WRECK OF THE MAORI

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 17

WRECK OF THE MAORI

HEROISXAND SUFFERING. From Capetown papers to hand full accounts are available of the wreck of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's steamer Maori, which occurred at Duyker Point, near Capetown, early on the morning of August 5, with cod loss of life: — The Maori left Table Bay for New Zealand, ia continuation of her voyage from London, shortly after .midnight on Wednesday, August 4. There was a /air dwT running at tfye time, but tibe night was comparatively dear. , -r Forty minufcrt after leaving the Breakwater, with the' 'WDgjnet .going at full speed* - the vessel struck * huge, rock, which eeemed to stand well out of the water The ijtext moment the Maori fairly ran up the s rock. ,Then came three .awful bumps, and back the big- vessel slid into the water, -as the engines were put full speed astern. By this time the sea was breaking over the decks. The skipper shouted to the ehiaf that the vessel ,ims "filling,' and, as there. was no time to be lost, ordered every man on declc^ His-cojnmafid *v repeated: - , below, And {he men Hastily made their way to thy deck. Whan every man wea on deck, the crew was ordered to stand by the boats* and to do nothing uniO the captain ■' song; out" orders.' Calmness prevailed. The men jm- ; obeyed orders, and stood by tKe bofts Immediately afterwards Oaptain ' Nicole gave the odder bo "men the boats," shouting- out feat they had only two or three -minutes to spare. The -vessel carried six boats, but only three of these were ■ lowered. While the men took to the boats ) the skipper remained on the bridge, and ', was the last to leave the vessel. He was i seen to cross the bridge, making: his way ' to one of the boats on the weather side, j which he is stated to have boarded. ' j The boats .slipped cleaT of the Maori. ' Soon afterwards they lost sight of her in ] •he mist and the rain. The weather was ' . so thick that the boats failed to come to- '■ gether. Fearing the rooks, the chief officer decided to «tand well out to sea. TSie water was heavy, and the men, thinly clad, | sodden with rain, and shivering with the' bitter cold of *he night, found it a matter of extreme difficulty to keen the boat's head to the seas that wera roUiog- in. Weary with their labours, wet through and chilled to the bone, they plucked up ©oarage as lightness in the sky heralded the .approach of dawn. The boatswain then advised the chief officer Reed to make for land. With lighter hearts the men set to work, flor they hod gone weil away from the coast, and the craft was manoeuvred abort in order that the best available landing place might be selected. * . , It was eventually decided to stand in for wliat proved to b* Chapman's Bay. i The chief officer saw ahead what looked , to be & stretch of white sand, and the ; bows of the boat were turned in that ' direction. Immediately afterwards a heavy , breaker struck the craft from behind, and I the next minute the lifeboat was smashed upon a rock with terrific force. All the occupants were flung into the water, and I with what little strength remained after the struggles of the night* all succeeded in clutching hold of the gunwhale"of tho boat. Some of them, utterly exhausted, ' released their hold, and the survivors, ' numbering nine, after a rest, made their w «y, t ° ro "«f n tl» bush, and eventually ' reached Slangkop Farm, where the in- . mates gave them attention. Thereafter , information of what Lad occurred was wired to $imon's Town. The story of the wreck itself is graphic- 1 ally told by Stilhvell, who was at" the ' wheel. Stillwell, who knows more of the occurrence than any of the others among < those saved, states that the captain wat> the last to leave the bridge. Although only a few minutes had elapsed since the doomed vessel first struck, the crew had found sufficient time to equip the three boats with suoh absolute necessaries as biscuits and water. Boats Nos. 1 and 3 were manned on the other side of the ship to boat No. 2, which came -upon the Kommetje beach. No. 2 boat was in charge of Chief Officer Reed, No. 3 boat in charge of the second officer, and No. i 1 boat had, it is believed. Captain Nicole on board. There was nothing in the ; nature of a scramble; the night's black j Tain-wet wings were over them all. | In No. 2 boat were 15 men all told, so that among the other two boats the re- , warning 40 would be divided, but in what i proportion it is absolutely impossible to ! say. Wet and shivering, the men dropped into No 2 boat. With the exception, perhaps, of StillweH and another, * none of them had boots, and, in fact, only a couple had trousers. In the natural aoxsety to get aboard all right, the ecid , :

