WRECK OF THE MAORI.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 610, 13 September 1909, Page 8

WRECK OF THE MAORI.

STtRRINC STORY. ' ENGINEERS NOT CALLED FROM ' J BELOW. : ; (By Telegraph,—Special Correspondent-) - .Napier,'Sflptcmbor 12, ' Tl ] 6 "Daily Telegraph" publishes a , graphio ilotter, from a Napior boy, Mr. Fred ~ .Howler, who wasono.of tho survivorß of,tho Maori disaster ■on tho: South African coast on- August 4., Mr. Bowler, was one of the oh tho ill-fated vessel, and, wrifc- ■ l"g hoof Capo Town to hia father, - under i cato August 12, bo says: ' ■ 1 v -'jl know-how, anxious you and all at homo I ; will ,bo-to.'hoar.from-mo, and how I am got-1 / ting on after .tho terrible calamity. I havol lost everything I possessed, except a suit of I : pyjamas/ a cap,v and a pair of shoes. ' This i has been a great blow for me, and will talro a lot of making tip, but I have to be very . thankful indeed to be spared my life, 32 of : my shipmates: finding a watery grave, God sparing :but :21 of- iis : out of. 53. . It -was ; , torrible/and I qan hardly bear to write about J# 1 - I will;try,to give you an outline of wtiat I happened. i

"The Fjremen Cleared Out." left Table Bay,on my watch, 11.30 at • Bight, all. tho engineers being: below. At 12.15 the second, fifth, and myself came off watch,, leaving tho. third and : chief in : the engine-room;. Everything went weir-until o • ,12.40, and I had just, turned in for tho night .whon-r-orash I sho . had ■ struck something, • "Jumping out. of bed, and slipping on a / ' pair of slippers, I rnado for tho engiue, and . aS I was .telling the. chief sho was on the rocks, tho telegraph rang, - 'Full astern.' The ship began to bump frightfully, and ,^\V:-Ws^r-ibcgan : -t6.:-'p6ur;iiito;tho engine-room. lAfter somo very .heavy bumping and crash- . : mg, the order was given, 'lull ahead,' and :^-Vvho' ;: ®B|nes;'.wero--'reversed;:That- was ' the ;■: tast..order ■ weever got, -arid: the telegraph, ".now: at, the :bottom of.- tho sea,' stands 'Full ahead.' "'l'he hromen cloared out, and I took the .fires' to keep the steam up. and : the engines ; ~ 60\ng.': I shall never' forget ' those; minutes that I spent in tho stokenold by myself. The ship was rolling and bumping frightfully, the . water was rushing in, and shovels,' barrows, and coal wero flying; around ;,the stokehold. .

