THE SHIPWRECK.

Gisborne Times, Volume VIII, Issue 572, 17 November 1902, Page 2

THE SHIPWRECK.

tSUi'ViuiRS TAKEN TO TUB HOSPITAL.

(l er i * css Association.» AUCKLAND, last night. T!:.' -.iit'ViVi'is from the Uimganiite rail were taken u> the IHspiu'l yesMUKK JNTKKK.'iTINU DI.TAIL.S. TJIK TERRI HI.I: ON Till.' HAFT. FRUiT FI.O ATI N’ti ALL AROUND. BUT NOT PKOCURABLL. AN OPINION AS TO WANT OF KKLIOION. I’er Press Associaii m. Auckland. last night. AN A.lP's NARRATIVE,

’lhcodui'e F. Danielson, the only A.B. who was oh the raft When she drifted away from the ship and from the islands, said ‘■Of tonr.se there are many things 1 cannot recall at once, and my memory is a trine hazy, hut as far as i can remember 1 will -Tell you what 1 call.

1 was below when the vessel struck, and the first intimation 1 with others below had was hearing the look-yut man cry out, “ All hands uu deck !”

We rushed up on deck, and while doing so, .1 heard a fearful crash Irelow, which told us at mice that the ship was gone. I rushed to the boats and helped .to launch two, and to put the women and children aboard. X then helped ,o launch the .two rails, getting aboard the second. There were nineteen on hoard that raft, but a boat came aUngsidc jafid look three oil, leaving sixteen.

We were then terribly overcrowded, and our raft was very low in the water, The weather was very foggy, and we could see but a very short "distance f aun us. We tried to make the land, but could not do so.

We had one sweep, one scull, and only one rowlock,. hut we made another out or the life-line surrounding the rail. Several times wc saw the slarnl and endeavored to reach it, hut our

raft was too unwieldy, and would not steer, nor were the oars sufficient to propel her in any direction. Through that night we vainly tried to make land, and next morning we tried to get tip to land or to the other boats, but with no success. We sighted Cape Maria Van 1) emen light away to the southward, and tried to make it, hut the tide changed, and swept us jn a contrary direction, F inding that our efforts at making headway with the raft against the currents and the tides were useless, wc dropped a sea anchor, a hag attached to a rope, over-board, and Jet the raft drift.

We had no food on board, with the exception of two apples which l\lr A.

11. Wether it t had in his pocket, amt there was not a drop af fresh water aboard. There was a fair-sized breaker aboard, but it did not contain a single drop. During Monday night we sighted a

steamer, and we thought that she had observed us, for she stopped. Some of us thought that site put clown a boat which carne towards us, hut I did not see the boat. The steamer then got under way again, and passed out of sight. Wc were then so terribly overloaded

that there was not sufficient room for

us to tie down, and our weight Was too much for it—sufficient to sink the deck of the raft below-the surface of tlie water, so that we were wet the whole Lime. Added to this the sea was very rough, and we were deluged with seas which swept over the raft. On Tuesday we took to the oars again and tried to make for the North Capo steering by the sun. TJie efforts were, of no avail, however, and as soon as the tide changed we drifted away in the opposite direction to that in which we were found. That day wc suffered terribly from thirst. We had not no-. Licet! it so ninth on Monday, ad the weather was foggy, and the day cool, while our clothes being moist kept us from feeling thirsty to the extent that wc did on Tuesday, That day the sun shone brightly,"and it was very hot.

During the evening we lost, the first of our band, Mr Dickson, a passenger, dying from exhaustion. A little later one of Hie men jumped overboard, and though we threw him a life-belt lie refused to take it, and sank out of sight in a few minutes.-

When the morning broke two more Jay dead beside Dickson, whose body we had kept aboard, in the hope of licing picked up, or of making land. However, in the morning wc were obliged to bury him along with the other, two,- whose bodies were gently pushed overboard.-