and misery and torture which were their > portion for the king hours ' before they ! landed were not felt. They put off from I the sinking hull that contained all their personal belongings. 1 Nearly all in the boat, and a great many in the other two, were almost nude. They bent to' the sweeps with a will; they, had to work to save themselves, for they "were between the Soylla of death from exposure and the Qharybdis of death on the docks. The long hours went by with every minute lengthened cruelly. Little could be said in that tumult; only the creaking of the sweeps, the plunging of . the boat, and the screech of the wind - were persistently articulate. , JSlor had they with them much of that infinite solace to cold, weary, and hungry men — tobacco. The strip,' of sand by Kommetje was 'at, .fcfagth -descried, tend gladly they turned the ooat towards it.' H £ " So they bent to the oars with a will, and the swell blithely went with them towards" the Konvmetje sands. Five hundred yards beyond the' Kommetje oanda their boat capsized, and all 15 were in the water. The breakers flung them about. Everyone struck out for the shore; in that terrible buffeting it was impossible to help anyone. A man might realise that tjhere was a panting comrade &t his side, and in * minute, he would ' be aware that be 'was- alone. . Among those saved, only one, Stillwe.ll, had suffered shipwreck before, and his record, is Somewhat uncommon. He "had a ■very narrow escape indeed in. his present •hipwveok, but Ins fortitude sres put once ; to an even more severe* test wfcen he was for three days and nights in «n open boat before being picked up Stillwell has two other shipwrecks to the list of his experiences. The rescue of men from the wreck is told as under: — ; What was left of the Maori oa Friday was found to be lju>S in & bay some three miles from Duy&er Point. The afte-rpart was above water, but the huge breakers that came smashing in swept the forepart of the vessel. A cold, cutting wind from the sea «Jso helped to make communication with those' on the vessel — or what was left of it — a matter of extreme difficulty. The seas were terrific. That part of the bay in which tho poop lay was like tome huge cauldron. This w«us studded with black, jagged rocks, and the water was churned to a foam as the eeas broke upon them. The ferocity of the breakers was amazing. It was curious, however, that while at times nothing could be seen of the forepert of the ship that remained, it was only at odd intervals that a big sea swept over the poop, rendering those on board absolutely invisible. The Maori's poop was just thirty yards from the rooks. It might as well have been half a mile, as things turned out. Within, say, twenty-five yawls, was a huge rock, over which the breakers continually washed — there was another ten yasds between that and the next big rock and— safety The first men on the soane were an Italian named Messena, a man whose [ occupation is that of fishing, and whose deeds during the course of the day were indeed stirring ; a Hbut Bay resident named <2ardinal, an Italian named AreeJ, Thomas Homy Cottell, and a man named Inironia. The news was wired to town, and assistance sent. Messena had an idea. He clambered on a big rock just as a eea smashed over it attd washed him off.* Not discouraged, the young fellow managed to yye*. out of the clutches of the wavct; and' light }>ie way up the lock again. Again a Viucre broker dashed over the rock. Again he went over and those on shore thought he would meet the fate of others. But he fought desperately and successfully. He tried again He allowed one big sea to expend its fury upon the rock ; then he clambered up like a cat, hanging on with tho itnac : ty of desperation and digging his fingers into every little erevioa. A smaller breaker came m ; bat he stood the chock. Still this was only one part of the journey. A trreat razor-like rock was just ir. front. If he were able to reach thie and climb along to the end he might be abi<» to communicate with the men A^ain Messena waited his chance. Thpn in a flash he got on to the r:wk aid s&t 6tra<Mle-vt ise, hanging on for dear life as a termendous wave, which broke over the men on the j^^P. Mcl him from the view , of his companions on shore. | It was no time for many words. What was said amounted to this : They had sent for help. Let those on board hang on till assistance came. In the meant ime those on shora would do their best. Had the crew a line handy? Smash came another s«»a — a big one ! Messena dug his fingers into the clefts of the rock until the blood came and. Minded by the spray, he held on. Then there wu another chance for speech. One

