THE WAY OF THE CASE

Grey River Argus, 10 April 1911, Page 2

THE WAY OF THE CASE

Some of ythe experiences recalled by (Australian seamen when the news of the Yongala 3 s fate came to hand remind one of .Rosetti's lines, 'Lands are swayed by a King on a throne," but "The sea \hath m.o King* but God alone." The fury of the sea when the wind is in a cyclonic mood is graphically described by men who have experienced this peril on the coast where the Yongala was lost. It was only strong cables that saved the Guthrie three weeks ago when she anchored' behind an island for. shelter in a cyclone. Lifeboats were blown or washed away, tarpaulins stripped from the hatches, and the top of the bridge roof wrenched off by the wind. After some hours the wind veered round and blew in exactly the opposite .direction, caus' ing- a deadly cross-sea that laid the vesel almost on her beem ends. Cyclones are complicated by changes in curents. The 'Guthrde experienced a current of . nine mfles during the cyclone, and bad .her cables parted she would to a certainty have gone on a reef. The commander of the Wyreema, another vessel in the costal trade, describes the cyclone as '"hell let loose," and says no vessel in the Yongala's position coud survive if the centre >of such a storm struck her. "To be in a cyclone is like being in the inside of a drum. There is a (terrific surging oioise around you, as if all the" fiiends of Hades were yelling. The sea breaks in every direction at once, a heavy sea and wind are coming over on every side, and the next minute the sea and the wind are coming from the other. If there is. sea-room you might g«t out

it, but if there is no room you can only anchor and trust to Providence." There was no scM.-jrOom where the Yongala was, the distance between coast and reefs being only twenty miles. We will never know what the captain of the Yongala did. Perhaps he did what the captain of the Balmain did years ago, ran for shelter ,only to. be. driven ashore by a sudden change in the wind. "The fact is, when one of these hurricanes strikes you, you don't know which way 'to run for shelter." These opinions strengthen 'the contention of .the Federal .meteorologist, that what is wanter is tetter warning- of these perils of the sea, against which the skill and courage of man may struggle in vain.

Mainly as a result of a large demand for disinfectants ~ for plague stricken Manchuria, the price of carbolic acid has been advanced 50 per cent. The eyport of soya beans has also been seriously affected "by tke pestilence, and this means higher plices for soya» oil, and also for linseed and other oils, which will have to take the. place of soya oil. Among- the drug-s which are also dearer are menthol, oil : of peppermint, camphor, opium, and morphine; . menthol and oil of peppermint owing- toi shortage in the Japanese peppermint crop; opium and morphine on account of the damage done by the frost to the young" poppy plants in Asia Minor, v