THRILLING STORY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17080, 29 June 1923, Page 7

THRILLING STORY.

OPEN-BOAT VOYAGE.

STRUGGLE OF TREVESSA’S MEN. By Telegraph—Presa Association—Oopvrlght ; ! Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. * (Received June 29. 11.5 a.m.) j LONDON. June L>B. \ | Captain Foster, in a thrilling story i j °f tho ureck, says:—“At midnight on j j dun© 3 the Trevessa was in a heavy J ! S.S.Vi''. gale, being liove-to. The vessel ; 1 was making water rapidly in No. 1 j , hold, and the pumps wore unable to I j cop© with the water. At 1 a.m. it, was I decided to abandon tho ship. Infe- ; boats were swung out, and lifebelts j issued. GETTTXG THE BOATS AWAY. ! "An S.O.S. was sent out, and at 'J.IS w© abandoned the ship, tho forej deck being under water. The vessel ; sank at 2.45 in latitude 23.50 south and j longitude 85.45 oast. Great difficulty | was experienced in getting the boats away from the ship, owing to the heavy >ea running. All of the crew gob away sate.lv in two lifeboats,, and lay to all j night until 5 a.m., awaiting I assistance. It was then decided to sec | sail lYr -Mauritius, as we had the as- j | sistanoe of the prevailing winds and ! westerly current, though the distance ] was slightly longer than back to Aus- ] trail a. BOATS KEEP TOGETHER. “Both boats kept togetlicr, tJiough great difficulty was experienced at night-time, owing to my boat being j much faster and having a larger sail, ; and lamps were useless. In the heavy ! weather the boat compasses were useless, and wo steered by the sun and ! stars. BOATS PART COMPANY. “On Juno 9 wo decided to proceed alone. Having obtained astronomical declinations from the other boat —they having tho chart and books and we none—we arranged to steer the same ■ courses, wo sending assistance back, as ! too much time would have been lost |by keeping together. The latitude and longitude of -Mauritius and Rodrigues : were also obtained, and then we de--1 oided to make Rodriguez as being much nearer. As there were only sexI (ants on board, and it was only possible to obtain the latitude, we ! steered a north-west course, and when j in tho right latitude steered due west. . Although wo were driven away re--1 peatedly, and had to beat back, during ; the voyage good progress was made to ; June 10. TOB.TU.UES OF THIRST. 'From dune 11 to Juno 14 there was i calm weather, and it was very hob. the : crew bathing their heads and having baths to keep their thirst dowp, and also sucking buttons and pieces of coal to keep their mouths moist. All hands wore feeling a little off colour during tho heat, some of the crew soaking their biscuits in salt water despite repeated warnings. RAIN COMES. “ On June 14, at 2 p.m., a strong breeze from the south-west came up. and we were sailing about six knots. On June 15, at G a.m., live heaviest rains so far occurred. All hands were set to catching rain,, and sufficient was caught for immediate needs. Tin chutes had been made from old biscuit tins to shoot the water into cigarette tins, as the sails and canvas boat-cover were too saturated with salt water to be useful. Everyone was now much more cheerful. A CLOSE SHAVE! “ On June 1G there was a good, stiff sea and wind. More rain was caught, and all were wet through with rain and salt water, hut it helped to keep away„ the thirst. All of our feet were very soro with the continual soaking and lack of circulation. We shipped a j green sea at 1 p.m., half tilling the ' j boat. One plank of the bilge of the boat was found to be cracked. \Ye caulked it, bailing continuously. BISCUITS GO BAH. *’ On June 17 fro opened two tins of • i biscuits, but only about twenty were ' ! good. Still,, there was plenty aboard. ;| if used with care. The sun was strong, ■ j and all set about drying their clothes. ; I q, tried rubbing our feet with storm 1 oil, with good results. Some were troubled with salt water boils. On . June 18 there were fierce squalls. From midnight to 4 a.m. we were sailing before tho wind under bare poles. EXTRACTS FROM LOG. “ June 10.—Making fairly decent progress. .Still squally. This morning Firemen Nagi and Jocabali are very ; ill. They were moaning all night. Very : high sea. but not much wind between the squalls. A HORRIBLE NIGHT. ' } “ June 20.—A most horrible night 1 has been passed. A scries of tierce ; j squalls resulted in everyone being j soaked and bitterly cold- At 3 a..m. [ tho fireman Jacobali died, and at 7 ! a.m. was buried. Could 'not keep him ■ j in the boat, owing to its having a dei pressing effect ou the rest of the crew. ;M. Nagi. very ill. Mo.rd to open his ‘ ! tooth to givo him water or milk. All ! hands cu watches and continuing so. i Strong S.E. wind and heavy cross sec. THE SECOND DEATH. •Juno 21. Light sea breeze and 1 sea. Gave M. Nagi water and milk at - 1 intervals. At 8.30 a.m. Nagi died and at 11 p.m. was buried. A. sheave in j the mast carried away. We substituted j I a piece of leather to allow tho halyards .| to ride easy, and carried on. Some of j the crew very downhearted, and much * j time lost owing to hail steering. At ’ i 9 a.m. sail taken in owing to terrific weather* Hove-to all night. S PLEND-11> I>l SC J BEIN' E. “At 7-p.m. proceeded to sail reefed. Most of the crew in good health, and splendid discipline prevailed. No latii tudo possible this day, owing to no sun. ! Fierce squalls. Only sailing between j squalls and shipping heavy water, half j filling the boat. Tho weather moderating. Sailing all night : everyone suak- ' | i n £iGREEN SEA ABOARD. ’ June 23.—Similar weather. Keeping sharp look-out for land. June 24.—Very high sea and fierce, squalls. Sailing with only a piece o? canvas before the mast to keep the i j boat running before the sea. Similar [ ' weather prevailing throughout June 25 ! and 26. Very high sea and squally. At ! 6 a.m. shipped green sea right over the after end of tlir* boat, breaking the L.xJUcr and the rwdder-lioad. and buck-

