MAHENO IN A GALE

Grey River Argus, 12 April 1911, Page 2

MAHENO IN A GALE

♦ EXCITING EXPERIENCE. Passeng-ers by the Union liner Maheno, which arrived from -New Zealand last week, had an exciting- experience duningr the igiale raging- off the Australian iCoast on Thursday night. The Maheno ran into a gale on Thursday. The wind, which had been moderate since leaving- Auckland suddenly shifted to the west-south-west at midday, and increased to a storm of great fury. A heavy sea accompanied the storm, and at midnigiht on Thursday, without .any warning', a 'big- wave broke iaver the ship. It fell on deck with :all the force of an avalanche/ amd .played .havoc .with cab in Sitting's ; also smashing* some deck gfear, and causing- a lot of other dam ag-e. ■The vessel took a .heavy - list to leeward owiin.tf to the •big', weight .of water 'and there., was some alarm, but . she. .jquickly .recovered 'frerself, and all hands at once set to work to straighten up things again. Jt was found; on examination that six cabin windows on the saloon deck were smashed, and [fittings being c-omtpl^teily wfrefekfed. A family of three in one were cut about the frands and face .by- falling glass, but not seriously. All the cabins, also the alleyways, were more or less "flooded. A quantity, of"-" water also fiouiKjfd it? (V^ay ' ftTroii^li -\h cabin skylight into the social hall, and this was quickly baled out .with buckets. Mr >L. C. Donald, a passenger, describes the experience as most exciting*. The wave, he s aid, "broke high over the promenade deck, and crashed down" with terriffic force, wrecking cabins Nd 14 *o .20; andflooding alleyways, smoking-room, and main saloon. Passengers were ■knee-deep in 'water. Captain 'Livingstone and his officers did everything possible for their safety, and they were soon made comfortable again. Mr iGeorge Dean, a passenger did splendid work. When the sea flooded the cabins, Mr Dean hurried to the assistance of the ladies, and carried them clear of ..he wreckage. The ship's steward also worked well; in fact, Mr Donald says the snip's company did everything possible for the welfare- of the frightened passengers. Writh's Circus travelled by the Maheno from Auckland. During the rough weather, several of the horses were knocked down on deck, ibut not seriously injured.