With four out of sixteen gone, Hie raft lightened up, and when Hie others went her deck rose out of flic water, and ’he sea calming down, we kep;t a little drier,- and were Jess uncomfortable.; On Wednesday we suffered terribly. Tiie last apple had lieen equally divided, but tiic portion of each was so

small that it was of little use, though UV were devoutly .thankful to obtain even .so tuMc* During the afleulCCl) Miother man went mad and jumped overboil!'.! r and at night still another slipped over the side and passed front sight, singing; .Wo suffered terribly through the night, and before morning, Ellis, the second saloon steward, had died from exhaustion. In the morning early Mrs McGuirk, the lorecabin stewardess, al-

so passed away, dying quietly from exhaustion. She was greatly depressed and despondent for -some time before death. It is a marvel to me that these two managed to hold on to life so long, as they were so terribly thin ami emaciated.

That afternoon, at about 3 o'clock, we sighted a steamer. We had then been carried away to tiie North-east of the Three Kings and had almost given up hope of being saved alive. tight of the steamer, however, gave us renewed hope, and I got up and improvised a Hag out of a shirt tied on to an oar, which I held upright to the raft.

t\e saw the steamer coming towards us. and Ml sure that we had been sighted. .Soon she came up close to us. A boat was lowered, and came to take us oil. The ship’s doctor was in that baat, and he had water, hot bovril, and brandy ready for us, giving each a small portion. We were then taken

aboard the steamer, and were treated splendidly by all on board. The doctor (this with the earnestness of conviction) is a thorough gentleman. ,So are they all—everyone aboard. They treated us with the greatest possible kindness, and supplied our every want. Jr. reply to a question as to the behavior of ti.e men on the raft, Mr Danielson said : As i a t J s:.w thev all behaved really well. Oi • course some of them did peculiar things when their .sufferings drove them mad ; hut 1 can only say that I never saw anything wrong.

AIR ROBIN'SON'S STORY, Mr Arthur Robinson. n passenger, i:. the Hospital, was a!','.'; interviewed. He said : I came from New South iVaie: wit!> Jordan, who is my mate. I We booked tot Lyttelton, and intended to go up country. When I woke up o:i the Sdnday morning it was very foggy. I went on deck, and found that Captain Attwood. who was the true hero of the whole affair, had used every precaution. No blame can be attached to him in any shape or form. He was on the bridge the whole time, and naa a man on the look-out and another on the forecastle", put it was I impossible for anybody to see ten yards in front of him. I think that it was about eleven o'clock that I went to have a lie down, when I heard shouting and as I thought hurrahs. People in the cabin imagined that we" had sighted land. At the moment nobody, so far as i could see, realised that there any danger. I went up on deck,- and ks soon as I could make out rocks through the log.

1 remarked to my mate .toni.ia that iv. was all up a:.d lie a creed with sue. After .'talma: how lie got <>u to the rail. .Mr Hobim-wi proceeded : There were mneUen oil ihe t.m. We had two oats, but only one rowlock. We wore immersed m the water, the ia!t leu.h much too heavily lade::, and it was haul work to do any tinny. About half an hour later we came ""S another raft, and asked them ‘eke two or three off out raft >! » i rk ten it. Mrs Meliuirk, the stewaiu. r ; l.eah'd to them to take her off. and the men oil our raft supported her appeal, Knowing that we were in a terrible condition owing to being half immersed m water. i'lie other raft did not come close enough just then, but

soon after it came up pretty close, and three of our munl.er .lumped off, ■swam to the oilier raft, and were pulled on board. We had a keg on hoard which would have held about thirty gallons of water. Unfortunately it was empty, and the only use we got from it was to give it to the stewardess to sit upon. It kept her dry. Alter a time, however, the rail being very deep in the water, and weight being a great consideration, it was decided to dispense with the keg and we threw it operboard.

Much lias been sain about our suffering front thirst anil hunger, hut. I can honestly say that I did not feel in the least thirsty or hungry for the lirst two days. ’ I attribute that to being continuously saturated with salt water.

A terrible thing connected with our voyage on the raft Was that tons of wreckage were strewn over ten acres or more of sea, including cases of oi'an'ges, apples and such things, and we could not get any of them, as we were unable to guide the raft in any direction. We could only pull, and whc'n we got into stronger currents we could not even do that.

