FEARFUL EXPERIENCES AT SEA

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2757, 15 March 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

FEARFUL EXPERIENCES AT SEA

THE CATALONIA IN THE GALE. THREE MEN SCALDED TO DEATH. The pni-eonors of the Canard steamship Catalonia, from Boston, were landed at LLiverpool, aud ouo of them (Mr James. Hollo way, of Stalybridge), gives the following narrative of the hurricane encountered by tho steamer recently :—" For the fiwt two days after wc. loft Boston the weather was bad. On Friday uight "almost all on board'gave themselves up for lost. The storm commenced at about nine o'clock in the evening. About that timo thore was an awful crash, and the ship trombled under tho impact from stem to stern. She was struck by an enormous wavo, which demolished or carried away almost everything on deck. On : going abovo, 1 found three of the boats swept away, the davits twisted and snapped, the bridge demolished, and the ventilators wrenched off. Through tho broken ventilators aud broken doors the wa'er poured down into the cabins in enormous quantities. The waves rose as high as the mainmast of the ship, and roared over her in a frightful manner. In the intermediate saloon forward ono of the portholes was fotci-'d out, aud through this the water poured until the saloon was flooded. Movable objects like valises "and articles which had broken loose wero washed about, and the pas. sengers were occupied during the greater part of- the night in bailing the water out. The officers' cabins and some of the state-rooms were half full of water. It was bitterly cold, and everybody, wet through, had a most trying time. About 2 o'olook-in ;the morning a huge wave got down the funnels and put out six of the i fires. However. the stokehole'was cleared out as quickly as 'possible,'and after some time the fires were relighted. 1 All on .board did their best to assist the captain ; and orew. About this time the steampipe ('ur*t in the forecastle, scalding to death , tho three firemen—Michael Tear, Cor lelius Uaviu and Shorn Jones. Thomas Farley, a fourth, fireman, was also badly hurt. One of the seamen*was badly injured. Ho was swept of the bridgo against an iron stanchion and rendered insensible. The day before we arrived at Queenstown one of the steerage- passengers from Boston died, The ship's doctor had his hand dislocated, and some of the stewards were hurt. The storm, in fact, was so bad that we did not think tho steamer would weather it "