of those on board replied :hat '-hey had iiv> iiiii: oe^onu a coil of .very light wire. Meeßena still stuck to his place. A piece of ieaid was tied to tne end of the wire, , and it came whirling along. Happily, it , fell across the rock to which the Italian was ', clinging, and alternately he shouted the good news to' thiast- en sea ami on chore. ??o >f»r co- - i>oo3'. ThoSe on board did what thsy wes<e toW. . Everybody spent an an.\nju« time us tii© big njiivsex > was drawn across #ie ,eejHhiag. wafers, fo£ everybody had a^dpiibt hr'h.ijS +cart as to ivhether the md would, reach the land. The rope was buffeted here ■ arad_ tahere by the waves, it was banged against the rocks — but it, held tight. Slowly andveurely the bij? hawser was dragged. Inch by inch , it .came, and when the "end was a couzfte- of yards from ruosf '6n «tiore_ theref, vmw v.a., uroathless silence. But a cheer < went up from the j watchers aa'they caught a firm grip of the big haw&ar, aad. faces brightened. The men on the poop saW z .th'at tfiewe was at last a chance of their being saved. They cheered anu vneeuea 'aguin.The hawser was' taken over, the raaorlike rock as being the nearest thing to the poop. l&eeeiaa and Cardinal then were over there making every preparation. On .board 1 the men were navd at , work. It seemed that tSey- had decided upon putting a loop round. the big rope... It -was «l*o i decided that &c best means of attempting" ■ a landing would be for ?> man to pot a - W through- and haul himself across. By ) this tune others had appeared on the scene, ! and everybody lent a willing bend. But take the ahore end as high a* they liked, ' it was -certain that &-in»n coming acrosr 1 1 would «et an awful time when he reached' ; the centre of the rope. • 0 i How far it would sag was not seen until the first attempt was made. There was no discussion on board as to who was to go. It was simply a case o? taking the risk. O'Briea, «n intelligent youn<r trimmer, said he would. He put bis leg into the > bight of Ifoe improvised life-saving apparatus,- and there was a cheer raised as he slid down, the rope. He got to the j centre of £he rope, and there he stuck. i It sagged dreadfully, and just as be got to ! that point a huge breaker came smashing' ' in. For a moment there was nothing to be seen but this mass of churned milkywhite waiter. Then, just as everyone ex- ; pected tb*fc O'Brien had died the death of " many others, he made a reappearance. He ' went forward by inches only. It was a fierce struggle with the waves, font with safety so near he -exerted every effort. Slowly and surely he made his way alomg that strand of Manila, and when near the shore he was grasped by ready bands and taken to a place of safety. Both sides cheered. ; By means of the wire the loop waa ; hauled back to the ship, and MickHefcon, the third engineer, stepped forward to ' make the journey. Tfee breakers seemed to come in with redoubled fury, and he came in contact with the rocks on his • way to shore. But they hauled him in, ' grasped his hands, a.nd the men. on the ' vessel cheered and cheered again. j Some soldiers appeared, and the men • on shore shouted out that help would soon come. Mr Advocate Marais came on the scene, end, throwing off his coat, took hold of the hawser; Mr C. W. H. Mok«no- followed him and did the same. Both worked untiringly in their efforts to dip what they oould for tha crew wfao remained on the It was at this moment that a tragic incident happened. Gladman, who had been hanging- on to the cross-trees of the foremast «inoe the vessel struck, made a movement as if to come down the rigging. The sea beneath him was terrific, and everyone realised that it was hopeless for him to attempt to reach the poop. " Good God, look !" shouted a fisherman. " He's going to swim Stop him ! Stop him !" Everybody looked. Sure enough Gladman had on© foot on the first rung of the ladder O'Brien and Middleton were at the timo talking about their experieneee. The last-named was lying on the ground staring at the -vessel, half-conscious at times of what was going on around him. Suddenly he jumped up. He reeled as he came to his feet with one hand across hie face " Stop him, for God's sake !" he shouted. But the wind swept the sound away (jo back, go back !" shouted the third engineer desperately, as Gladman went down "Can't somebody stop him?" ha cried in his appeal to these- about him. Tears came to his eyes, and his handb hung limply by his sides as nobody moved. He had set thorn an impossible task. But those on shore did all they could They screamed and shouted to the man on the foremast to go back. Everybody was relieved when Gladman turned round and was seen to be making his way back to the perch where he had remained for so many hours. Regaising his position, he made no further movement. Midaleton Manned to breathe a figb of

