OCEAN BULLIES.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 272, 9 April 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

OCEAN BULLIES.

Nobody rcetls to be told of the honors of a collision at sea. The grinding impact of the iron-shot bow as it bites its way into the vitals of its victim ; the crash of falling blocks and spars ; the shrieks of the injured, and the wild panic amongst passengers or crew who feel their floating home settling away beneath their feet ! All this is teiiible enough even when help is at hand and the collider stands by to assist the run-down sh'p. What, then, shall be said of that skipper who, after carelessness or lack of seamanship on the part of himself or his officers, has caused Mich an accident, backs hastily out, and, leaving his victims to drowu like rats in a trap, proceeds remorselessly on his way, lest his identity should bo discovered and himself or his owners suffer just penalty ? Yet such things do happen, and not once or twice only in a year, but, almost every week. There are too many of these " ocean bullies," whose reckless navigation is only equalled by their reckless disregard for human life and suffering. It was on January 22, 1873, that the most brutal act of octau-bullying ever took place, and cost Englaud—or rather one of her colonies—nearly 300 lives. The Northfleet, a large sailing ship, left London for Australia with 379 souls aboard, most of them emigrants. Head winds drove her into Margate roads, whe e she lay with lights properly hoisted. About half past 10 the watch noticed a two-masted rcrew steamer comingstraighfc towards them. They hailed her, but she paid no attention, and at full speed crashed into them amidships with such terrible force as to actually cut almost in two a man sleeping in his berth. An awful scene ensued. Everyone rushed on deck, only to see the steamer backing out, and several of her crew throwing a tarpaulin over her figurehead lest she should be recognised. There was a shocking panic amongst the emigrants, who could feel the Northfleet sinking beneath them. A rush took place for the boats, which was only stopped after Captain Knowles had been obliged to shoot one big navvy. But 86 only escaped out of the 377, so quickly did the vessel go down. The worst of the matter was tint the scoundrelly culpit escaped free. It was almost certainly the Murillo, a Spanish steamer, which was proved to have actually been in collision off the south coast that very night; but unfortuuately her identity could not be brought legally nud formally home, and after being detained some months at Cadiz she was released. But " ocean bullies" do not always escape scotfree. Some two years ago the Collingham, brigantine, with a cargo of coals from Liverpool, was run into by a steamer in a fog off the Welsh coast. The sheered off in a desperate hurry, and the Collingham, with a large hole in her port side,"put into Milford for repairs. During the progress of these repairs, a length of iron was found partly embedded iu the collier's side. A day or two later a Bristol steamer, putting into Cork with a somewhat damaged bow, was arrested and detained. But her identity with the vessel that rammed the Collingham would never have been proved had it not been that this piece of iron was s'.iown to be the same diameter and manufacture as the steamer's rail, and, what was more, to tic exactly into a place where in evidently new rail had been lately fixed. The very biggest ships afloat often suffer from "ocean bullies," and it is a curious fact that as often as not the smaller vessel sinks the big one. The loss of the Elbe, run down by the Cra-thie-a far smaller steamer—must be fresh in everyone's memory aud the terri- ■ ble loss of life—nearly 300—connected with her sinking. The Crathie, however, did not wilfully desert the liner, but lost her in the darkness ; and, fearing she was herself about to sink, got into port as rapidly as possible. Then there was that magnificent new 6000, ton Cunarder Oregon, sunk off Firo Island some twelve years ago. Many people supposed that Jenians had placed an infernal machine aboard her, which blew her side out. As a matter of fact, there is but little doubt that it was a coal-schooner, whose wreck was afterwards found a few miles away at the bottom of the shallow sea, that struck and sunk her that Sunday night. Most happily, not a single life wad lost on that occasion, though the amount of valuable property that went to the bottom was enormous. It was curious to get, months afterwards, sea-6tained letters from the Oregon's mail-bags, which were recovered by divers. " Tramps "—that is, steamers that have no fixed ports, but are chartered anywhere, as cargo may offer—are the worst offenders in the way of collisions. Undermanned with crews of Dutchmen and Lascars at starvation wages, the watch is often badly kept, and freights are so low that the owners kick if an hour is wasted, and an extra shilling spent, or pound of coal burnt. There are nowadays more ocean tragedies on the banks ef Newfoundland than anywhere else in the world. Huudreda aud hundreds of little French, Scotch, Canadian, and Amercan fishing schooners haunt each autumn these foggy, stormy, seas light in the track of the great Atlantic liners.

. With one of these 10,000 or 12,000 ton liners the pace is so terrific, the momentum tf the moving mass so huge, that the shock or running down a mere fishing smack is barely perceptible—a alight bump, a little grating noiße, and all is oves; and if the fishermen are not, with their beat, mangled and ground to pieces far dowu in the chill depths, they are floating so far astern that search would be utterly useless. Mournful stories one hears of broken spars, shattered planking, and mutilated bodies—all that is left to maik the passage of that migLty mass of flying steel.