ling the pintle. Same repaired while steering with oars. LAND AT LAST. At 7.45 p.m. laud was sighted on the port bow, and we made for same. Rodriguez Island. Landed at 8 p.m. On landing, everyone found groat difficulty in standing upright, and it was impossible to.walk straight without assistance. Tho weakest cases were sent to hospital. All were treated splendidly. The morale of the whole crow of this boat was splendid throughout, and great hopes are entertained for tho other boat turning up shortly. A search vessel lias been despatched. SCANTY RATIONS. Tho rations during the voyage consisted of one-third of a cigarette tin of water and two cigarette tin lids of condensed milk with one biscuit daily. For the first three days no water was issued. All of the crew are now doing well, and cannot speak too highly of tho treatment received here.”

ARABS SUCCUMB,

By Telegraph-—Frees Association—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received June 29, 12.20 p.m.) LONDON, June 23. Tho two members of the Trevessa’s crew who died were Arabs.

HOW THE MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED.

LONDON, June 27. j The first message received from the ! Trevessa survivors came to Airs Fos- ‘ ter, wife of the captain of the vessel, residing at Barry. It only contained ; the words: “Safe, excellent health.” ! It seemed incredible, as the vessels, ! which had been rushed to tho help of ! the doomed ship, had reported, after sey- j eral days’ search, that they had found I nothing but wreckage and an upturned j boat. All hope had been given up on June 21. Confirmatory news scon arrived at j the offices of the owners, the Haiti • Steamship Co., Ltd, and also at St j Jves, the Trevessa’s port of registry, i j showing that the master, the chief er.- j • gineer and sixteen others had reached 1 Rodriguez Island on ' Monday night. This was 1000 miles from the spot where the steamer foundered. Lord Inchcape instructed the Eastern Tw-egraph staff to care for the survi- j vors and accept messages to relatives gratis.