BRITISH SEAMEN

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2154, 21 June 1889, Page 3

BRITISH SEAMEN

♦ The rescue of the orew of the barqui Smllie, from Geestemand, by tbe seoooc offloer and five seamen of the steamshlj Holland, belonging to toe Nfttiooil Hoe, Ii (remarks the •« Daily News") only th« old tale of pluck acd perseverance on tb< part of English seamen trlnmphantl] .pitted against the tremendous foroes ol winds rod waves. The Holland, wb.ee she -fell In with the waterlogged EmiHe m mld'Atlantfo, was m little condition herself for leodlcg a hand to a brother In (Matron, for three days and nfghti terrific hurricanes bad swrpt over her, doing more or leu damage to her rigging and cargo, and ponriag deluges of water down her vontilttorr. It #at still Mowing halt a gale, with fnqutnt squalls eqoal to a whole gale, when a sight was obtained of the Emlite, only a quarter of a mile distant, wattrlogged and dismasted except her lower mainmast, on tbe rigging cf whtcb, the maintop being Cone, they ooold dUearn tbe ablverfoff forms of the shipwrecked crew of 11 bbsd. For 15 hours they had withstood the fury of the gale without food or drink. As a mountaintui sea was still breaking, It was at first deolded to stand by till the weather moderated ; but after •bout five hours waiting, It belog then 2 In thefeftetnoon of a March day.lt was decided that the wind was llke'y ev«n to Inoreate before night, and that as the ahlpwreoked man eonld not poialbly live till morning where they were, an attempt at resoue •fconld be mido while daylight yet served. " I want a orew for that J " exclaimed tbe paptatn of Hhe Holland, pointing to the lifeboat m the old ship was lying with tier lee gunwale under^ water ; «nd m a pOBNOt there was a scramble to get Into |pb ~ Bight volunteered, but six only fjsro needed., Tbe cboloa fell on Mr Orlffiibr, tbe second officer, and A.B 'a Lemsy* Kettle, Lambert, Mantbop, and Hainan. Eaoh man, secured with a lifebelt ■nder his arm, sat firm to bis oars, as the boat, «ft«r miraculous esoapes from being overwhelmed by the rolling of tbe ship, got olesr and began her contest with the wavei, " At itit," iddi the narrative of the writer who watoned theezoitlog ueoe from the deok of the Holland, " we could ' wt» Use boat stem on to the wreck, and each man fn his turn jump Into ibe water to be hauled into the boat, wet and exhausted, the sea being muob too rou&h to admit of going alongside. When the last man was seen to jamp, a cheer broke itom the overcharged breasts of the ap*otatorC| and ihe work was abandoned." Such Is the simple, touching etory.