Found That the Officers Had Left. ' " "Wo must, havo been ' going -'full ahead' . for about 15 minute, and the water was ' r. just getting; into /the low firo ash. pits when , ,:Mr. Thomson, second freezer, camo down ..;■..."■to.jUs, saying: 'It.is no use you,fellows stayH'K down here.'.'; The captain, tho mates, arid' , ' tho boats havo gone, and tho ship is on tho roe'es.' ,; ;v .was.not : very'pleasant; news,. after tho way we had stuck to the engines, doing :; our' bosfc. Ofcourse, 'we were waiting for v the, order, ~'.Finished with engines,' which .we never. got. ■■■We now madq for the deck, but Thomson. and I went: back:-to ease the v>: safety valves and let tho steam: go-' '•" ~ Arriving on deck, wo fotfnd eight men ffl;/:';*md a boy/huddled up together. , These m6'n, with Thomson, had got into Boat No 3, but ■ '/, sho struck the. 1 ship's side sq heavily that they jumped out again. It was 'after, gett'ng: out of. this/ boat" that -Thomson noticed .:' the . engines w;bro -still;- going, /.and, running : down to- tho engineroom to stop them, ho ';•"-: found- 'us all there waiting • far tho next iy order.-■; "Wo tried to launch, another—tho last— hoat, but * -the steamer : was' settling down so .: fast that.-.wo /had/not. time, and as the' seas' , . Tvero breaking .oyer us, wo rushed for the , poop, or stern of the ship. < All Night on the Wavo-Lashcd Wreok. describe'that night. : : .Fourtfeh.' o r.U3-Btood';hntldled 'up together' : with. wmd,_scas, and ram beating on us; I .-:; : tho;.w6rst .off. 1 ;;: A.lot-of tho men.were. / Euily dressed, some had trousers •. and shoes, •. hut oil I had t was a suit of pyjamas and a :p;c-'pairi:of^slipMrs.'''.^".,:.;,J 1 : ■-, ft'il .-.'-.VOflo- man 'Uned.-.to S'.vim aslioro, but it : -..Tra3 , madness,- and., .tho - poor -- fellow , i was . dTowned.: ,'When day. broke wo.could'seo an- : - : otbei; mati clinging to.'tho .foremast, ..but' it' ''refifiim'vtoViget^-nsjPasviiie' breaking right over us'at "■■!■ There was-a quantrty of-cargo stowed on tthe poop, and some gunpowder and dvnamito. )V° broko opon some cases wllilo looking for :v ~ -food, ,bnfc,fcould not find- any;. found ;■ some .clothing,' however, rand Loxchanged iny' pyjamas: a' suit; of,clothes. • There were enough suits of clothes to go all round, so -WiWerp. able; to keep ourselves warm for the time being. "Four ships passed. ■ us■;during ; that day, . . ; also a tug which had been sent out to look although we waved and shouted they did not Eee us, so we had >to spend an- .. . other night on that WMk::-wth- the' seas' getting worse.; .: . ,V . 11 We had 110 food, a Jifctle water ... - by catching t-he ram. ,This mghfc-was worse : than tho previous one; in it £eemed a .. year instead .of/a night.-, /- ■ / : Seen by rjshermen—Man Dies on the Line. . - i, "When ...daylight . came. 'We .wore . seen 1 by ... three nshormou on..the,shore, and.on©.man : ... went,into Cape Town.withithe news.' We now got a ."thin , wire .. 'lead . Imp: .ready, - and,' v.::;;jhaking;a:sinker,with some nuts,!wo tried.to;,thr°w : thein.;. ,Two-' of the strongest v. '-' ..but -:co\dd-. iiotjthrow it half-way-. . , - After two failures, .1. managed to get it ,i • ® vor , a - W''-' (I thmL the fislpng I • used to- -. do ,on. tho Napier Beaoh years ago stood mo in good stead then, as J' threw'the lino as 1 ; wou d a fishing lino.) We then tied a ropo' * tho;.tain;line, and >tho.'fishermen pulled it ashore and made it fast. r p ° f the men got ashore safely on that by -putting, their leg: through a loop and' J, tMihselyes,along th'a'rtipe,/but.e4oh loop tt6line,'"and ,wheh' -, tho third, man went .he could/not get past theeofeops, and ,wo\had to watch the-poor . iellow.drown before our eyes.- He could not ' get_ to the shore or- back: to the ship and a ;: , big wave coming in carried him away. < ' (A Leap for Llfo, about this -time that the poor fellow on the mast jumped • into the water and : tned to /swira, and-then,.we stood helpless; . ' and watched him .drown,--thinking it would hp our turn at any^time. :Wo wore desperat?ly hungryj ..not having had any -food for two days and nights. . - ■'>. . ,' "The rocket apparatus:now-arnve<3. The :! iv'first .rpek^f,inissed, us;altogiether tlie second v : however, -foil right: across the ship. ' The ./..first' "fchiilg : they did ' while waiting • for. their-' ~0 large'lino .was to bottlo of brandy some;: biscuits.- .That .put new.-life into' * Us. x 'sent,.tho-basket or breeches ■.>: JWi 1 »nd. we o were pulled* aslioro' ono at'' a timo. It,was now dark,.and,the country^was "s/Jto7 ; WI^»! 80 wei'all- sat round big fires and waited.'until daylight before'-we : could make a . . mo?© for Capo Town." •