Fatality at Sea

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 274, 26 May 1897, Page 2

Fatality at Sea-

An accident involving the 1033 of one lite and imperilling several others, hap. pened during the voyage of the Danish barque Thor, which arrived at Melbourne on May 2nd with a shipment of sugar from Mauritius. On the lltb of April, before daybreak, the vessel was sailing along in a very high sea, when the cry of " Man overboard," was raised, as Peter Dnysen, the chief mate, was seen to fall of! the jibboom and seen to disappear in the sea. With all possible haste a boat, containing the second mate end four sailors, was launched, and a gallant but unsuccessful attempt was made to rescue the mate. The morning being pitch dark the efforts of the boat's party were rendered exceedingly difficult, and as their boat was filled with seas which broke over her, they had a hard task in bailing out the water and keeping her nfioat. Meanwhile they had got a considerable distance from the barque, and as all hopes of rescuing the mate were abandoned, a hard and prolonged battle was commenced to regain the ship. The whereabouts of the latter were disclosed to the would-be rescuers from time to time by « display of blue lights, and in the direction of these beacous tlio little boat was propelled by her occupants against terrible odds. Twice she was filled with water, aud it was nt length only after four hours hard pulling that they succeeded 111 reaching the barque, in a terribly exhausted state. The lost mate is the only son of Captain Duysen, who is in charge of the barque, and was 27 years old.