Trimmer's Tragic End.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 September 1913, Page 4

Trimmer's Tragic End.

SUICIDE ON THE TAHITI

"Well, here goes!" were the last words of W. P. Gibson, a trimmer on the liner Tahiti, who jumped overboard to a terrible death while in mid-ocean, during (he passage of the vessel!, which arrived in Wellington on Thursday morning from San Erancisco. A splash and Gibson was never seen again, while tlie glistening back of a huge shark in the wake of the steamer told a tale which required no words to complete.

On August 25th, five days after leaving San Erancisco, at 8.20 a.m., Gibson was talking casually to one of the other stokers when, without any warning, save the words mentioned above, he leaped over the bulwarks into the sea. Mr A. Iv. Thompson, purser, who witnessed the occurrence, ran up on the bridge and gave the alarm. Captain E. P. Evans immediately took charge of the vessel, rang the engines "slow'' and ordered the helm hard over. Three lifebuoys were thrown over the side and the emergency lifeboat was manned, with Mr M. H. Longmore, chief officer, in command. The Tahiti was so smartly handled that when she had completely turned about she arrived alongside the lifebuoys which had been thrown overboard The lifeboat cruised round and as the weather was fine there was every chance of picking up the missing man if he had been afloat. The look-out man was sent aloft, but although the liner ran back along her course a considerable distance the quest proved futile. After searching for about an hour the lifeboat was picked up and the Tahiti continued on her way.

The incident caused great excitement. and huge sharks, which came alongside the liner when she slowed down, indicated too plainly the shocking fate of Gibson. The sharks were seen by a number of people. A passenger who was on the afterpart of the upper deck when he heard the alarm looked astern and saw a shark rise on a sea and quickly disappear, telling only too eloquently of the grim tragedv tha thad just been enacted.

Mr Thompson, the purser, told a Times representative that he was talking' to the chief steward on the port side of the spar deck nearly amidships when lie saw Gibson step briskly to the side of the vessel, and clambering' over the bulwarks, throw himself into the sea. He saw tin; man go down and watched as he moved towards the bridge to see if the man rose, but neither lie nor llio chief steward caught a glimpse of him again. The missing man signed on as a trimmer at San .Francisco for the trip to Sydney. He gave his age as twenty-seven years. Gibson stated thai lie belonged to Ilughenden, Queensland, where his mother now resides. ».;• said that he was a ielcgrapVist by occupation. He was a fairly well-buiii man. but was apparently quite unused to the severity of the work in the stokehold. It is a coincidence that only a day's journey further from San Francisco an able seamen fell over board from the Aorangi oil the last trip, and was rescued after being in the water for over three hours. X.Z. Times.