STEAMER'S PLIGHT.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14978, 27 May 1914, Page 10

STEAMER'S PLIGHT.

MISUAP TO THE CAlßNfli||Ji|

SUFFERINGS OF THB'CReSJI^ boats. "; :- ; f HI

The following particulars of (jSs||§ aster to the steamer Cairnhill and® /experiences of tbo members ofef__s crew who went away in bo»t%N_l taken from the "Sydney graph." Members of the reached Sydney hist week. '■■'.'*£"#*£ The Cairnhill is a steamer long. «i .1981 tons gross. . Sho>|p built only two years ago. Nauru on March 27th for many, with a cargo of S4OO toni"p phosphates. Captain J. in charge, and for four days made good headway, running -'prlioSP ally along tho Equator, and steOftll for Anjer Point, Java, where to receive orders whether to voyage via Suez Canal or to take.S? longer but cheaper routo roundi&fe Cape of Good Hope. Then ''tfci%#sliaft broke, and, deprived of. th»W of her propeller, the Cairnhill lay K___l less. . -.-'■■ ~ J r~^. For nine days the engineers every expedient they could devise'%l repair the damage. Their offorfe futile, and the ship was drifting;«£_s ward about 15 miles a day. It Wlil finally decided to send boats to'tryso reach Rabaul. The captain hopedthis means to securehelp for the shu# and in any case to give the ereipp better chance of safety than they wo_af have by remaining on the dnJ£j_gC steamei. Three boats wero got ; rea&*| only the captain and four compan_i_ff staying behiud, «&i^p* IN' THE BOATS. . v£lf_| The ship's company whom there were li) Chinese awfelhe steamer was left on April a point about 150 miles north bf]_Mr. : ' Mecklenburg (New Ireland), tho «& location being Lat. Odeg. 31mml|j'Long. lo2deg. 47min. E. This Bppfc&s' right in the track of steamers traWs ling between Sydney and The chief mate (Mr Cullcden) vjrasvltti .charge of.one lifeboat, the".tbirn\n»it«4 (Mr John Walker) of the otherUu»?£ boat, and the boatswaiu.Olr-A.HohhM of a smajler open boat. Each lifeboatff oarried 14 men, and the small boat OM The Chinese, who were panic-stricken|-from the start, were "divided between! the boats. A lifeboat was left on Cairnhill. It was intended. thaKthet three boats should stick together, ; Jbui| on the night of April 11th, after bein£§ a day out, they were separated. ■N«t>l day a fearful storm.sprang up.- ' In the chief officer's boat two] I bajj-Si rels of water sprang a;leak and-hecfoari mixed with brine, leaving only-oiwil cask fresh enough to drink. -.-Every-ls thing got soaked .with salt'-~wata£«ißj| cept the tinued meat. The Chm«e/V frenzied .with fear,*had to be-kepWfni the _ bottom of the boat lest invtDßTll pnnio they might do some white men struggled; on at the end of two days, when the'awrJif subsided, they were weak and-eacKanig| ted. Thoy were on short rafionsTfcfjf a couplo more days, when, they Seeah, in New .Mecklehbttrg.* were given somo robtSs r and ; cocbttotai! by 'the • natives. They, sailed -30 mflesf to another village, and then;'s glided! ' by *a black boy, walked' auothervßo| miles to Clarissa, where/thcyfi|rfr*dl oii the' point of exhaustion.. 7 Wade this.last Stage of: the v cutter belonging to a-Chinese trad|r|| 'From miles,'.- and thtr -mate mado' -attempts to get' across in tho'cuttMl but faiicd. and" oveiitually did tho'trijg in a motor boat. .-" • / ■;.;,.., '■ ' : ;.^'£'ip^ - MF^T:ONTHE^ ; ■•:.-'. " : '• , ; WATERS;-'*:'-'§||if|| The bo'suh and hiff party-had worse time. In-their little;'boaeJ!fiK_; "white men wero baling throughout,theg:; storm, keeping an oar -readyialltft&fl while to smash, the skull who became too troublesome.": found the only way, to get 'sti tisfact|on-| out of . the weather,, wae- to bi>erf*:tßi r | tins of meat and throw thefattyleonll tents on the waters This acted like |d» and' in "the opinion of .'the: bb'stin' it !iw»| the only thine thia kept them aflotfifpfe; "But -when tho, storm had nothing left .to eat- but tt :6lfeii| of beef. They managed to HvO onVitl for the, next five days,7 and *t;;tlie;««| of a "ireek** from ; the time they steamer they" crawled ashore bnNwMlßj Island. Tliey stopped them for , thM|| days, waitin-r "for a favourable -jrind:lw| carry them" to New Mecklenbiii-g;: .Thfi; Swedish settlor on the island gave what "food: he could snare, but he wife short himself, so on the fourth day. n«| wind having 'sprung up. Vthey *act <ra%' to-row to New Mecklenbnrrn; 1 •"' Tn»| task "occupied four days, the -sea as calm as a millnond all tbe reached a native, village,- where the/ial? habitants, who had been' tangbt v!« value of. money, charged . them for cocWmts. and five marks iaJKJtfcJ is 3d) for a small bosuns -party sauandered £3, :5s the got very Uttle.fowte They spent the next five days coajttaag round to Clarissa, where taeyrjonTo*! 'the chief mate's >irty. -""';'.- ■'"^■^lc'^S

a week wrraouT;sLEEj^||^ The third officer, and h» mcn f eight sleepless days and nights' irijwwp boat. They were wet tbrmigfcffljpl of the time, and the terrified 1 had to be watched incessantly: of their bread and biecaiis were.w»ss%f away, and they landed lean.-.'. gry. at Papiro, NewMecklenbnr&lkpi They had some "tobacco left, and|tt|¥ natives eagerly traded cocoanntsJfotgl On .this slender, diet they miles to Labor, crossing a- mTOntWfc! 2000 ft high, and .there they fell &mm a Chineso trader who owned boats. In these they were Mioko Island, whefo a largeJ .PJjS&d party from Rabaul was day. The picnickers took Rabaul. Here they were joined VsSm chief mate and the bosuns crew»-|IM| all came from Clarissa in a motor, .&*eo: [No advice has yet been th© Cairnhill having been picked .njtp