Two apples were picked tip, and cat'll divided into sixteen parts, on different days. t don’t want to s rt y much about that (continued Mr Robinson), liecausc (looking tip with a smile) what is the sixteenth of a small gpple '! Anyhow, I wish 1 had not had my share, because a piece of it, stuck in my teeth, and Llie wretched tiling tormented me. 1 think there is no doubt that some of those'who jumped overboard did so through fear and the want of religion. After we lost sight of the steamer that we thought was going to i pick us up, one turned to the other on the raft, and said, “Where is your God now?” tiffs licing a reference to prayers that had been offered up earlier in the voyage; This was said by one of those who afterwards gave way to despair and jumped overboard. For nit' part l never doubted our ultimate salvation until the morning of the last day. That morning 1 took turn with Ihe others at, the oars.

These were then only four or live of us capable of doing anything at all. Mr Robinson closed the interview by giving grcgt credit to Mr Wetliciilt ; to Mr Danielson, tne quartermaster of the Eliugamitc, who, he said, was a. very brave fellow, and also to Mr Tom Malliu, lireman■ Mi those, lie said, did great service in helping to keep the raft afloat.

CHIEF OFFICER’S EXPERIENCE

| Special to Times. | Tlio chief ollicer, Mr Burkitt, says : “ Good sights were got the day before the wreck. Sunday morning broke with a thick fog, and the steamer's speed was reduced to dead slow, 1 Thick as a ditch,’ " was tho chief officer's description of the morning. They couldn’t see more than o few yards in front of them. When the crash came ho could see a great cliff sheci up in front of tho ship, which had run or to a sort of ledge, with tho rocks clear through her bottom. The stoamcr canted over on one side, and gradually settled down. Then came the launching of the boats. There was no rushing them, hill the wreck occurred with such terrible suddenness that vory soon tho ship’s people wero swimming for their lives. Boat after boat got away somehow, but when the boat into which he afterwards got came to he launched it was found that the falls had been cut by some excited man in his unthinking flurry. The consequence was that tho boat could not ho lowered ; but this, said the officer, was tho best thing that could have happened, for the steamer took such a list that the boat boated out. She was then gradually filled by twos and threes. While this was going on the ship was rapidly going to pieces, and wreckage was boating all round, many of the pieces of wrockage supporting passougers and sailors. The rafts were cut adrift, and Mr Burkitt saw two of theso boating away with a number of persons on them. The chief officer himself had a narrow escape. Ho was thrown or washed out of the flying bridge, the 100 end of which had become submerged, so groat was tbe hapless ship's list. When he was washed from tho bridge he saw Captain Attwood and tho second officer clinging to the funnel-guys, Wreckage was at this time boating all round, some of tho larger masses and pieces endangering the boats. Bags of mails, too, were boating about, having been released from the mail-room by the bursting up of tho decks through the great air pressure below caused by the in llow of water. Mr Burkitt’s open boat voyage to Hohoura was one that will never be forgotten by him or the 52 passengers and erew who filled the boat almost to sinking. Thero was no compass in the boat, and it was not till somo time on Sunday night that Mr Burkitt caught a glimpse of tho Southern Cross through the fog and clouds, and thereby got an idea of his whereabouts. He set sail eastwards, and then southwards, and both by good fortune and good management landed his

I pcopio saici.y. The night was terribly cold and trying to the boat’s people iu their half-clad , condition, but frequent “nips” all round of , schnapps cheered the hearts of all, and probably saved a life or two. Most of the people were fully clothed when the vessel struck, but many of them ■ threw off their coats, boots, etc., in order to have a better chance in the struggle for life. The stewardesses also got as many women as they could to take oE their skirts . and other superfluous clothing. ME WETIIERILT’S NARRATIVE. The narrativo of Mr 11. Wethcrilt, Government inspector of machinery, as related to his son, Mr Thomas Wethcrilt, though naturally of a disconnected nature, owing to the elder gentlemau’s condition, revealed the shocking tribulations which the party on the raft endured. Mr Thomas 'Wethcrilt supplied details of his father’s narrative as far as he was able to do so. It appears that on finding themselves adrift on the raft the sixteen shiDwrecked nennle. knnwinrr MV TT (

