The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1889-06-25

Captain KaHe'S Statem6t in Re-
gard TO the Late hurricane
al Samoa.

The following report Of an inter
view with Captain Kane Of II. B.
1Is ship CaIllope possesses interest
IL connection with the hurricane at
Arza ID March last. 1t is credited
70 TIE Seamen's Journal:
The harbor Of Apia IS as bad a
che = vou would care TO enter
There i very little room, and ships
have 70 be moored the same way
with stern anchors IL order to make
room for other vessels. There never
had been previous to this, seven men
df-wa- II the harboT Besides these
there were two large merchant YES
sal=-a German Of 1000 tons and
Danish one Of 400 tons. together
with SIX OF seven smaller craft.
There was everything TO indicate
t1at the gale would be heavier than
had already been experienced, and
had not implicit faith been placed
II al the pilots and the other
TEeather-wlse prophets Of Apia every
-uzu-1f vyar would have put to sea
ezr-v on Friday morning, taking
Tyar1luE from the falling barometer.
LuL-el mo false security, everything
was made snug aboard the vessels
and then We awaited the bursting of
-le gale with the utmost confidence.
Long before evening closed. now
ever. We found that We were
a. Admiral Kimberly aptly ex-
pressed II. caught like rats IN
--a-s.- il this small harbor, which is
scarcely large enough for two large
vessels. Another peculiar point
about tins storm Is the fact that,
instead q blowing from the north
ezs- a. all previous hurricanes had
done il set in dead from the north,
thus exposing the warships to its full
fury
DRAGGING THE ANCHORS.
after sunset on Friday 1t was i'm
possible 10 see the reef for the haze
and rain. and what was worse, it was
impossible to see If the vessels were
dragging their anchors. As a matter
ri fact every ship dragged during
t1e night, for il the morning We all
found ourselves considerably inshore, |
and ID make things considerably |
more dangerous the wind was blow /
M straight into the larbOT.
al : O'Clock IN the afternoon the /
Elsr. ELicL was nearest in. was
thrown GA the reef and broken into F..
bits E1r I'll daylight nothing was to
dr seen u her The Nandalia. which .
had been anchored q long way out
E6eaf the CalIOpe before the storm,
uaz dragging down on Us. About
: 40 o'clock u The morning the Nip
Sic. one Of the InnermOst vessels.
Vre-t on shore on a bed Of sand. Her
51Usulrlt was right over the dry
sand and the smart way that the
men were leaving her made me con-
clude that she was breaking up.
Only five men from this vessel lost
their lives in trying to reach shore,
which j. creditable to the Captains
aEemeur.
The Adler was the next ship
-=-arl i tbe Calli0pe. She touched
.la reef at S O'Clock with her stern.
Just rs she did So the cables were
=rual and almost Immediately the
vessel ws lifted bodily out Of the
=sz l- lle reef where she now lies
--- lt smooth water altogether
- E-z-l gave You some idea Of the
.a Isl the waves and the sea that
was running. The crew lived aboard
le wreck from s o'clock on Satur-
lzy morning until Sunday morning,
ELsu they were rescued, all very
much knocked about and bruised.
These three slips-the Adler. Eber
md Nlrzic-were thus cleared away,
md the CalliOpe was within twenty
-aris q the reef
a EICELIsH POSITION.
The Eandalia now come down on
.ur port how. the reef being on our
Don't quarter. with the Olga close on
5u- stzrboard quarter. l could not
q M vessel ride to the extent of
ler cables with the reef so close as
ar q me To move ahead would
be- 10 run down the Vandalia, and if
he Olga had gone ahead she would
ave battered into the Calliope. 1t
VS. the most Gcklish position l was
.ver ID. and without exaggeration
several times the Calhope's rudder
-as within SIX feet Of the reef. Had
o. touched it would have been all
~ with rs / had to sheer over to
- out q the way Of the Olga, to go
head 90 clear the reef. aud to slack
a= wheu the Nandaia came down
z me AT one time the three yes
uaa locked together. and hadn't
- .al fur the powerful engines Of
q. Llae we would never have
~
-S- EEaE the idea Of being
-.-saL 10 pieces. I decided not to
u this position any longer.
~ were two courses open-tO
se vessel ca the sand, which
save The lives of all on board.
-t usy be destroyed the vessel; the
-=- 10 slip the cables and make
zLt 5d- SEA. taking chances of
DIS machinery breaking down or
,e1g powerful enough
-HE VESSEL STOOD on END.
i said that I would endeavor to
ave all Accordingly l slipped the :
d. r.Ts.z and -rar7+ hard ahead calling