ON THE OLD S.S. DEVON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1844, 2 September 1913, Page 7

ON THE OLD S.S. DEVON.

IN TROOPSHIP DAYS. STRENUOUS DAYS & NIGHTS., Interesting rcminisccnces o'f tho Devon in war time, when she was commissioned as a troopship to transport New Zealand troops to South Africa in 1001, wero given by Mr. Cecil Palmer to a reporter last evening. Tho Devon, it may bo remembered, took tho North Island battalion of tho 9th Contingent to South Africa. After leaving Auck- ,, „ an .d passing the Three Kings, tho old l'odoral boat was called on to lift her forefoot to tho first wash of a storm which lasted three days, and ultimately rose to cyclono force. At tho timo tho trim of tho vessel was not exactly conducive to easy steaming under such circumstances. Slio was riding light, and she had about 700 horses arranged in tiers high up. She rolled alarmingly in tho storm, and, to make matters worse, each roll had a marked tendency to' throw tho whole of tho horses to one side of tho vessel. Tho steamer was six or soven days in making tho trip from Auckland "to Sydney, and lost no fewer than 35 horses during that short stago of the voyage. Out of tho 000 men comprising tho bat- ■ talion only two wero ablo to turn up to meals for three days. Though twelve years have gono by siuco then, Mr. Palmer'still has a-vivid' recollection of tho struggle with the maddened horses during tho night wlieu tho 'hurricane was at its full force. Horses wero thrown together, and legs broken, and they fought and kicked like tigers, while, to make the night more arduous (if anything more was needed),ono solid sea. after another swept on board! It was a night of unadulterated misery not unmixed with apprehension for everyone. At every roll it seemed as though tho whole of tho horses might fetch looso on bloc, like the Chinese coolies in Joseph Conrad's story "Typhoon," and thp two situations could hot have been very much different. The struggles of the animals which had been injured were pitiful, and many of thorn had to be shot.

That was the troopship's luck on the first stage of the trip, but misfortune, like soldiers, often marches iii battalions. Just-after tlio Devon cleared Sydney Heads, she had to put her head once more to an ugly rolling sea, and, that evening, just as the man at the wheel was .being relieved, the ship got momentarily in an unfavourable position with respect to the roll. That one 1110-. ment was enough to cause a cargo derrick 26 feet long and 15 inches in diameter to break loose from the guys, and at once it commenced swinging backwards and forwards like a giant flail, smashing both boats and rigging. To mako matters worse, the see-saw motion of the three tiers of horses began again, and as Mr. Palmer puts it "the roll of thewhole eoncerr* was simply dreadful." At the time the men had just completed two hours and a half work on "stables," and the cheery sound of the bugle had just announced i*io welcome call to tea —"Come to the cook-house door, boys I Dome to the cook-house door." There was, however, hardly a vestige of a cook-house to como to, for the swinging boom had caught it and smashed it, too. Seeing that the crew of tho ship wero too few to cope with the situation, volunteers wero called from the battalion to bear aiiand—five men from each troopdeck—and these went up with alacrity, tired and hungry as they were. Already some of the horses had been hurt by being violently thrown against the rail or tho sides of the boxes, hut tho volunteers quickly filled a number of sacks with straw, arid these were speedily placed in all likely positons to act as buffers for the slipping and Ditching horses: • The measure proved effective. , Meantime the heavy derrick was still swinging freo and smashing everything with which it camo in contact, and the problem of how to capture it while the ship was rolling so alarmingly seemed insoluble. At this stage, however, tlio old ship's bos'n, over 60 years of age, took iu tho position with true nautical instinct. His ran aloft till lie was right over tho derrick, and then, with a skill which a Mexican plainsman might havo envied, 110 deftly lassoed it rouiid its ijxtreme end. Ho was too clever to attempt to get it in hand at once, but by getting a steady purchase 011 his rope at tho right part of the swing, lie checked its motion until it could bo finally seized and guyed. Tlio storm left the Devon with only two' boats and several small rafts, to continue tho voyage with, and it was fully expected that the steamer would make this, dangerous deficiency good by shipping more boats at Melbourne; Tins, however, was not done. Mr. Palmer adds that, in addition to tho horses, tjio contingent took about 25 sheep-dogs with them, which were intendod to he used, for one purposo or another, 011 the veldt. Only five of them reached Africa. At the conclusion of tho voyage tlio officers of the contingent wore sufficiently with the swinl W'locs rendered by the officers of tho Devon in assisting to preserve the lives of the horses, and in other ways, that Major O'Brien, 011 behalf of the Now Zealand Government, paid over substantial bonuses to each.