A TALE OF OLD TIMARU.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 85

A TALE OF OLD TIMARU.

'" ,_ , By Will Lawson, •. To,-day Timaru possesses one- of the finest breakwaters !»■ New Zealand; - andite ".sheltering; walls the large^HonW Isteamers di«charj^ and- load their pargoea" sr. .the security. <5f smooth water. ,Twenty'sv« years a:go "port 3 of Timaru' f was ' an 'Open "roadßtead'-with" a stone "jjier ~ which aff6Td«i barely' sufficient' ehSter for- shal-low-d|attght coasters and the'big'su'ri boats .which' t .tendered -the ships in the> offing, i&longaide "this -"ston.©"<pierri>he- schooners wid occasional steamers bump^d'and swung. ;with, .creaking' fenders,- >-w.hen : the rough ■winds .tosaed up , a^-nasty - sea.^ 'Then" the Ml-rig»ed' «bips leaped .at theirs anchors, tad tb* crew* of; the surf-boa-ts wore,.'sou'-, .weetere and oilakins for protection against th© stinging 'spray.' It was' hard wbrkj-this' surf -boat. work. -A line -stretched from the shore to 'the. ship which" -was loading or y discharging, and the boate were iauled to and "fro,^ running ,up on rollers each time they',i«ached_ the beach^ and-' , plunging back 4rito the sea again when- their freight had .been: taken out ~or jput into" them. There were twoships lying 'at anchor in. the roadstead,- the -City of- Perth and the ■Benvenue. The wind veered to the south, and began to run up a heavy; eea, so/that thejwork- of lightering" was' 'discontinued, "and • the ; surf' boats' y'erV.hauled ~high. ax\ddry and "safely .'housed. The shipe put out 'extra anchors^ , and paid out -chain cables .to-^ctTj'by .its-weigliti-as a, spring to -ease ,the: terrific^, jar r and strain of each mad' lunge of tJie% galloping ssas.- The wind' grew -to a- gale, ahowling southerlyvbuster, against which it was hopeless m attempt to ■stand out to sea?* Less than a "mile astern of the ships were the cliffs against which the- sea&: dashed in foam. Ashore "in, the. •port "the lifeboat crew was musteiied 'in xeadinese^oT an emergency, for it was con-eiaered^probable'tiat'onejof-both of the vessels would either drag L her anchors 'or fca-rry- ;away Iher' eaftles. " .The Bepiyenue/ jbeiifg , m ligKter . trim, .than, .. th,e, ' Qity ' of Perth, r^tood. in tfie greater 'danger," though "sW signalled bravely that she was holding {well and needed. no assistance. As night came there, were no signs \ of- abate-"inent~in-the vidjence of , the storm. ' In' [the -dark- the ; - riding flights were seen tossing ■.and* plunging, yet" weathering the „ gale. ,'±uen the .watchers saw blue "'lights blaze ,from the-^Beiiyenue. "She /had,- in a more 'Xtlan unusually, terrific leap 1 , carried away her cables, and falling away from the" /wind into the. trough of tne,seai^ r she., wa]lo,wed 'and '"rolled," v dTs&mg "down -to" the' cliffe. " -Ah attempt -was made, to reach her with- the lifeboat, but -'out beyond shelter o,f the pier^the . boat could not Jive, and the' men reluctantly put back to the shore. Meanivhile- the snip^ was swfept rapidly toward, the rocks,--- whither<'the folk -were hurrying- -to" "render what assistance - was possibler She struck' the rocks 'b'fqadside J on; and after one- , or two crashing ro l^ lay with cliffs, the an^ryjeais" pounding on 'her keel and bilges, as.iutter a*wfeck'as ajgobd'ship ever became. All her crew reached shore iivsafety by climbing -ap her «pars/ The City of 'Perth; /still: rode out- •th©'-i6tio'Bm, 'though the spirits, of her crew, were not cheered* by the knowledge -that .down astern' in> the dark, there 'a* good- ship was 'being oamTmered^to fJeatlT by. the 1 furious -■waves.- Dawn saw the- st-btit ship, clinging -bravely tocher numerous anchors, and there •seemed a f^chance th^ r ,she,; - might yet .feather "I>he..tempest. 