The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 16, 1909. THE WRECK OF THE PENGUIN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 450, 16 February 1909, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, February 16, 1909. THE WRECK OF THE PENGUIN.

Tine wreck of the s.S. Penguin on Friday night, accompanied by the loss of 70 lives, has since been the one absorbing topic epf conversation. Fresh particulars have been eagerly looked for, and many a tear has been shed as the harrowing tale has been unfolded. When brave men bailie for their lives and go down in the struggle, our heaits are touched with sorrow, but when we read of women and little children being engulfed in an angry sea on a dark and stormy night —so weak —so helpless —it touches the hardest heart. How many brave men, even in our little community, would have gladly availed themselves of the opportunity to sacrifice their own lives in an attempt to save one or two of those who perished. There is no necessity to dwell on the awful picture of the wreck called up by the imagination. Heroic deeds were done which lightens the gloom. We shall not soon forget the woman who, having lost husband and children, yet found consolation in the fact that she had saved an unknown boy; of the self-sacrificing stewardesses, careless of the danger which threatened themselves, mindful only for the safety of others, cheering and comforting the women and little children ; the coolness of the officers, particularly the second mate; the captain, the last to leave the ship, in his gallant attempt to save the life of a fellow man, and many other flashes of bravery which have ever characterised the Anglo - Saxon race. How the vessel came to be in the position she was at the time of the disaster, is for the future to reveal. Throughout the Dominion the sympathy of the people is extended to those who are bereaved. The wreck of the Penguin has its lesson and warning. We have much to be thankful for.