EXTRAORDINARY FEAT AT SEA.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 210, 31 January 1866, Page 3

EXTRAORDINARY FEAT AT SEA.

A remarkable exploit, exhibiting daring and presence of mind of no ordinary charactei*, was performed recently on board the ship Mindanao, homeward bound from Iquique to this port. It appears that when the ship was to the south and eastward of Cape Horn she sprang a leak, and made to the extent of six inches water in an hour. The vessel was placed in considerable danger, and it was only by constant pumping that the leak could be kept down. After the pumping had continued for about six weeks, the vessel being then about two degrees north of the equator, it was considered desirable to ascertain, if possible, the position of the leak. With this object Mr. William Howitt, the chief officer, volunteered to go overboard and examine the vessel. Having dived into the sea, he looked along the hull of the ship, and ultimately found that a water-bolt on the starboard side of the upper rudder-band had worked out and this caused the leak. On reaching the surface the diver directed the carpenter to make a stout wooden plug, and having obtained it he again descended. Having inserted the plug in the bolthole, whence the leak originated, he succeeded in striking it with his hand to fix it temporarily, and was obliged to come up immediately for respiration. A third time he descended, taking with him a hammer, with which he struck the plug, fixing it as firmly as circumstances would permit. That his efforts were successful was proved by the fact that the leakage of the ship ceased, and she made no more than the usual quantity of water, three-quarters of an inch, during the remainder of the veyage. The plug still remains in the ship. The depth that he reached in diving under the ship was ~about six or seven feet, the difficulty of the operation being increased by the rising and falling of the ship consequent on the swell which prevailed at the time. Mr. Howitt is, as may be supposed, an excellent swimmer, and has been instrumental in saving the lives of several persons from drowning. — Liverpool Mercury.