BARQUE IN DISTRESS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13938, 20 April 1909, Page 4

BARQUE IN DISTRESS.

i EXPERIENCES OF THE CAMBUS4 DOON. d SAILOR LOST OVERBOARD. A thrilling story of the sea is that of the crew of the hig British barque n C'amhusdoon. which put into Lyttelton '" Harbour early on Thursday morning in 0 distress, according to the Press. The :" fine vgssel outwardly shows little sign I1I 1 of the terrible buffeting she has ren eeived since, she set out from Sydney 8 for Falmouth on March 2". 0 The vessel had shipped her cargo of '■ 31,886 bags of wheat, and was lying at '" anchor in Sydney Harbour, ready to c sail for the English Channel for orders, '- when about 4 o'clock on the morning ' of Tuesday, March 23, a fire was dis- * covered ori board. The chart-room was s gutted, and some woodwork on the r poop, the spanker boom and some sails c were damaged before the outbreak was I- subdued. It was decided to wait until h the vessel reached England to effect t repairs, but her departure was delayed s until the following Saturday (March i- 27). At 1 o'clock that afternoon the 8 Cambusdoon cast off the tug .outside s Sydney Heads, and making all plnin s sail stood out to sea and bet out on her c long passage round Cape Horn to Fal- •- month for orders. The vessel was homey ward hound, and although thousands, c .of miles of weary ocean lay ahead of |. her, those on hoard looked forward to the day when she would drop anchor in I, Falmouth Harbour, to await orders ai> v to her port of discharge. c The barque was carrying jtliout 3300 \ tons of grain, and, being right down to her "mark." sat low in the water. n but for the first two days out all went well, fresh winds and fine weather pre- '[ vailing. Monday saw the beginning of r the barque's troubles, for a moderate south-west gale, with heavy seas, beset her on that day, and continued for the r next two weeks. The gale increased in \ iolence, and the deeply-laden ship ? tore her way before it under short can- . vas. She wallowed and rolled in the great seas, which continually smashed " on board, filling her up to the rails, v tho crew moving about her decks at " great risk. It was an anxious time for * the master and his two officers. Day '" after day passed, the wind increasing t in velocity and the seas in strength ' and volume the whole time. On Sunt day, April 4, the seas were running " dangerously high, and oil-bags had to • be used to smooth them and prevent 0 their breaking. That night was terribly "dirty,"' and " the ship was labouring heavily as she n tore along under short canvas, chased t by the mountainous seas. In the early - hours of Monday morning a terrible • accident occurred. The second mate " had given orders to square the yards, '» and after this had been done three of r the sailors were coiling down the fore- '• braces on the top of the forward decks' house, when a tremendous sea broke :I on board, filling up the decks to the j i. rails, and sweeping heavily over the j c deckhouse, washed one of the seamen, I ,- a foreigner named Neilson, overboard. - He was never seen again, and it was s impossible to render him any assist- | f ance. The other two men had a very a narrow escape from being swept away „ with him. t The loss of the poor fellow cast a i! gloom over the crew of the sorely-tried a ship, which throughout that day was . running heavily hefore the gale and r, the huge seas, under topsails and a t reefed foresail. Oil was being freely 1 used, but in spite of this tons of water r came aboard, the decks being con- £ stantly full. Tuesday passed in like manner, and next day the vessel was in " the vicinity of the Snares, away to the ' southward of New Zealand. The heavy j labouring of the barque as she was chased by the heavy seas was causing * much anxiety, and at 9 o'clock on the : Wednesday morning a start was made ' ) to jettison a portion of the cargo in 1 order to ease the vessel. At 9.30 a.m. two terrific seas crashed ' on board, burying the ship, which wns • dangerously close to foundering, before 1 she shook herself free. Several tons of > water poured thtough a small door into the sail locker, and found its wav down through the lazarette, w here it damaged a quantity of stores, and into the bottom of the ship. Isy H o'clock that night 00l bags of v heat had been, thrown overboard. Next morning, about 0.30, the crew 1 refused to go any further on account of the condition of the ship, and the master finally dec ided to make for a New Zealand port. The work of jettisoning the cargo was continued throughout Thursday mid Friday, and on Saturday morning. The gale abated somewhat on Friday, hut a confused sea and heavy swell were running, and the vessel was hove-to for some Imurs that night. A moderate south-east gale w as experienced cm Saturday last, but after that the weather moderated, although a heavy swell continued. At noon on Monday the vessel was in Int. 45 03 *„ long. 170.42 E., and next day was many miles to the north-east of Lyttelton Meads. The weather was then fine and clear, airl the ship stood in ior Lyttelton and was sighted from the Hendd on Wednesday afternoon. In the evening she hove-to about ten or twel\c miles off. and burnt a blue light for n pilot. The tug went out from Lyttelton, and caino with her about 9.30 p.m., and piloted her into port, where she anchored shortly after midnight. On Tliursda}' morning Captain How e.s eaire ashore nnil cabled to Ins owners in Glasgow for instructions. He nl o emiterred wilh Lloyd's surveyor during the day. Seen by a Press lepoiUr. Captain Howes *aid he wns uiu'bl*' If % give any informal ion :<s to whsii, would I>p <lo»io niili die vessel, until he repp IV I'd n il<|ilv from his ouueis. H i>fenred that t>he ves u el lias stiainrd h'-r hull, and it is probable that she will he hi ought in to undergo a survey. I | Jt i.s worth a pe"t deal to tie sure ith ' von i>oi (1 i' f 'ifi- toi tuied by head.icho. Yen will Knew t'tis if \on h°ve n b'ix of c terms' rfe^iNflie Cure [it hind for it cures all headache* quickly. 12 The P.D. corset is tho highest murk ■:f achievement in its cln««. Often imitated, it is never equalled. Only the makers of the P.D. cor-et, with their wonderful organisation and facilities of .iietribut-ion, enn furnish you with such a corset at such a price. Quality is the test of cheapness. Why help to put a premium on inferiority, wbp"» r you can wew » P.D.P "" ? v