OLD WRECK RECALLED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 180, 31 July 1936, Page 6

OLD WRECK RECALLED

OFF LONELY MACQUARIES , WANGANUI MAN ON BOARD SURVIVORS’ MANY HARDSHIPS. Memories of a tragic wreck off the Macquarie islands, situated in the ‘ tar south and 800 miles from Bluif, were recalled last week when the small auxiliary schooner Huanui put into Wanganui for an overhaul on the . Putiki slip. To Messrs. A. Corps and , J. Matthews, now residing in Wanganui, the Huanui drought recollections of a vivid happening in 1911, when the Invercargiu-owned schooner Jessie Niccol, of 99 tons gross register, was lost with the captain and . two members of her crew. The Jessie . Niccol was the property of Mr. Joseph Raft, of Invercargill, and was sent to the Macquaries for sea elephant and penguin oil. She carried a crew of seven and ten additional men who were to work on the islands. Mr. Corps was second mate of the vessel and Mr. Matthews was a member of 1 the oil gang. With others who ■ escaped from the wreck thev lived ' on the main island for four months, ’ until rescued by the Huanui and : taken to Invercargill, where they had been given up as lost. The story of the wreck and the hardships suffered by the survivors ■ was narrated yesterday by Mr. Mat- ’ thews, who informed the "Chronicle" 1 that his interest had been aroused by i a short article on the Huanui which appeared in last Saturday’s issue. Mr. Matthews said the Jessie Niccol cleared Bluff on December 10, 1911, bound for the Macquaries. She was to have left at an earlier date, belt was sent ■ to Port Chalmers for reconditioning, i Even so, a Southland paper took up a pessimistic view, stating that the , ship was not seaworthy, that the l men were taking their lives into their , hands and that the Jessie Niccol 1 would never return. The schooner I made a remarkably good passage of ; 10 days, however, and on December • 19 the second mate sighted the , tant Macquaries. On a previous trip, I incidentally, vessel had been : at sea for 100 days and had not sailed within 500 miles of the islands. She bad been compelled to .return for further supplies. A Desolate Island. Describing the main island, Mr. Matthews said it was located in latitude 54 degrees south and was about 300 miles from the Antarctic ice. Thirty miles long and five miles wide, it was a lonely, desolate place of volcanic origin and containing an extinct crater. No trees or grass could withstand the rigours of the climate and the drab, rocky interior was clothed in rough tussock, standing five feet in height. According to Mr. Matthews the island was continually being swept by winds of hurricane force. Furthermore, it was always raining. On the day of the schooner's arrival most of the stores were sent ashore on rafts and the oil gang spent the first night at the camp, situated at the Nuggets, four miles up the beach. This was one of the few good landing beaches on the island and was located on the east coast. The other side was unapproachable owing to prolonged rough weather from the west and southwest. Preparations were being made to raft the remainder of the stores ashore early next morning when a strange schooner was sighted bearing in toward the land. She proved to be the Hilda, of Nova Scotia, and made no attempt to disguise the fact that she was poaching sealskins. The schooner put in for fresh water and her crew displayed new rifles and ammunition. Two tanks of water were procured and before his departure the master of the Hilda warned Captain Holmes, of the Jessie Niccol, that his vessel was anchored too close inshore. For a time Captain Holmes paid no heed to the rising wind until its velocity increased to any alarming extent and a dangerous lee shore gale was piping through the rigging. Realising his error, the master endeavoured to extricate his ship from her precarious position. The anchor was buoyed and the vessel began to move, but was compelled to tack against the wind and in no time was driven back. Desperate efforts were made to relieve the situation and a kedge anchor was put out, but by now the Jessie Niccol was bumping on a rock and the captain ordered all hands into the lifeboat. Refused to Leave Ship. Captain Holmes, however, refused to leave his ship. The first mate, John Patterson, and the cook, John Mercer, a native of Barbados Island (West indies), had sailed with Holmes on many previous trips and also refused to leave. From the shore, where the great waves were losing themselves in showers of wind-blown spume, Mr. Matthews and his party watched the horrifying spectacle and were powerless to give assistance. One of the crew pleaded with Captain Holmes to join the lifeboat, but the skipper threatened him with a revolver. Eventually the boat got clear but before the small craft reached the shore it had several narrow escapes in the surf. From the beach they saw the mate swept off the ship and watched his frantic endeavours to clutch at some rigging, his struggle for life and then his final disappearance. The cook tried to swim ashore, but was drowned. A heavy water tank came adrift and struck the master, killing him instantly. Otto Bauer, headman of the oil gang, now took charge of the party ashore, which comprised men of many nationalities. They salvaged some of the cargo, including 84 barrels of coal, and on January 18, 1912, started work at the digestors which were to boil down the penguins for the oil they possessed. The birds were numerous and easy to catch. They were killed first and then boiled for 12 hours, each large specimen yielding three pints of oil. Good progress was made with the work, specially in view of the circumstances, but many hardships were suffered and the men did not have proper food. From the flour salvaged they made hard cakes and supplemented’ this diet with the hearts and livers of penguins, the tongues of sea elephants, a certain amount of fish and Maori hens. About a week after work was commenced another schooner was sighted. She was the Ida M. a sister ship to the Hilda, engaged in poaching

also. The vessel had been dismasted in a previous gale and was making for the Campbell Islands, about 200 miles off. Her master offered the castaways passages to America, but said he could not call at New Zealand on account of the poaching. He would, however, convey the news of their plight to the Campbell Islands, where the Ida M. Clark was to undergo overhaul and repairs. Hopes of Rescue. During the weeks that followed the weary men in the Macquarie group, where during the summer months there were 20 hours of daylight in 24, worked until the penguin season came to an end. Then they waited in the hopes of being rescued, some entertaining all manner, of doubts and fears. Others were more sanguine. Their provisions were running low, however, and they were showing signs of fatigue and lack of proper food. On April 2, much to the delight of all, the auxiliary schooner Huanui was sighted. She stood steadily in toward the coast and arrived off the beach at eight o’clock that night. Beacon fires were lit and the men prepared a hearty welcome for the rescue ship, which, incidentally, was under the command of Captain McBride, who at one time had charge of the Jessie Niccol. Two weeks later, with 400 barrels of oil on board, and all the castaways with the exception of five, who had decided to remain on the island for the following season, the Huanui left for Bluff, where a wonderful reception awaited her. The Jessie Nicco’ s crew had been given up as lost and the arrival of the Huanui, after her first voyage to the Macquaries, was celebrated by a party which was given by Mr. Joseph Raft, at Invercargill. It was a tragic coincidence, however, that the next, vessel to sail for the Macquaries was wrecked also, leaving her bones in the graveyard of many ships.