A THRILLING ESCAPE

Hokitika Guardian, 20 October 1921, Page 1

A THRILLING ESCAPE

UAIIQI'K (IN' I'll! K AT SKA. WKI.IfINtiTON'. Oct. 17. Kidm 11.,. I’M S. Maram:.. which m. rived hack Hi Wellington yesterday itioriiiiilt fidiii Sim Krum is. o, n "New 'Zealand Times" reported gathered that Vhe vessel liimled at- tho Clif.»r"i:> t * „n September ‘JOtit twenty-three men. who nimlp a thrilling escape from --j huniinjx vossol, tlu* M<mt< ni-nuo. ,'inO inili's'~froTit In ml- ' n > ( ’. v Onttl.'O for three Imiir* with :i school ot ■'•harks before landing on n remote island, ami were rescued by 11 passing schooner, which took them to I’apceto.

Tin- sti muli'll crew r<‘iu lu'il the iplnml of Tubuai. in tlio Society Croup, lloi-o they existed among tin- natives fnr lift v-ftiur (lavs on l»-i ri«*s. "'hi .amc mill Usli. wl.il.- they drank the pdrc flinn native trees to quench their thirst, as tin- wator was not too paiatnlilo. suit nrhsts into fi.amfs. The onicers of t.hc Marania informeil e "New Zealand Times” reprcsenlntive that, with the except ion of two imn the entire civil was Italian, and milv Captain Scottio I.n Vena, master of the ill-fated hari|ue. coulil -peak Knjilish. The captain of tile barque told the Story of the thrilling adventures that resulted in liattlcs hetween life and death many times. He stated : ■‘The Italian barque Monte Hiailco. ■jonq tmis. was thirty-one (lays Iron. Newcastle, loaded with coal for Ceuon. We were out 100 miles from land, when suddenly the entire middle of the ship hurst, into thanes/ The (lames jirsiv so hot and spread so quickly that it. was impossible to pel- them undei control. \Vc had one large life-hoat. and 1 put- my men into that, and we just escaped from the ship in time to savo our lives. Tf was at night when this happened. In the morn inf; no tried to find ni place to land, hut there was no land in sight-. We rowed and rowed until exhausted many times. Finally, after seven flays, we reached land. ft. proved to he the island ol Tiilniai, in the Society Croup. I'herr we lived among the natives till n trading schooner came and tool; us to Papeete. FIT! lIT WITH SHARKS. “When we were rowing to the island we were attacked hy a school of sharks, and had to battle like the very dickens for throe hours with short knives before we routed them. We cut and slashed until the men were exlmusod. After that, we rowed for flic seven days, and landed on the island.” On Hie arrival of the It.M.S. Marauia, the unfortunate plight of the officers and men was detailed to the captain of the New Zealand steamer, and, uH stated above, the entire erpw was conveyed to San Francisco.