Wetherilt to be a seafaring man, appointe( him skipper of their craft. Several time: the shipwrecked people were going to giv< up, but their skipper kept encouraging them. The stewardess, who had acted with conspicuous courage and unselfish ness all through, bore up marvellously or. the raft, the endurance she displayed [ being described by Mr Wetherilt as simply wonderful. She was sitting beside him all the time until she' died. Those on the raft suffered the acutest agony from the scorching heat of the bud and its Haro upon the water. Their thirst caused Their tongues to protrude like pieces of leather When the raft would take a dip, as happened constantly, they were drenched, and it was Jfrific when the sea was running. the occupants 01 tho raft being sucked, under tho water. They kept imagining they could see things, even at times having tho illusion that they could see green trees. This was due to “the terrible strain on their eyes. Every now and again, they were pulling, in the" hopes of reaching land, and the oars were greatly j worn in the rowlocks by their desperate efforts. One oar was broken, but they j managed to recover the blade, and lashed j it to the handle, afterwards using it in i that crippled condition. To add to the horror of the situation—starvation and thirst, and the blistering heat of the daytime, conditions calculated to drive men to j distraction and despair— the waters through which the raft drifted was in- , Tested with sharks. It was with almost sn j 'agony of joy that the castaways at last I 1 saw the Penguin coming to their rescue, J and w-ith frosh hope aud energy that they J 1 s

| hoisted on the our a white shirt, in ordor | :o ensuue attracting their rescuers’ attention. Right to the hitter end Mr Wetherilt I war providentially enabled to retain a I gnat portion of his bodily strength and | mental faculties. Otherwise it is doubtful | whether tiic party would have existed until the warship picked them up. THANK GOD! IIURRV UP. One of the crew of the Penguin states 1 that when the warship's boat pul off to . , ’ aft an old man was seen standing up | and ; 1 lidg aloft a handkerchief on a I phiuk. Tin. man cried out as they enme, j "'id,ark God ! Uutry up 1 ” The others were kneeling or sUi.hig down. On the boat going alongside the crew gave the castaways sou;-' water, which was drum with feverish uvini'y. They wore th n taken aboard tho Penguin, where Iff-. A Lean had them comfortably ensconced on the quarter deck. Later on they wei'C taken into an impromptu hospital, and wrapped in lhumel. They soon slept. The ship's company was up oil the fo’eastlo during the whole time of tho Penguin’s search, and every man aboard was filled with eagerness to find the castaways, and gratified at doing so. A SURVIVOR’S NARRATIVE. One of the best and most connected narratives of tho wreck is that told by Mr Hal. C. Ilenkinson. Ho left Sydney for Auckland by tho Elingamito under engagement to the Auckland Electric Tramways Company, in company with eleven other export electric ear-drivers, in order to instruct the Auckland trßiudrivers in connection with the new trams, He was accompanied by his wife and two young children. One of the little ones was taken off' in another boat, and was amongst the people tho Zcalandia landed here. Tho parents were naturally in groat suspense until they heard that tho missing child was safe in Auckland. Mr and Mrs ilenkinson intend to inako their homo in Auckland, but all their furniture and household goods (including Mrs Ilonkiuson’s wedding presents) went down in tho Elingamito. Mr Heukiuson, in answer to questions, said

“ At the time tho steamer struck I was -> lying on a hatchway on tho deck, with a rug under me, reading a book. Just before this wo had noticed that tho captain on the bridge seemed somewhat anxious, peering with his binoculars round about him. It was a thick fog that morning, but it suddenly seemed to lift, and it was then that wo saw the rocks. My wife ran down tho ladder from the poop deck and exclaimed, “ Look how close wo are to tho rocks 1” I looked up, and it was just rb if a curtain had gone up on somo transformation scone. Tho mist had lifted before us just enough to show AN- IMMENSE ROCK towering up over our heads. It was just after this that we folt a bump, und we recognised that it was a caso of shipwreck, I gathered my two children up in my arms, and got my wife with me and ran up on tho poop-deck. Soon after I saw tho men trying to lower No. 1 boat. It was swayed out from the davits, and was swinging to and fro violently with tho seas that were humping us about on tho rocks. There was a big swell, and the steamer had taken a big list outward Irom the rooks. I put one of my children (tho two-year old boy in tho No. 1 boat, but before there was time to get my wife and tho other child in the bout was launched and away.

