AMAZING RESCUE FROM UPTURNED STEAMER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 243, 23 March 1915, Page 6

AMAZING RESCUE FROM UPTURNED STEAMER.

HOW FRANCIS MCROBBIE CUT A HOLE THROUGH THE HUM. WITH OXYGEN AND A BLOW--1 il'E.

'v\ rtmail i b.e rescue, the story effc which reads like a piece of lietion, was effected at .'Peterhead on Saturday," says the Aberdeen correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. "That part of the Scottish ' coast has a sinister reputation amongst seafarers. Our navv men know it well. : It is the most easterly point in the British Isles, and round- the corner lays the Moray Firth, affording shelter from the ; sou-eastor, the most dangerous of all g.iics cn its iror-booud shores. | "Saturday morning's storm wag the worst for many a long day. A south-j easterly gale sprang up on Saturday | night, and by the, early hours of yesterday morning, the conditions were of the ywildest description. A salvage , craft, the Salvor No. 1, belonging to ft Thill firm, was on its way to the Hum-'

her from the north of Iroland, when stress of weather sent it to Peterhead. ; There is a harbor of refuge, and it lay safely in the shelter of the breakwater, until nearly seven o'ulock, whun daylight had begun to creep in. A SHIP TURNED TURTLE. ' "The anchors may have 'begun to drug, but, whatever the reason, the master evidently decided that there was , danger in remaining where he was, and j he endeavored to put out into the open I r-ca. As the little craft slowly headed j

seaward three immense breakers swept i down upon her. | "The lirst carried her a considerable , distance hevond the. bar, the second enguil'cd and almost capsized her, and j j.he third sealed her doom, tho ship , turning turtle mid sinking. The waves , w-Hi'il ii:c cviiH keel upon a reef of rocks at the ol her side of the Bay, 1 about 300 yards from the hind. | ••All tillhappened :». •• few < and. with no sign of life about the | craft, the watchers on shore assumed ; that, the crew had been thrown into the j sea or carried overboard by the ivioun- j

tainous breakers. Shorflv before eight o'clock, however, a hand was descried waving from the fore porthole on the port side of the upturned shivt. which was facing the beach. The porthole was onlv a few inches in diameter, and onh' visible oocasionnllv in the surging surf. T-. yevnu d bono -sil>l- to res"".' +1"- imprisoned sailor, hilt Francis Mcßobbie. a voting boi'ermaker, who has had considerable experience of mechanics and erases in America, though an attempt might be made to cut through the iron hull by the use of the blowpipe. TIME AND TIDE. "He accordingly got two cylinders, one of oxygen and the other of acetylene, and, standi'"; almost neck deep ill water

for an hour, made an opening some twenty inches square through the twoinch steel plato. and ultimately effected a rescue, which is probably without a "aralhd. It was the ship's cook, E. .T. E, Riches, hailing from Yarmouth, who owed his life to this ingenious and skilful blacksmith. "A great crowd had gathered opposite ' the scene, and followed the operations of Mcßobble and his assistants with intense interest. Tt was a light against ' both time and tide, for the sea was rising. When the poor fellow was hauled into the light of day. cheer upon cheer was raised; and rescued and rescuer were the heroes of the hour. Riches »:H9, us may be imagined, in a dazed and weak state, and some time elapsed before he

was able to make miv statement, except that he believed that he was the only one of a crew of seven who was below when disaster overtook the ship. "When he had completely recovered, he told the following story of his terrible experience. 'I don't know exactly what occurred. I was down below cooking in the foc-slo, so that even if I was imprisoned for a good many hours, T still had enough oxygen to keep me going. TAPPING ON THE HULL. "'As the boat lifted to the swell, I could sec the light through one of the portholes, and 1 put -my hand out and waved it. Every minute or so the boat dipped beneath the water. This went on for three hours. I was dazed and practically gasping for breath. I heard tapping outside the hull of the boat.

" Then someone spoke through the port- ' hole. The voice said: .'"Where will I \ cut open the hull?' I indicated this to him, showing him how to keep clear of ' tin' stanchions it seemed hours before 1 I knew anything else. There were 1 fumes of acetylene gas blown into the vessel and someone gripped me by the neck and pulled me out of the dark dunpeon of the hull, where for a time 5 death seemed to be my only hope of rek lease.' '•Mr Mr.Rolibie, the rescuer, is very 3 modest about his part, and said that 5 when he saw the man's hand he realised " that with the appliances he was ac--1 quainted wibh there was a fair "hnnoe > of saving his life. At all eVents, he " thought it was worth making the ats tempt; all he would say was that he s was glad his effort had succeeded."