thankfulness, sank to the ground, and con-tinued-to talk. But he was on his feet a moment later. He stood with one hand pointing- to the ship, and on his face tibere was utter despair. Everyotfe seemed rooted to the spot when they saw what was happening-. Gjladman was going to try again. Most of those on shore became frantic in their shouted appeals to tire man -to refrain . from going to what was certain <ip»th. " It's madness," declared an old fisherman. "My God !" ejaculated Middleton, with a gesture of despair, im Gladman was actually leaving the rigging and taking to the mast, with the evident intention of sliding into the water and making a desperate struggle to reach his comrades. The scene cannot be described. Everybody simdly. stood «ttU, unable to say a word. With', borror-strioken faces ihey watched. Middleton, exhausted, sank back on the ground open mouthed, -glaring at the scene. Gladman left the oross-treee. He slipped down the mast. The silence was intense. He • reached the water ; a tremendous breaker broke over him, and he was lost to sight. A second passed — then his head " appealed above the water. The two arms followed. • "rle's swimming," Qhonted a watcher who' bad found bis voice. The man could just he. described, dashed hither and thither' by the seas, which, seemed to gather force in their cruel attempt to drag him down. GJadman himself made no headway. In the turmoil of water the -exhausted' man ~was powertetep. Absolutely nothing could be done to save him. The onlookers had simply to watch a grim, struggle with death. Another great roller broke about the foremast, and again he disappeared. One minute passed.; two minutes — "My God; he's gone!" said a bronzed old fisherman, and turned away. O'Brien and Middleton sank back despairingly. It was only too true. The fireman was seen no more, though something black that floated on the water was thought to be him. The scene on shore was remarkable. The tragedy seemed to strike at the heart of everybody' who had watched that battle, and not a few eyes were filled with tears. It was some minutes, however, before the majority seemed to quite realise what had happened. "If only he'd waited," moaned Middleton. Then they set to work with redoubled energy. There were now 30 men on the hawser. At considerable risk Mr Mar&is and Mr Molteno managed to get on to the razorlike rock and release the big rope, which hod caught the pinnacle furthest out. They were successful, and other helpers on snore pulled it in. But in the centre of the rope there was a big knot, and about tli is everybody was dubious. j "' I' tell you something is going to hapyen," said an old fisherman, shaking his < ftraxL "That man is going to stick there, and " He didn't finish the sentence, but the inference was obvious. At anyrate, Attridge slid' down the rope. He went down at a pretty good rate until he came to the knot. What would he do? Mifldieton and O'P-rien — ttoe fora.er now clad in a big overcoat which a soldier had lent hiai — were down on the rocks. Just below Attridge was a rock *\hich was every minute covered by the seas. As he was seemingly making an attempt to overcome the obst-iclr> a tremendous breaker dashed in. Those on shore held on to the rops, but when everybody thought they had seen the last of tb*> -""n he suddenly reappeared and waved bis jiand. Then he waa seen to be struggling- with the loop in which he had thrust his leg. '• If be gets out of that." remarked Middleton in a low voice, " he's done." Half a dozen shoated to the man. "Stick to tbe knot." " Hold on for a bit." " Pull forward a bit." These were some of the calls, but most of them could scarcely have } leen heard by th° man above tlje n taring of the breakers and the wind that was blowine Tvlidilloton and O'Brien were standingtogether just as another wave buffeted the unfortuna/fc Afctridse. " He'll never get past that," said Middleton despondently-. Scarcely ten yards could have separated Attridge from safety, but just how those ten yeards were to be negotiated was the difficulty. It was decided to throw a line, but for what purpose was not apparent. A fisherman came forward and threw. The li^ht rope whizzed through the air, but jt fell a few inches from the man's fingers. In the line came again. The crew on the poop just stood and watched the proceedings. Most of the people on shore were congregated about on a rock as near as possible to the man. At length, at the fifth attempt, Attridge clutched the light Une. He was standing on tike half-submerged rock at -this time, glancing back at -file encominr breakers. Then in a moment he slipped hit leg- out of the loop, stood on the xaek. iogb a.

STORY OF THE DISASTER.

second for the purpose of getting a firmer .grasp of the line, and plunged boldly into the surf. ' The water was comparatively calm for a moment, -and those on the fringe of the rock cheered, co certain were bhejr that a rescue would be effected. But this ( did not happen. When be was within two i yards of safety a cry of horror broke from the spectators, .ae.-'a huge breaker bt*rat> into the space between the* rocks. It was a fearful moment. Attridge could not be i 6een, and those' on* the rock pulled at their i line so as to get in the alack. Attridge seemed to go under -the rock then — the end of the line fell oh the rock. Everybody rushed to the rock- at this time, and were i gazing into the . witer, expecting the man to rise. Another big breaker followed; j scattering the spray far inshore. Then j Attridg<i reappeared, just round the corne-z of a big rook,, in^-what looked like comparative safety. £-In a trice someone waa down to help the. bleeding and semi-coar Gcious man. Attridg© managed to put forI ward a hand, and a 'man leaned over riskily to grasp it. j There was a foot between them.- But the. backwash, followed by a big wave, j filled up what looked to be the calm cove; j and the unfortunate man was swept away j into the waters of the bay. This second; 1 tragedy, so near,, to safety, came with ( startling suddennej^. The pity of it was ' .stamped on the faces of the two men who hadb«(ea reso«fd,.»nd whoiiad rushed down to.Jend^wiai idd "they wmld. | The- rescue of the remaining ten was effected during the early hours of Satur