THE MAORI BADLY BUFFETED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1155, 16 June 1911, Page 4

THE MAORI BADLY BUFFETED.

HUGE SEA PLAYS HAVOC. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.! Christchurch, Juno 15. After nearly thirteen hours ot battling against a Hard toutnerly giuc anil heavy head seas, tn« luruine ltrry t-teamer .\iuori arrived at Lytu'Uon at iS.oU a.m. lu-uay. the pat-age in its earner was one of I he. woi.-t tnal the -Maori lias nail (luring Her caretr ol three and a hail years in Uie terry service. \ui?n she iaiiio alongside. i.ylt-?ltou Whan tins morning sue bore marks of the • violence of tlie Vi-as that hail swept ov«r her in Cook .Siiait, and must "1 Her passenger.-, were evidently w.vll pk'uwd lo reach their journey's end. Captain 13. -M. A 1(1 well informed a reporter that tho gale had been about (ho worst he had experienced since lie had been in the terry service. The violence or the squalls in Cook Strait had l:ten phenomenal. Tho -Maori left Wellington Wharf at S o'clock last night, and when she neared the heads all the passengers disappeared below. It was evident that there was going to be a dirty night outside. There was a hard gale blowing, and a high sea running, when llw Maori cleared Pencarrow Heads, and started to tight lisr way across Cook Strait. Fierce squalls frequently swept the vessel, and green seas crashed over her bows as she strained into the teeth of the gale. At S.SO p.m. the Maori ran. into a terrific squall, and a huge sea crashed over her bow, sweeping across the forecastle head and playing havoc, 'i'he iron flag-staff on the bow was bent, and the bed-plate of the reel on which the wire hawsers are wound was torn from its fastenings in the deck. The tons of green water crashed against the forward end of tho steel deck structures, smashing the shutters and the thick plate-glass of the square ports of tho social hall on the promenade deck, and flooded the room. The timber facing the rail on tho forward end of the promenade deck and even on the bridge deck, which is thirty feet or more above the water-line, was also smashed in a number of places. Tho forward end of the vessel showed plain signs of the violence of tho sea. The vessel was being driven into the gale, and was behaving well, although she was extremely lively, but in view of the damage wrought by the sea Captain Aldwell decided to slow the Maori down, and for some hours sh? was steaming dead slow against the seas. Frequent heavy squalls swept over her, but by 1 o'clock this morning the weather had moderated considerably, and the Maori was being driven at full speed .onco more. She made good time, and, as she neared I.yttelton. tho gale and the s=a cased off considerablv. and she arrived in port at 5.50 a.m., after a boisterous trip of nearly 13 hours