'Jffer chief ..officer was superintending,' the further' manipulation o,f her cables with v a view- .toygiving her more- range and swing as she stood up to the,seas, when,' -an- Vundue- strlun .bging' s^rowin-on-.oife cable, it- snapped"; and the short ' end flew >• inboard, breaking' ■ the officers' leg. This was. - another" damper on , the spirits of 'the^gallant, crew,- and -nrHeh tjie skipper 1 . caliedLtfiei%-together and asked them whether, they" /would" stay or .make a bid for life in .the boat they voted to; go ashore. , , Sp "the ship's lifeboat was lowered- from.; the stern >jiavitsj- the > chief officer was assisted - down, the crew and captain followed, and- 'the -boat started, on -Tiei perilous -Tun'-to^tbe>sbore,' -leaving the ship rolling and plunging at her anchors. > ■ Making the shoije was -easier 'work than •the task' 'of - reaching "the : sliip irom tlie ,poxt','as the course was more downwind, aiid the seas helped the rowers. So, after -a^-drencliing^ cruel "pafsage,'- they reached the shelter of fche pier and landed the chief officer, who. was in the s rie^si*'bf?:inedical -attention, s. Q3je capt&in^^i4cided^to stay ashore, " as "nothing r^ouJS; jW ~ gained *h%, retnrning "aboard, " everything -poe|ible'naving been^done to- help *$:e>'ship "weather the gaief- This she oqn&riiijid-^to^dos^or some nours,' and - this "iempted a crew of boatnien'to'try and "reach"' her,v-when f as an abandoned, ship, . heavy- salvage <k>uld be claimed from the owners. And .they put off-- with' r t&is 'intention.^. M^nwJiile news ot .their Vdariilg '^fe^siUp's- captain, "who immediately caUexCshls^rew together and- followed the ij salvage -party. Ife .was 'a race such^j as .is; teldom rowed in a' hundred ■ years—- p-wo boats- daring death because, of *the- greed, "of ~fnen." The gale 'was forgotten ; only, -one '"thing mat-tered-^-to xeach- the -ship first. The ehoTe iboat^~was capsized once- .and righted herself .p. Heir, crew-baled- and ,r,owed her still towards^the City o£ Perth; and the captain's' boat fought -doggedly onward "to reach, the same goal. . But the ..shore boat .went ,over again, and this ■; tame > she r did loot right -'Kerself.g./ WitghpTS on ( -shore saw, ipfip t clinging" tocher, keel-, ~ and; ' anxiously,. counted" 'them. Some -were missing. The ship's' boat; reached the- ship, and ,haying ; •done so," they, stayed aboard utterly' ex-,' fiausted. "'" ' The "otherrboat drifted "ashore. after -^an ■ anxious time f,or ,the^ sufvivors"iclinging'td her. 'Again~ the' night came" down to find the City of Perth's Priding' light still living bra-vely,^defying the -ele-" dwnj^;" .During ihe ni^ht" the anchors '3>egan to .drag, r .The crewtlwaatea numbly, too> tired to, attempt further precautions. •Backward she, went, each leaping sea hrurlj&?K.;ite I bitter at- the conquered ship. Soon the breakers dt the «uff*6 foot could be heard, and still the

anchors refused to hold. Yet there was | no doom waiting for her or her crew, j When daylight came the people ashoife saw , the City of Perth standing, upright on the ; Tocks, her head set to the oncoming seas, ' and her stern pressed hard against the bottom of- the capsized BenvenueJ- And her j js crew: w<ere-,sti3l.on~-board7 o would ) make fcer captain leave lier 'agauv-aridh'e. , stood ; by his'^hip for -many "days; "while' lighters e^ffie alongside, whenT" the sea; smiled "and " whispered once ' more, _ v and l^whil© bugs "froih Dunedin, arid ' Lyttelton ! strained at- Manila h£useW in" determined | [efforts" to J .,get her .off. "One sunny -af ter- : noon-they;succeeded^ 7 She glided- into deep '■ water, so lightly, trimmed that she almost rolled her -yard® under. -> They ballasted her and took 'her -"away- to ;Lytteltori- for repairs -and refitting. But the Benvenue lay on the rocks, ana" the dead men. heeded not. This le a true' tale of .old Timaru 25 years ago, as -many there will know. . -