THE SAMOAN DISASTER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2101, 5 April 1889, Page 2

THE SAMOAN DISASTER

♦ (PSB PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Sydnbv, April 3. Arrived— H. M.S. Calliope from Apia. Her figurehead, starboard jib stays and bowsprit were carried away by the force of the gale, and also four of her boats, which were on the davils, The hull forward shows evidence of the havoc played by the anchor and chain. • Captain Kane was interviewed to- , day, and he stated that the only chance ■ left for the vessel was to go ashore on i a fairly safe spot near where the Olga I was beached, or steam out of the 1 harbor m face of the gale. He decided 1 to adopt the latter course, and used ( every pound of steam he could force, , aud faced the gale. Immediately after i the anchors had been slipped, and a i start wat made for sea, the Calliope; ' rose clear on end and made a terrific 1 plunge down. Captain Kane says it is a wonder how the vessel's machinery and rudder stood the shock. It appeared quite three or four minutes from the slipping of the anchors until the Calliope began to forge ahead m the teeth of the hurricane, which was blowing as hard as it was possible to blow. The gale continued with, unabated fury until Sunday, the 17th March, when it lessened, and i on Tuesday, 17th, he returned to Apia. 1 On Thursday, 21st, the American warship Nipsic, which had been beached m a good position, was floated off, and anchored m the harbor. She had lost her rudder, her rudder posts were j carried away and propeller gone, other- . wise the vessel was pretty sound. . The German warship, Olga, Captain Kane states, had not received any severe damage, and he expects by this time she also has been floated off. , As demonstrating the force ot the ■ hurricane, the Commander of the I Calliope states that while her engines 1 were going at the rate capable of driving the ship fifteen knots m ordinary weather, the headway made m clearing Apia Harbor was only three-quarters of a knot. When the Calliope left Apia 1 all the American and German ship- ' wrecked sailors were m camp ashore, j but the supply of food was running J short. The report that one of the the seamen of the Calliope had been killed on board by a heavy sea is not true. The only casualty was to the ' carpenter, who sustained a slight in- j jury, but has now recovered. TSvdnby, April 4 The Master-at-arms on board H.M.S. 1 Calliope gives a graphic account of the recent gales at Apia. The Calliope, he states, was supplied with excellent coal on her visit to Wellington with the squadron, and during the height of the hurricane at Samoa steam was kept up better than he ev£r remembers before. ) When steaming at sixty revolutions she struck the Vandalia full on the quarter, . and the engines were stopped to prevent further damage. The Calliope then drifted astern within sft of the reef on which the other vessels had become total wrecks, and for selfpreservation had to go ahead. In doing this she again struck the Vandalia, but without doing any injury. In passiog the Vandalia the Calliope had to go so close to the reef 1 hat there was only five feet to spare. At this time there were sixty men at the wheel, that is, ten on tbe gun deck, ten on the lower deck, and the remainder on the relieving tackles on the lower deck, It is estimated that some of the seas were fully 40ft deep. As the Calliope steamed past the United States flagship Trenton, the latter ran up signals, "Good luck |o you, boys," and " Good-bye, Calliope." His Excellency the Governor, Lord ' Carrington, paid a visit to the Calliope on her arrival m Port Jackson, and congratulated Captain Kane and the officers on the manner m which they had handled the ship. (Reoelvcd April 5, 2 p.m.) avDNBY, April 5. The chief engineer of the Calliope says that not a single man attempted to leave the engine room though all were on duty sixteen hours. He attributes 1 her success m generating steam to the jj 1 excellence of the Westport coal, which, < m his opinion, is the best In the ' colonies. Lieut. Emsinam, of the Olga, who j is a passenger by the Calliope; says 1 that the Eber was smashed to atoms. J He states tbat it was nothing but the & \ fact of the Calliope being a vessel of s the most modern type, together with } the splendid seamanship displayed, that 1 /enabled her to accomplish the feat of jj steaming out of the harbor, J