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THE SEA'S SECRET.

RETURN OF THE oABINE.

STORY OF THE SEARCH

NO WORD OF THE WARATAH

The Sabine, which went in search of the missing Waratah, returned to Capetown on December 7ih. Her story was merely one uf a lung search that ended in failure. She spoke to tour ships on tier 14,700 miles journey, and sighted one piece of wreckage. That was all. Though it was well ! r nown in t' e city that the Sabine wsis coming home, little interest was minifested in the return of the searcher?. It seemed as though everybody had given up hoping against hope, and that everyone had come to thd conclusion that she had been unsuccessful in her guest. At 10 o'clock on December 7th f she' steamed slowly into the Bay. At the Pier Head the Biirrovves, the. port tug, and the Tiger, lay with steam up ready to make outside, but beyond pressmen, a couple of Union-Castle officials, and the crews of the tugs, the quay was deserted. A few minutes after the hour the Burrowed whistla gave a mournful blast. She tracked silently from the pier, and glided almost imperceptibly , for the entrance. Ten minutes later the Tiger, creaking and groaning, followed suit.' When the Tiger reached the entrance the Sabine was pas- j sing the end of the breakwater. All | that could be made out from the tug ! were a few lights dotted here and | there; at the side of the black hull the wee port hoat clung like a limbet. The Sabine just made way and then came to a stop just off the end 1 of the South Arm. The port officials l were still at work, so the "iger ap- , proached her slowly, while those on board stared hard at the steamer. "ANY LETTERS?" The tug swung round the Sabine's stern; the searchlight played on the Bay and the City—a mass of dazzling lights. "Any letters?" came a voice from a group of three standing out in relief over the steamer's side, which loom- ; ed up unpleasantly high above the bridge of the Tiger. "They're coming," shouted back the tug's skipper, and the figures disappeared. At length the Tiger came up alongside, and by means of a ladder Messrs J. A. Duff and Bert Hankinson, of the Union-Castle Line, and a quartette of pressmen swarmed up the side of the Sabine. The deck was practically deserted and in darkness. Beyond the inquirers after letters and the officers everybody else was below. In his cabin Captain Owen, and Lieutenant Beatty, who made the journey on behalf of the Admiralty, told all they had to tell of the unsuccessful search for the missing Waratah. The story was brief. In effect it told of the search that had proved ineffectual, and of a voyage devoid of extraordinary incident. Mr Duff read it to the little audience who gathered in the skipper's cabin. The Sabine, it was stated, left Cape Town on Saturday afternoon, September 11th. On Saturday, September 25th, she spoke to the Norwegian barque Imitra. The only time during the voayge that werckage of any sort was seen was on October 4th. On that day the watchers saw a piece of scant- > Jing floating in the water. It measured roughly about eight feet by six inches broad and six inches deep. "The ship was worked up'as close as possible," ran the narrative of the voyage, "but the weather was too rough to lower a boat. The piece of Bantling was covered with barnacles and must have been in the water for a considerable time." SHIPS THAT PASSED. The special circle of search, which had as its entire Latitude 39 deg. South, Longitude 40 deg. East,, and was about 400 miles in diameter, was reached on September 17th, and left on October 6rh, during which time 3.409 miles were covered. The distance from Cape Town to Possession Island is 7,163 miles. On October 23rd the Sabine arrived at Possession Island of the Crozets Group. The searchers examined American Bay and Ship Cove, but found nobody there or any sings of recent habitation. On Monday, November Ist, she spoke to the S. S. Gryfvale, "and she informed us that she had no news of the Waratah." On Monday. November Bth, the Sabine communicated with the Italian barque Australia. On Friday, November 12th, the vessel anchored off St. Paul's Island. "Landed and examined the island," j proceeded the report, "but found nobody there. There were several fishermen's boats and signs of their | having been there lately. Distance

covered from the Crozets to St. Pauls Island 3,315 miles." On Sunday, November 14th, the Sabine sighted a steamer, "but failed to communicate. We saw what we took tc be Ellerman's private night signal." On Friday, November 26th, she spoke the S. S. Marthara. • "The ships mentioned,'' the report concluded, "were the only vessels that were sighted during the whole time, except \shen in the vicinity of the South African coast. The distance covered from St. Paul's Island to Cape Town was 4,222 miles, making a total of 14,700 miles travelled by the Sabine." Captain Owen was questioned with regard to the cable received in connection with the lonic and her wireless telegraph signals. The captain dismissed the story with the remark: "A fertile imagination." The Sabine, it seemed, never even saw the lonic. "They might have seen the searchlight." interposed Lieut. Beatty, "but we certainly did not communicate with or see her." HEAVY WEATHER AT THE CROZETS. Captain Owen went on to sa.v that during th« momh of October excaedingly" heavy weather was experienced, and thd ship had a pretty rough time. This was in the neighbourhood of the Crozet Islands. Much fog, it appeared, was met with, which greatly hampered the steamer's movements. "The weather was so rough at periods," continued the Captain, "that it was enough to keep the ship going, let alone lower a boat." In the course of further conversation, the skipper said that a look-out was kept day and night. The searchlight was kept going at night for five in every fifteen minutes, except during wet weather, when they could not burn it, and then the whistle wa= blown continually. "Down south," the captain explained, ''the nights are very short, and we had daylight, practically speaking, from half-past three !n the morning until half-past eight in the evening." Tn the circle, he explained, the engines were eased up, and the ship went fairly slow." "Nothing was seen, captain, beyond the ships you mentioned, and the solitary piece of wreckage?" he was asked. "Nothing," responded the captain. And here the interview in the cosy little cabin came to a close. The deck of the Tiger waj soon reached. Farewells were exchanged over the sidp, and then the bow of the Tiger was turned for the Docks.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19100113.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9689, 13 January 1910, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,138

THE SEA'S SECRET. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9689, 13 January 1910, Page 3

THE SEA'S SECRET. Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9689, 13 January 1910, Page 3

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