OVERBOARD IN A CYCLONE.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 February 1916, Page 7

OVERBOARD IN A CYCLONE.

BOY'S WONDERFUL SWIM. MIRACULOUS ESCAPE FROM , ; , J. DROWNING. 'A true "shark story" was told to an Auckland Star reporter a fe* days ago by a young lad named Charlie Hand, who lives at Devonport. He had just returned from a long sea Voyage in a vessel well known in Auckland Harbor. The boy, who is the central figure in the story, had, during a recent cyclone in the tropics, an escape from drowning, which was described by the crew of the vessel as being miraculous. The lad stated that on a recent Sunday morning the ship was making the voyage from Fanning Island to Suva (Fiji). During the earlier hours, a shark had been sighted at the stern of the vessel. It was exceptionally large even for the species which frequent tropical waters. One of the crew remarked that it was a thing of ill-omen for the shark to follow the vessel so closely, but the men passed the matter by lightly, little thinking that within an hour one of them would- be fighting for his life against a merciless sea and a fear of the following shark. A short time after this % storm sprang up. The eea was aggravated to mountainous waves, which swept the decks of the vessel and threatened to carry all before them. The lad said that the waves walled the vessel in and the sky wag as black as ink. The rain —sometimes frozen into hail —beat down upon the ves«el in sheets, and the wind howled above the sounds of the falling rain and the breaking waves. The boy was on the fpredeck, and decided to seek shelter owing to the vie* lence of the storm. He turned to make for the forecastle when he saw a huge wave about to break over the bows. He ran for shelter, hut was too late. He was caught in the oncoming mass of water and hurled into the air until he finally fell into the. sea. He describes the shock as being so sudden and so terrible as to have left no memory with him of the exact way in which lie reached the water. It seemed an age to him before lie came to the surface, but when at last he could see the black sky above, he cried for help. The wave had thrown him some distance from the ship, hut his position was discovered, a buoy was thrown to him, and preparations were made for lowering a boat. The buoy landed within a short distance of aie lad. but he was uiibale to reach it for sonic minutes. Each time that lie struck out for the lifebelt he was flung back by the waves, and if it we-c 110 c for the fact that he was a strong swimmer he would probably not have been saved. By hard swimming he came nearer to the buoy, and was at ln»:t rjile to grab the encircling cord, and io -est, «s he was almost exhausted. For about an hour he waited. The elements deadened all sounds which would have perhaps helped the searching boat to find him. Difficulty had been found in launching the boat, and the fitting.- Were badly damaged by the sen. The searchers were almost in touch with the exhausted boy when ti wave rose .between and hid the rescuers from the lad's view. He said that wlien he caught the lifebelt, he suddenly remembered the s'.iark which had been following the bout, and realised that it might still be near by. This prompted him to lie across the buoy, instead of passing it over his body. The light, which flashes when the belt touches the water, burned his. legs, and he had to loosen it and hold it away, at the same time battling with the sea, which threatened to separate hi'" from the sustaining buoy. When the boat missed him the' first time, it was some minutes before he again saw the anxious faces of the searcher* to whom he was finally able to swim. The young fellow said' that by this time h P was almost dazed by ail' hour's battling, but he was able to scramble aboard the surf boat and to finally reach the steamer. The vessel went on its way, the cyclone continuing, to drive the giant waves against her sides.