TERRIBLE TIE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1357, 7 February 1912, Page 6

TERRIBLE TIE.

IN A HURRICANE. DISMASTED BOAT AT AUCKLAND. :. BULWARKS GONE. : DECK TIMBER SWEPT AWAY. • ffir Tolozraph.— Swcial CorreSDOndent.l Auckland, February C. .- Tho. Norwegian steamer Hornelen, ■which arrived in a battered condition to-day, struck the full force of the recent hurricane reported from Fiji. A funnel .Salted white, u wrecked bridge, and a damaged deckhouse were practically all that she . showed nbovo the shecrlinc V%njshe paddled .into Port, n'iitl dropped lier anchor oIV tho Calliope. Dock. She inado an odd contrast to the usual appearance of tho foreign-owned lumber carriers which come to these parts from J'uget Sound. . . - She was buried half-way up to thu cross-trees under a towering deck-load of Oregon, and looked like a floating lower of Babul. A slim scantling stayed up oil the few planks left on the'forehateli, and. a makeshift gallows-looking arrangement lashed to the funnel-ladder, made apologies for absent masts, , and served to carry the two head-lights required by the Board of Trade. .Fathoms of the bulwarks, rusted red, hung from the starboard side, fore and aft, iiko gaping wounds in the side ut' some leviathan. Tho smipped-off rivet lines showed edges like the perforations of a stamp, curled and twisted as though it were tmioil instead oi steel plates nearly an inch thick. The after-wheel and box were in splinters, and shuttered stumps were all that couid bo seen where there should have been steel masts. Stanchions were wrenched off, boats shattered, cabin doors innocent of panels, and reduced to frames, only nailed squares of canvas covering the side ports, whore tlio glass had been blown iu, wrenched steam-pipes gone at.tho joints spurting out clouds when tho steam was turned on to get up the anchor, temporary life-lines riggod fore and aft, and tho solid iron stanchions and railing swept off like pipoftPins. A more, forlorn and desolate ship it would bo difficult to pictnre, and one marvelled that she canio through it afloat. .

A yonng giant, whose high brow and strong face betoken intellectuality and IMirposefulncss, such is C'aptnin NVilson, tiie 'mnn who brought his battered ship through a gale which was the worst in his experience, and through which the new with one accord say they v had no thought of coming out of alive. Small wonder is it that every man on the Hornelen looks upon its skipper as a hero, yet the man himself had but little to say of the actual occurrence, when men by a reporter this morning. 'There is not much to tell," he said. "We left Oregon on January G, and had (me weather right down to Janmiry 29. Then the barometer .Ml, and a heavy north-west swell set in, though there was no wind. It was on tho following morning, a week ago to-day, that tho storm began. 'Wo were in latitude 172 west, and, with the break of day, came the gale from the north-east. Hour by hour its violence, increased, until it reached tho velocity of a hurricane On the main deck there was a million feet of timber jiiled almost as high as the boat decks, and, as the wind increased and as the seas became more mountainous, anxious ?,ves were cast at the lashings and staging which held the deck cargo in position. At noon the crisis came—tho huge pile showed signs of shifting, and soon after tho foremast went, taking with it the boom, the rigging, and thousands of feet of deck cargo. "At 'i o'clock the aftorraast also went with Ji crash, smashing tho lifeboats beyond all possibility of usefulness as it went. With the after-inast went thousands more feet of laiuber, us well as all the rigging. Tho sea was now running mountains high, and to attempt to cut away the wreckage was an utter impossibility, since the spray nlone was so thick that it was impossible to see further than the fo'c'slc from the bridge. "There was the danger of, the rigging fouling the propeller, and tho steering gear had also fouled in the last crasii, so that there was nothing for it but to stop the engines and lie there helpless iu the grip of the storm. Just to what extent the vessel had been damaged by Urn tearing out of the masts remained to be seen, and, for a time, we waited in suspense. Meanwhile tho lumber continued to go overboard in huge quantities until tho sea around was a floating mass oi , wreckage. The iron bulwarks were smashed like cardboard under the weight of the great flitches which went crashing overboard,.and ironwork was twisted into etraiige shapes. "For ten or twelve hours the ship was at the mercy of the storm, but then came an abatement, and the men worked heroically to clear the wreckage and make last what remained of the million feet of deck cargo. It was a big task under the circumstance?, but, ultimately, the Miip was got under way again, anil, battered and scarred, completed the journey to Auckland. ..The-timber lost in the gale amounted to -100,000 feet altogether "It was a terrible gale," added Captain Aeilseu, and quite tho worst in my experience. When the- masts, boats, and deck cargo went it seemed as if the vessel would never weather the storm, and I do not_ think one of us expected to come through alive. The remarkable thing is time, ..while everything above deck was more or less- damaged, no member of the crew was hurt, and," he concluded with a laugh;- _ our only losses of- live stock* a pig and twelve cliickens"

