CAPTAIN HERO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 321, 21 January 1908, Page 3

CAPTAIN HERO.

C-VVK 10,S LIFKBKLT AXD LIFE FOR THE SHIP'S JiuV. The tragedy ol the lost British steamy -Mcrviiiian. told In- survivors, \vji<. itrnved in C'ardill', after being landed in l'l.vmoutli, was leavened by an incident ol' the kind that makes pride of Englislinien. The Alervinian, a C'ardill' vessel, foundered on October 4th, ill the tumult of the ltay of Biscay. Iter crew were cast on an overwhelming „ca, anil six olli of 23 were drowned.

The survivors' story is all of a lost hero, their captain—Captain t). Lewis, ol Liverpool. Amongst the crew, they was a lad named Bcale, whose parent's live in Marseilles. jle was reluming to them after a long round voyage in tho ship, and was acting as purser. The captain—Captain l-ewis—took quite a fatherly interest in the lad. Having called at .Swansea fur a coal cargo, the ship steamed for .Marseilles. In the Bay of Biscay, sighting the French shore, the captain said cheerily to the boy purser, "Back again, my lad; shall you be most glad—or mother';"

J'ut the weather, which was stormy, became a hurricane ill the stormy bay! Tile ship Strained, and her cargo shifted. The scene was pitilessly changed. The ship was turning turtle." For hours the crew wrestled with the shifting cargo, but in vain. At last the order was given to launch the boats; not before it was plain that a few minutes only remained for escape. It was desperate work, for seas swept over the deck, now at an alarming angle with the water. In the hurry young lieale was forgotten. Then he was missed.

He was on the bridge, lie had lost his presence of mind, and lnul not possessed himself of a lifebelt. lie crouched and cluny to the rails, terrilied at the turmoil and deadly peril. Men shouted to him, but he took no heed. In iinqtho l minute the ship would turi( over upon him.

Captain Lewis gained the lad's side, but lie could not lie induced to leave the bridge. It was a desperate iiKiiuent. The captain unbuckled his lifebelt and put it round the lad. Then he [ticked lieale up and hurled him into the sea. dear of the swilling wreckage. Almost at the same instant a great wave washed the captain and several of the crew over* board. All that remained of the ship three minutes later was two small boats full of seamen amidst terrible waves, and a hulk floating bottom up. ()ue boat was swamped. The men in the remaining one endeavoured to rescue their comrades. Captain U'wis was lor-t to sight for the time; the boy wa» sen supported by the belt on the summit of a wave.

One by one the men from the swamped boat were rescued. When three or four had been hauled in. .Mr. Nicholson,, the chief engineer, who lielonged to CardilV, w.i" seen swimming some distance away, with the captain m line, but a little, beyond him. Nicholson was heard shouting, " Donkeynian! come here and pick me up."' ''We rowed," said a survivor. " as last as we could, but against the sea we could make very little headway, and when at last we reached the spot, both the chief engineer and the captain had disappeared. Neither rose to the surface again. The captain could have been saved If lie had kept the licit. "And young ISeale was also lost. We could see him for some time, kept from sinking by the licit, but we could nevr reach liim. He was swept awav. After ten hours a steamer picked us up, ant took us to Gibraltar, where she was bound."