“ Then a big sea enmo on board and swept us across tho deck to tho other rail. My wife fell against tiro rail and I fell on top of her. Close by was another boat being lowered, between us and tho rocks. Together with some others I got my wifo down into the boat, with another ludy pas. senger, Miss Hugo. “ Then 1 climbed down ovor tho gunwale with my little girl, and was leaning outwards, handing the child down to thoso in the boat below, when a sudden lurch of tho ship caused mo to lose my hold and I foil headlong into tho boat. Somehow or other, I was tiblo to turn as I fell, so that I came down under tho child. I got hold of a biscuit-tin and tried to bail the boat out, as thcro wus a good deal of water in her; but before I could do much, tho seas eaino over us and swampod tho boat, and wo woro ALL IN THE WATER AGAIN, “ I S ot my hßio girl in my arms again, and tried to strike out for somo wreckage. Someono must havo climbed on my shoulders in tho water, for I sank. When 1 canto up again, still with my child in my arms, I noticed my wifo bcir.g drawn up by a Mr Passey, who put bor hand in mine. Then wo swam and struggled on, and at last got on to a big balo lloating, containing apparently kapok or something of tho sort. Noticing a big beam or heavy plank coming towards us on the seas, with one end out of the water, I had to sink to avoid it striking the child. When I oarno up again, I noticed the balo a few yards off, and I swam to it and hung on. My wifo and child and I were about half-an-hour in tho water beforo wo were picked up. Wo saw No. 2 boat coming towards us. I got my wifo, swam with her to the boat, and got her hand on tho blado of an oar, by which moans sho was drawn into the boat. She was just about done. I clung on to tho boat’s life-line, where the child was taken from mo and stowed on boatd safely, and then I got in. THE MISSING BOAT.

After the steamer To Anau loft Auckland on Saturday, the warship Ponguin was sighted oil tho Barrier Islands, and was apparently engaged searching gmong tho islands for the missing boat from the Elingamitc. Up to an early hour this morning, nothing had been heard in Auckland as to the result of tho search. It is deemed unlikely in shipping circles that tho boat will bo found so far setath. In conversation with a Times representative yesterday, Captain Bernccb, of the Te Anau, stated that he did not think it likely that the boat would come bo far south without making tho land. He stated that the weather in tho Bay of Plenty was hazy, and there was little prospect, even if the boat were in the vicinity, of tho Mararoa picking it up. The missing boat from the ill-fatol steamer is in charge of the third mate, and is said to have a certain amount of provisions on board, including a tin of biscuits arid a quantity of water. With regard to tho idea that tho bottom boards of the boat, seen by the warship Penguin and other vessels, may be those of the missing boat of the Elingamitc, it may be stated that no Ices than throe bouts from the ill-fated steamer were broken up in the vicinity of tho Three Kings. LIFE SAVING APPARATUS. In view of the great interest centering n the Elingamite's raft, a number of per>ons on Saturday and yesterday, inipected the life-saving apparatus carried >y the Union steamers. The rafts of the

Te Anau are licensed to carry twentytwo persons, and are provisioned with a keg of water and a can of oil. There are fixed rollocks on each sido of the raft, so that if the latter turns over in the water,

passengers can soon get to work again with the oars. ONE OF THE SURVIVORS. Mr Paterston, one of the servivors from the Elingamitc, was a passenger by the Te Anau yesterday. lie was one of the number who landed at Hohoura in the „ first boat, in conversation with a Turns reporter, he gave an account of the disaster, similar to that supplied to the Auckland press representatives, and which had already been telegraphed.