THE TAONUI.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 16, 19 June 1913, Page 17

THE TAONUI.

HOPES OF HER SAFETY. Per Press Association. Gisborne, June 17. Captain W. B. Sewell, who is bringing out the Taonui, is an experienced mariner. He figured in the mishap to the s.s. Pilbanu, of which vessel he was second officer, when that boat broke her tail shaft off the West Australian coast some ten years ago. Captain Sewell, with a crew of four men, left the disabled steamer and made a perilous voyage of close on a thousand miles to the Australian coast in order to secure help. The boat sprang a leak through the buffeting she received by the seas, and the crew had a perilous and anxious time of it before they made the Westralian coast. A steamer was sent out and picked the Pilbarra up and safelv towed her to port. Captain Sewell first ■ame to Gisborne as master of the s.s. ■xotere, a vessel purchased by the Gisborne Shecpfarmers' Frozen Meat Co., Ltd., as a cargo steamer for working the East Coast ports. On the Kotere being purchased by another shipping com pany, Captain Sewell was appointed marine superintendent for the Sheepfarmers' Co., and, as such, left Gisborne about a year ago to supervise the construction of a salvage and towing tug for the company, and the Taonui was the outcome. Captain Sewell is a married man, and his wife and two little sons reside in Gisborne. A local shipmaster gave it as his opin ion to-night that what had happened was that the tug had got into a heavy sea •and- a> quantity of top hamper had been washed overboard. He was confident that she would soon be reported from Gibraltar. Captain Sewell, as far as is known, was the only Xew Zealander aboard. $ 0 list of the crew is known locally. The vessel left Glasgow on May 30 and steams at between 10 and 11 knots an hour.