked up. The skipper stuck to the ship, and when he saw his boat was going for good HE BADE US GOOD-BYE. Two or three of us heard him singing out for help after the vessel finally went down, but suddenly bis cries, ceased, nothing toeing seen of him, as there was a, thick fog at the time." The man was deeply touched when he referred to the captain, who directed tlie work of lowering the boats and getting the passengers and crew aboard, in the coolest possible manner, and as only a brave man could act. At this time he was hanging on to the" funnel guys, and aB the boat was about to leave the ill-fated steamer he noticed the stewardess still on board, apparently riot thinking of her tfwn safety, but anxious to render what assistance she could to others. Immediately the skipper saw her he called out, "Now, lassie, if you are to be saved it's time you were in the boat.." These were almost the last words he was heard to utter, .beyond . . WISHING HIS COMRADES GOODBYE. • Symes added that *' we struck a rock just off Terua point/* and in about twenty ininutes there was nothing to be seen of the Kia Ora." Continuing his narrative-, this fireman related the experiences of.the castaways on a partjculariy broken coast in the calmest possible manner, as though being in a wreck was an everyday occurrence.- He will, - hoprev'er, iX never forget the terrible tune we had,, for our trouble had by no hjeans 'ended when we set foot on the beach. Here we were all- ; SPARSELY CLAD, and what clothing we had was saturated, with no shelter from the heavy rain beyond what covering we could secure from the boat and raft. We had only a little foodf— cqnsisting of ibip's bis--cuits—aiM these soon gave out. ,The women that -were on board bore up bravely, and the stewardess did not give way until the RaVawa was seen^ this morning." , - . ,