TERRIBLE VOYAGE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1927, Page 4

TERRIBLE VOYAGE

CREW STARVING

SYDNEY, Aug. 0,

Strange tales of practical starvation at sea- and a desperate figbt to prevent water rising in the bolds were told by the crew of the American sailing ship Chillicothe, of 1862 tons, which arrived at Sydney this " eet from Astoria (Oregon) after a voyage of 114 days. The crew alleged that short rations were put aboard flic vessel, and that prior to being taken in tow by a tug olf ttie New South Wales const their rations had been only three

biscuits daily. There was conlliet in the stories concerning the amount of provisions taken aboard at the American port. The crew asserted that only enough food for throe months, and much of it had, was put aboard the ship. The master, Captain Borgmnn, declared that ho shipped supplies lor four months, but the undeniod fact remains that despite tho protracted voyage, there should have been a margin to spare, if the captain’s figure was correct. Tho passage started well. Good winds, good food, the 62-year-old skipper’s pretty young wife and her baby —three weeks old when the Chillicothe. left port—made the decks a delightiul place. Despite the) discovery of a slight leak everything went well' until after the tropics had been crossed. In 72 days, the Chillicothe was abreast of Norfolk Limit. That was about six weeks ago. All her miseries had crowded on her since headwinds beset tho ship in a colossal gale from _the west, and the Imby and its mother were force to spend the remainder of the voyage below decks, though the infant never was ill and never terrified. The seas came over in great, drenching green arches, which hurst down into the forecastle and galley. The crew i'ived in wet clothes, and Tor j every 30 miles the ship gained, she was 1 tossed hack 60. A discovery that angered the < row was that there were i: 1 .stores of clothing aboard which they could purchase to replace sea-

sodden garments, and— worse still—there was no tobacco. But the cook, Jink Ayrer, a genius and a, hero to I the men, came to the rescue by drying tea-leaves 011 his stove in place of their fragrant weed. TO THE PUMPS. Matters became worse when the captain discovered that there were fifteen inches of water in the hold. All hands were ordered to the pumps, and for three weeks the men worked at the exhausting task of lighting hack the sea, in day and night shifts. But tho worst ordeal was their lack of food. On July Ist the cook scraped up the last of ois butter. Four days later he brewed the last grains of coffee. On tlie same morning lie saw the fast of his oatmeal. He kept them on short, but not inconvenient, rations until July 12th, when ho cooked the last of the rice. Then he made a sweeping reduction, and cut down their allowance ol bread by substituting biscuits. On .fuly 27th he attacked even that menu, and kept them alive with three biscuits per day each man. lie contrived a soup made of Hour and grease and had tinned mutton, which tho crew would not eat otherwise. They swallowed this three times a day, and owed their f lives to it. Yet all the time these men !'

were on the verge of starvation, sev eral barrels of fish rested in the pair try, unfit for consumption. RESCUE AT LAST.

Several steamers passed without heeding the Chii'licothe’s signals of need of assistance, probably because lack of signalling knowledge among the crew led to the. wrong signals being displayed. At length, one vessel, the Ilarpalyee. stood about on July 30th, and came to the Cliillicotlio, just when everyone, was fairly desperate except the baby—never perturbed by the tears and pain of. the nineteen people aboui him. The IFarpalyce sent a wirei'ess message to Sydney, and the tug Champion was dispatched with fresh provisions. The tug picked up the Chillirot lio 310 miles from Sydney, and after placing provisions aboard, took the sailing ship in tow, and brought her to this poiff.