A Sensational Voyage.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7730, 4 February 1905, Page 2

A Sensational Voyage.

e THE INVERCARGILL NEARLY FOUNDERS. Further details are published by the New Zealand Times 1 concerning the Sensational experience 01 the Shaw-Saviil sui.ling ship Invcrcargill, W'hl'Uj;. bound from Sydney 10 Europe. The l»vercargill was moored up in Wellington harbour for many months prior to receiving orders to load wheat at Sydney. Captain Bowling, wlw is widely kaowu in New Zealand, stated on arrival at Queenstown that on December Othtlio vessel had narrowly escaped foundering in a gale in latitude 47deg. not and longitude 10 *eg.. wes'tt During his career of thirty years as a ship's master he had never had such an experience. When between Now Zealand and Capo Horn tli»y experienced a gale which washed away the port top-gallant bul- , warks. They shipped tons of water, had the cargo shifted, lost sails, and sustained other damage. EveryI thing ...went well subsequently until December 9th, when a violent southwesterly gale arose, and the vessel commenced so ship water over the quarter is tonsj On tho afternoon of 'the same day a tremendous wave burst over tho snip. Eight o,f the crew were caught by the huge sea and swept from the fore-part of the ship to the afterpart, .where they managed to, clutch on to the rails and mizzjen rigging, and thus saved themselves*. The .water filled the sa|loon, forecastle cabins, and galley, and destroyed everything, in them. The lifeboat was swept oveifooard and lost, the compasses and binnacles were washed away, the saloon companion and skylights were smashed, and the second mates cabin was wrecked*, the carpenftor's store and lamp shop were gutted;, and the deifts were filled with water from end to end. How the ship remained afloat under such a weight of water seemed miraculous. The sails had teen blown out of the bolt-ropes, and to add to M» seriousness of the situation the !:f r i' iro 1 asain «M:'ted. The vessel was s derablo portion of the cargo was clfort was made to jettison the cargo), in order to right the ship, as «hq was absolutely at the me'cv of than «!' 1 lent ' S ' (1 WiUl lwr fort, . v «'* "ore than tat m the water on the starboard side. During the night a considerable portJc, of the cargo was out at great risk of life. The liirht eiung of U,,, tJ,e\S" and by daybreak on December loth the gale had moderated. It was on £ then that a true idea of the con" di lonof the .ship became apparent the * 1 '7 WC, ' e in ,l terrible plight their beds, bed-clotliiing. and wen •' "W 'apparel' having bebnWr, wash." fe", T n ; aivd **<**•«& m . galley had also been wrecked aad lood could not be cooked AfS tore nuTl laW , lhu c °»™™ „' . Ilmd . e lo * unpleasant, and the gnawed Ji,m to nav.gato tho vessel.