DREAD BERIBERI

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 543, 21 December 1928, Page 12

DREAD BERIBERI

WINDJAMMER’S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES OLIVEBANK IN AUCKLAND Dread beriberi raging among the crew of a windjammer in midocean, h.alf-starved sailors driving themselves to their work by sheer will, and a battered barque tossed by unfriendly seas for thousands of miles —these are impressions of the voyage of the Finnish barque Olivebank from Seychelles Islands to Auckland. The Olivebank berthed at King s Wharf this morning. Thus ended an arduous voyage of three and a-half months. Members of the crew—for the most part young men —tell a remarkable story of hardship. In the Indian Ocean beriberi, caused by lack of vegetables, laid eight or nine sailors low. For a great part of the voyage the crew had only biscuits, rice and beans for food. The men were weak for want of nourishment. Once in a hard blow, the sailors were , unable to grip the sails through utter weakness, and so had to slash holes in the canvas with knives to secure a hold. One seaman died from beriberi on the evening that the Olivebank was compelled to put into Melbourne in distress. St. Pierre, a speck of an island in the Seychelles, north-east of Madagascar, was left on September 2 with a cargo of 4,100 tons of guano for Auckland. It was over two months before Melbourne was reached. A forced stay of 16 days was made before the barque once more • headed for Auckland. Twenty-three days were spent on the trip across the Tasman. Captain K. O. Troberg confesses 1 that he has not experienced such a ; tedious voyage in all his years at sea. Lugersviscli, in South-West Africa, was left at the end of April and the Olivebank headed for Ascension Island to load, but late arrival found that another vessel had got in ahead. Then came a hard voyage round the Cape of Good Hope to Mahe Island, in the Seychelles. For a month the barque stood off the island to load, only to receive orders to pro- j ceed to St. Pierre for a cargo. Nearly i two months were required for loading One storm dr(,>ve the barque to sea I for two weeks after the anchors had dragged. The Olivebank will dock in Auckland for overdue scraping and overhaul. From here, it will go to Port Lincoln, South Australia, to load wheat for Europe. It is expected to be in Finland in April next.