SAVED FROM THE SEA.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 447, 19 February 1890, Page 3

SAVED FROM THE SEA.

Eighteen Taken From a Wreck. The Steamer Stag’s Good Work. A New York despatch of January 10th says :—A wonderfully thrilling tale of the rescue of a ship’s crew in a terrific gale at sea was told in a simple way to-day by Captain Muers, of the British steamship Stag, fifteen days overdue from Bremerhaven. It will be remembered that on December 30th the steamship Nestorian reported from Halifax an unsuccessful endeavour on December 18th to rescue the crew of the water-logged ship Shakespeare, Captain Muller, from Hamburg, November 25th. The crew asked to be taken off, but after two attempts the Nestorian suddenly lost sight of the Shakespeare and it was believed that she had foundered. On December 31st the steamship Sardeman, from Liverpool to Halifax, also reported passing the Shakespeare, but that .the ship was then abandoned. It was i thought that all hands were lost in the| fearful gale then raging, but Captain Muers set all these surmises at rest to-day by bringing Into this port eighteen members of the Shakespeare’s crew. Her captain, Muller, had died and was buried at sea before the rescue took place. Captain Muers says that on December 20th he ran into extremely bad weather and slowed his engines. At 3 o’clock in the morning the second officer reported distress signals making on the port bow. ‘ The Stag steamed toward the stranger as fast as possible,’ said the captain. ‘We sailed around her all night. Snow was falling and the wind was blowing a hurricane from the west northwest. At daybreak the signals had disappeared, but we steamed in the direction of the place we had last seen them, and - after a long search in a snowsquall our lookout sighted the vessel, and in five minutes we were nearenough to see that they wanted to leave her. ‘We tried all day to pass a line. To lower a boat would have been useless. The storm was more severe than ever. At about noon we passed her a line, but the Tope snapped. At night-we signalled that we would lie to until the next day, when we would attempt to send her a boat. We lost her again that night, but found her early Saturday morning. The gale had abated, so we passed her two lines and lowered a boat and sent her with a crew of four men to the Shakspeare. ‘When they got close to the ship five men jumped overboard and grabbed the life-line that had been passed them and were pulled on board. They had on life-jackets. On the second trip five more were picked up. ‘ There were eighteen in all. The crew was changed on the third trip. On each of the next tyvo trips four men were taken off. Four of the rescued were boys 16 years old, who were making their first passage. ‘Two of them were afraid to jump, and were picked up and thrown overboard by Chief Officer Mattes, who was the last man to leave the ship. He was very nearly drowned.

‘ The Shakespeare had been dismasted December 14th, and when the mast fell his left arm was broken. He could not get a life-jacket on, so he put a life-buoy about his waist and jumped overboard. ‘He went down head first, and. the buoy got about his feet and had bis head under water. He finally managed to free himself from it and was picked up. ‘ December 14th the'ship began to take water and the men were at the pumps from the 14th until Saturday. The third day Captain Muller died from exposure, and the following day was buried. The men were all iri extremely bad condition and are very ill still.”