The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1907. THE DUNDONALD WRECK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9099, 2 December 1907, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1907. THE DUNDONALD WRECK.

The splendid story of the wreck of the Dundonald and the heroism and defiance of the members of the crew, who sa\ 7 ed themselves in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties, is goodly reading. For eight mouths these toillers of the sea battled against cold and hunger and sickness and almost appalling tribulations. Twice they crossed five sullen miles of stormy sea in a frail coracle built of canvas and tho short gnarled timber of the veronica. They must have run the gamut of all the human emotions during that period. Several times ships passed them during their imprisonment, but at such a distance as to make their signals of distress unavailing. But when their ultimate rescue came hope deferred had still Iteft them battling with undiminished hardihood against their difficulties and hardships. Death visited them, hunger clutched at them, sickness laid them low, the elements buffeted them, but warring against Nature for their food and sleeping literally in the bosom of their Mother Earth they emerged triumphant. Tlie story is a good one. It is a magnificent vindication of all that tradition claims for those who go down to tho sea in ships as the picturesque heroes of national manhood. It was almost inevitable that such an experience should have been accompanied by tragedy, and half the Kittle band did not survive, tho wreck itself, whilst another member only lingered for a few short weeks. It is a striking commentary upon the desperate meanness to which mankind can fall to learn that when the survivors ultimately won. their way to the Government depot upon the larger island they found that it h«id been looted of many of its stores. The creatures who could perpetrate so dastardly a theft would rob a church poor-box, and the pity is that it is impossible to discover them and punish them as they should be punished. Tho wreck,, of course, has its practical lesson as well as its poetic one. There have been several wrecks at the Auckland Mauds, all of a distressing nature and accompanied by loss of life, and it is suggested that they are duo to the fact that there being no light upon the Snares to avoid this dangerous group ships go too far to the southward. With the rapid increase in coastal and international sea traffic it will be necessary for the Government to consider this suggestion and to decide whether the sea highways would not be safer if such a light were installed. Tho provisioning of a depot on Disappointment Island ha* already been undertaken, and it might, be well to ascertain if thoro are not other islands which might also be supplied with food and clothing for onstawaye. The survivors of the wreck will, of course, be taken charge of by tho Government and the Society specially concerned with their welfare, and if ever men earned tho hospitality of a country these unfortunates have earned it Their story should be read in all tJjo schools, and its spirit of eTuluranco impressed upon every child.