S.S. CROYDON'S ORDEAL,

THE HUIiIiICANE AT TONGA.

IBs Telccraoh.-Pro93' Association.)

. Auckland, Mihiarv G. Ihe hurricane reported by cablegram from i-iji had apparently « W ;ile J wo large steamers which arrived to-tlav were caught in tho tempest, tho overdue Croydon being in Nukualofa Harbour during the height of the .storm, and the Hornelen getting its full furv at sea. The Croydon lost a. quantity of her deck cargo oi timber, but otherwise escaped Uninjured. '

.., Tf .'» e news brought by the Croydon that hait tho town of Nukualofa was destroyed by the hurricane will cau'e some uneasiness as to the etiret of the storm upon the whole or Tonga. Tlia nuivs is very mea;re, and needs confirmation, and an the meantime it may be assumed that tho damage at Nukualofa is possibly nat bo bud as the vague reports to 'hand would appear to indicate.

The. Croydon left Vancouver on December 22, and for the safety of which a good deal of anxiety has been felt, arrived in port this morning, looking .'t good deal battered about. The Croyrfoji's chief officer furnished a reporter this morning with a comprehensive, and interesting account oi' an adventurous voyage.

The Croydon discharged a quantity of general cargo and a largo shipment of lumber at Vavau, and left on January 2(1 for Nukualofa, where she arrived on (he 27th, passing through tlie Iberia Channel, and making fast alongside, the whim. Discharging wk completed late in the aftenioon of the 28lh, so that tlie pilot took the vpsscl to an anchor off Pangamotto Island, and as the barometer ■was falling fust both anchors were let go. At 8 n.m. Hie barometer vrnt rlovii to 20.37, the wind blew hard from E.S.K, with shvrair squalls and heavy rain. During the night the wind and sea. increased in force, the wind and rain squalls bpiiw; most severe. The vessel was shearing wildly, and the land, although close to, enuld not b? seen in the nitchy blackness, so that it was impossible to ascertain if tlie vessel was dragging. Towards S p.m. on (he Mondnv the. gale increased to n. hurricane, the barometer "br-iiUT at 28.* S. The wind ' hauled to Fsouthcrly and shifted ~o S.W.. blowing with renewed force ami rniisin , / a high f»-3. in the harbour. The snun.lls werf furious and were necempnni?d by heavy mill. At 10 p.m. fhe br.TPmefer began to rise rapidly, and at. midnight it stood at 25.82 inches. At 8 a.m. on Jan nan- 3(1 the wind had moderated considerably, and the weather was clear, -o the pilnt signal was hoisted, but there was no anon shipboard temporarily free from the strenuous esoitomoiit of their mrn affairs then had time to observe that the

shore signal-staff was blown ilown, nntl that all thu motor-lauuche-s aml boats had been driven high mid dry on Hid beach. About JO p.m. the pilot came oft in a rowing boat, tlio only craft that wim available and seaworthy. He informed tlio Croyilim's crew that lliu hurricane had caused enorinous damage on shore; liacl blown down half tlio houses, and had'driven all the boats ashore. The Cioydon, however, seized tlio oii|Hirtunity which olieivd lo got onl, and finally cleared the harbour at 1 p.m. The only information Mic brings of that fearful night is tliat «lui alont-. apparently, of all the odd croft afloat in Nukualofa, weathered the hurricane, and that tlio only shore man with whom they hud any, communication reported that half the town was blown down. Though wearing a battered appearance, the Croydon htfci come through (he rough experience exceptionally well. Though she lost a great deal of deck cargo, she had a picnic cruise compared with the Jlornelen. It was the Croydon's good fortune that she should have- been at anchor in Nukualofa Harbour during the lierco hurricane which had the "Hornelen at its mercy outside.