SCHOONER CAPSIZES

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1926, Page 9

SCHOONER CAPSIZES

TWO MEN DROWNED FOUR OTHERS RESCUED AT SEA,. NO FOOD OR DRINK FOR TWO DAYS By Tclegrsph—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. A ship's boat containing four men wai pieqed up by the steamer Colac the day before she arrived at Colon on her voyage from Montreal to Auckland, which site completed to-day. The rescued men were the captain and three able seamen of the small schooner Joseph Whitaker, which had capsized in a hurricane when bound from Colon to Bluefields. z When taken on board the steamer the men reported that .the mate and cook of the schooner had been drowned when she capsized. “I was on duty on the bridge on the night of October 20,” said Mr. T. AL Jarvis, the third officer of the Colac. “The night was fairly dark and there was a heavy sea running. The ship was one day's steam from Colon and was making about ten knots. Suddenly, alrnut a quarter past ten, 1 heard .a cry on the port bow, but at first thought it was the sound of a sea bird. Again the cry came, however, and this time the man on the look-out in the bow also heard it, and I then noticed a dark object on the port bow. We heard an answering hail and 1 then called the captain.” As soon as those on the Colac sighted the ship's Jioat the steamer's engines were stopped, and when she was again put under way she circled back to where the cries had been heard. No difficulty was experienced in locating the small boat, and the steamer was again stopped. The lifeboat then camo alongside, and when the small boat came within the glare of the lights from the steamer it was seen that it contained four men. Two coats and a piece of tarpaulin showed that the occupants of the boat had made some effort to get their little craft under sail. Once on board the Colac, the survivors were given hot tea and food, for they were badly in need of nourishment. The rescued men were natives of Panama, but were able to speak English fairly well. According to the men's story lheir ship, the Joseph Whittaker, a 50-ton schooner, had left Colon several days previously bound for Bluefields with general cargo, including machinery and farming implements. Stormy weather had been encountered, and on Saturday, October 18, the wind had blown with almost hurricane force. Fearing the worst, the captain had the schooner’s boat provisioned and warned the mate and the other members of the crew to remain on deck. During the afternoon of October 18 the men’s worst fears had been realised, the schooner having capsized. The mat-i and the cook', who had disregarded the master’s warning and had turned in, had no chance of escaping, and were drowned before they could gain the deck. Fortunately for the other members of tho schooner's crew, the lifeboat, whieh had been got ready, floated off when the schooner capsized, and although all the provisions and drinking water were lost, tho men had succeeded in righting the boat and scrambling aboard. From the afternoon of October 18 until the time they were picked up by the Colac during the night of October 20, the survivors had had neither food nor water nnd were almost exhausted. Their efforts to make a sail with ths captain's tunic and a tarpaulin rigged on two oars had been almost useless, and the men had about given up hope whew the steamer’s lights were sighted. Onee on board the steamer the men quickly revived, and when the Colac arrived at Colon on the following day they had almost recovered.. They wers landed at Colon.