CABLEGRAMS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 358, 10 April 1889, Page 5

CABLEGRAMS.

I ■ •■ — *. — London, April #/" Latkb news, from Rio Janeiro with respect to the epidemic of yellow fever there shows that the mortality has been terrible. The d oath 9 up to the present time number 4,000. The deaths at Rio average 120 daily. Sydney, April 4. Ariuved \ "H.'M.p. Calliojie, from' Apia/ Her figurehead^ starboard jib-stays, and bowsprit were carried away by the force of the gale, also four of her boatt«, which were on the davits. The hull forward shows' evidence ol the havoc played by the anchor and chain. ' x ' ' Captain Kane, when interviewed to-day,' stated the only chance left' for the vessel was to go ashore in a fairly safe spot, near where the Olga was beached, or steam out of harbour in the iace ot the gale. He decided to adopt the latter course, and used every pound of steam he could force, and faced the gale. ! Immediately after the anchors had been slipped and a start made for sea, the Calliope rose clear on end and made a terrific plunge down. Captain Kane says it is a wonder how t ho vessel's machinery and rudder stood the shock. It appeared quite three or foui minutes from the slipping ot the anchors until the Calliope began to forge ahead in j the teeth of the hurricane, which was blowing as hard asjit was possible to blow. Thegalecontinued with unabated violence until Sunday, 17th March, when it lessened, 1 and on Tuesday, the 19th, he returned to Apia. On Thursday, the 21st, the American warship ]S r ip.sic, which had been beached in a gcod position, floated off, and anchored in the harbour. She had lost her rudder, which was carried away, and her propeller was gone, otherwise the vessel was pretty sound. The German warship Olga, Captain Kane stales, had not received any severe damage, and he expects by this time she also has been floated off. As demonstrating the force of the hurricane, the commander of the Calliope states that, while her engines were going at a rate capable of driving the ship fifteen knots in ordinary weather, the headway made in clearing Apia harbour was only threequarters of a knob. When the Calliope left Apia all the American and German shipwrecked sailors were in camp ashore, but tne supply of food was running short. The report that one of the seamen of the Calliope had been killed on board by a heavy sea is not true. The only casualty was to the carpenter, who sustained a slight injury, but has now recovered. The master-at-arms on board H.M.s. Calliope gives a graphic account of the i*econt gales at Apia. The Calliope, he states, was supplied with excellent coal on her vi&ifc to Wellington with the squadron, and during the height of the hurricane at Samoa steam was kept up better than he ever remembers before. When steaming at sixty revolutions, she struck the Vandalia full on the quarter, and the engines were ."topped to prevent further damage. The Calliope then drifted astern within a few feet of the reef on which the other vessels had become total wrecks, and for self-preservation had to go ahead. In doing this she again struck the Vandalia, but without doing any injury. Iv passing the Vandnlia, rhe Calliope had to go so close to the reef that there were only live feot to spare. I At this time there were 60 men at the | wheel, that is, 10 on the gun -deck, 10 on I the lower deck, and the remainder on rei lieving tackle on the lower deck. \ It is estimated that some of the seas were fully 40 feet deep. As the Calliope steamed past the United States' flagship Trenton the latter ran up the bignals, " Good luck to you, boys !" j "Good-bye, Calliope." His Excellency the Governor, Lord Carl'ington, paid a visit to the Calliope on her arrival in Port Jackson, and congratulated Captain Kane and the officers on the manner in which tWey had handled the Svdxey, April 6. ! The question whether all the vessels o war which were in port at Apia on the j ofentful clay had steam up has been set at rest. It transpires that every one of the ships had steam up twelve hours before the j hurricane commenced. When the hurricane broke, all except the j Calliope were damaged, and were unable to make headway. The chief engineer of the Calliope says that not a single man attempted to leave the engine-room. All hands stuck to their duty for sixteen hours at a stretch. Lieutenant Emsinain, of the Olga, who wafe a passenger fiom Samoa by the Calliope says : " The E ber was smashed to atoms, and Ihoro is no doubt that nothing, remains of her, except some wreckage washed up on the beach." Referring to the escape of the Calliope, Lieutenant Emsinam says : " She was the only vessel of the lot which was of the most modern type, and that fact, together with the feplendid seamanship displayed ly those on board, enabled Captain Kane to accomplish the feat of clearing the harbour." The Olga has been rescued, Captain Douglas, oE the schooner Lily, who is harbour pilot, having succeeded in beaching her safely.