SALVING A DERELICT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3504, 5 June 1920, Page 2

SALVING A DERELICT.

BARQI;'I%INTIN.E RE’I‘RIEVER. 1 ""““ 1 I’ICKED Ul’ BY ’.l.‘Hl*l 'l‘.i\LUNE.' 1 h 4 Particulars of the salving of the} barquentine Retriever by the stcamerl Talnne were received in Auckland _yes- l terday. The Retriever, :1 wooden] three-masted barqnentine of 5&.7 tons,‘ was abandoned on March 31 in at watel'log<g;ed condition off the Mar-i quesas Islands. in the lG:lstel'il Pacific, while en route from Puget Sound to Peru'with 500.000 feet of timber. She enconntnred- \'f“l'§' bad weather, and laboured very heavily, the continual chafing of the standing rigging on the deck cargo resulting in the _nlasts carrying away. The master and crew then abandoned the vessel and took to the lifeboats, reaching Tahiti safely on April 15. Nothing further was heard of the barquentine until l\lay 15, ‘when the Talune, bound from; Raiatea to .l?apeete. sighted her. She was waterlogged and weckage was strt-\\’ll everywhere. The t'orelnast was still standing, but the mainmast and the mi7.'/.en—lnast were both carried away. The deck cargo was awash, and it was evident that only the timber she carried was keeping her afloat. The chie.t' oficer and six members of teh ’l‘allllle’s‘ crew boarded the derelict and the steamer took it in tow and proceeded to Papeete. . On the following night heavy weather set it, and the towlino broke. The conditions were too bad to allow anotlir-r towline to be made fast, and those on board the barquentine \\'Cl'0lV(f()IllpCllC(l to remain there until the next day. A fairly big sea was running, and during the night part: ‘of the deck cargo was washed overboard. while the inizzeninast, which was hanging over the side when the barqnentine was picked up, broke adrift. On Monday, May 17, another towline was made fast, Papeefe being reached without t'urt.hcr mishap tlmt evening. The captain and mate of the Re-tl-iev.el- [were but Papeete when the Talnne left, but the crew had all been sent back to San ‘Francisco. The hull of the barquentine is badly .damaged. She had drifted nearly 400 K miles. Four steamers had been searching for he.,r_. "but all gave up the task i as hopeless.