THE LOST MONGOLIA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12081, 9 August 1917, Page 6

THE LOST MONGOLIA.

MINK DISASTER IN THE INDIAN

OCEAN. EXCITING EXPERIENCES OF SURVIVORS. A number of survivors from the P. and O. liner .Mongolia, which suMck a mine in tin- Indian Or.an and sank on .June 2'4 la-t. arrived in Sydney las r . week. According to st;. tenieuls made, tlie disaster occurred .-horrlv afwr noon. The steamer was liraed ;<■. rea'di port five hours lnt»u\ There were t'.vo terrific explosions, and the passengers, many of whom had left ilie'r lifebelts in their cabins, were thrown on to the deck. A very powerful mine liu<l been struck, and the v<ssel soon took a list. Some men were dreadfully raided, while several suffered front oilier injuries. It was not possible to launch all of >he hoat.>. One on.psiy.od. but eleven were got safely into the water. The enptain did not leave the ship till the water had readied his knees. He and his officers worked well, but passengers generally were 1 in agreement, that tlu>. La.sears were ■"absolutely useless."

Brigadier-General Sir Robert Anderson states that his boai. ami four others got close I/O shore just at dusk, b'.it it was by no means easy to effect a landing One of these boats contained the lat» Mr I<\ It. Winchcombo. M.L.C. It. turned turtle, and two ur three jives were lost There were two deaths amongst, those in Sir Robert Anderson's boat. 'I he four other boats succeeded in landing their passengers, and at daylight it was found that the party -about .'IOO in all-wore on Velas Beach, in .Janjira, about sixty miles south of Bombav When Mr Winch - combe was taken ashore it was found that his condition was critical, hut he showed the greatest pluck right up till the last. He died in Boinbav of pneumonia.

There was ;io food to be obtained on the beach where the survivors were landed, and the natives did not- se?m disposed to have anything to do with the party.' A number of the passengers then set out lor a town named Dighi. mue or ten miles distant. There, the natives did everything they c<"ild '••

arrangements were made for interviewing the ruler of Jaujira. lie sent food, wine and stretchers in the beach, and the sick and injured passengers, including Mr Winchcombc, were taken to Dighi. Lady Anderson and the other ladies of the party nursed Mr Winchcombe in hospital. '"' He was vpnbrave" said Sir Robert Anderson, "and we saw him in hospital just before he died. His death occurred two davs after the lauding''

Rain fell during the night while Sir Robert Anderson's party—he was ap|X)inte<l leader was on the beach. .Most of the passenger.s lost everything with the exception of the clothes they were wearing. There was no medical chest, or first aid equipment in any of the lifeboats, and many of the women divested themselves of their underclothing in order to provide bandages for those, who had been injured. But as soon as news reached Bombay a vessel was sent to Highi. The P. and O. Company's officials had made excellent arrangements. The passengers were in need of clothing, money and fresh passports, while some had to be conveyed to hospital. Th 0 whole of this work was attended to. and those who have readied Sydney sav that there was no ground for complaint at the treatment meted out to them by the I'. and 0. authorities at; Bombay. 01 course, the passengers saved hardly any of their belongings, but Sir Robert Anderson, when stioken to on the noint smiled, and remarked. ""We are lucky to be alive at all." That observation was fairly typical of the feelings of the majority of the survivors. LASCARS BEHAVE BADLY.

Sir Robert, who is looking little the worse tor his trying experience, said that the best that could b 0 .said was not too good for the captain and officers, while the worst that could be said was not too bad for the Lascars. "They nisluxl the boats/' lie went on, " but luckily tbe sea was calm, and they did not capsize limn that cause. When the, Lascars got. into th<- boats they would not row,"put up .sail, or do anything. We often rend about the wonderful discipline of tbe Lascars, lr.it there. w;us nothing like that, as far as the Lascars of the Mongolia were concerned. They threatened to be troublesome, and after getting into the boats their next objective was to rush the biscuits. Had the. vessel struck the mine at night time not one-third of the passengers would have been saved. The wireless apparatus was shattered throuirh the explosion, and we were absolutely helpless. Although the lifeboats had everything aboard - -biscuits and water--that the Hoard of Trade demanded, if w P had been unlucky enough to have been out for some days a tremendous number ot persons would have died. There were two deaths in my party. Both were men. and one of the fatalities was caused through burns. There were about forty in my boat, and altogether about .'KM)' on the bench. These lifeboats should be equipped with a hospital chest and first aid outfit. " I admit that there was everything that was demanded by the Hoard of Trade regulations, but it does seem to me that there sluMld be tood other than biscuits and water, ami that some provision should be made to treat the injuries caused by an explosion. Several men were severely scalded, while others suffered serious injury to their hands. ■ It w;is at first impossible to do anything i'or iheso men, and the only way to secure bandages was by using hulieV underclothing. Of course, every!hiug was in order when we got to Digl.i, where the natives were very" hospitable, and no one could have hhowii more kindness than the people of Hombay. While on the bench—until, of course, the provisions enme from Dighi --all we had for our large party were several tins of biscuits, and when it is remembered that most of the passengers were in their summer atjire. and then had t)o discard some of that, it is a wonder that there were not more deaths. There was no panic. The women-folk particularly behaved splendidly. In fact, everybody l*.it the .Lascars were on their best behaviour.

"Mr Winchcombe was not in my boat-, but I know that when he reached the beach he was nearly done. He. was carried ashore by two of the other passengers. It was raining all tho time, and we had to move about to keep ourselves warm. A shelter but was prepared for M r Winchconilw on the bench, and a>s soon as possible lvcl was taken to hospital. I think." Sir Robert concluded, "that a proportion of the ship's boats should be fitted with engines. The steamer on which we travelled to Sydney has engines in some of the boats. With the. ordinary lifeboats it is not always possible to reach a man in time. We had one poor chap taken bv a shark."