The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-06-22
HI. B. NJ. s CALLIOPE
captain Kane's Statemet in Re-
gard to the Late Hurricane
at Samoa.

The following report of an inter
CIV with Captain Kane of II. B.
Ms. ship Call1ope possesses interest
II connection with the hurricane at
! .oia in March last It is credited
to the Seamen's Journal:
The harbor of Apia is as bad
Cce as you would care to enterJ
There is very little room, and ships
| I've to be moored the same way
tn stern anchors in order to make
OCm for other vessels. There never
I'd been previous to this, seven men
of war IN the harbor Besides these
t. ere were two large merchant yes
s9ls-a German of 1000 tons and a
Danish one of 400 tons, together
with six or seven smaller craft.
There was everything to indicate
that the gale would be heavier than
had already been experienced, and
had not implicit faith been placed
in all the pilots and the other
weather-wise prophets of Apia every
man-of war would have put to sea
early on Friday morning, taking
warning from the falling barometer.
Lulled into false security, everything
was made snug aboard the vessels
and then we awaited the bursting of
the gale with the utmost confidence
Long before evening closed, now
ever, we fonnd that we were
as Admiral Kimberly aptly ex-
pressed it, caught like rats in
trap in this small harbor, which is
scarcely large enough for two large
vessels. Another peculiar point
about this storm is the fact that,
instead of blowing from the north
east, as all previous hurricanes had
done, it set in dead from the. north,
thus exposing the warships to its full
fury.
DRAGGING THE ANCHORS.
''After sunset on Friday it was i'm
possible to 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
of fact, every ship dragged during
the night, for in the morning we all
found ourselves considerably inshore,
and to make things considerably
more dangerous the wind was blow
cat o'clock in the afternoon the
Eber, which was nearest in, was
thrown on the reef and broken into
bits, for at daylight nothing was to
be see of her. The Vandalia, which
had been anchored a long way out
side of the Calliope before the storm,
was dragging down on us. About
7:30 o'clock in the morning the Nip
sic, one Of the innermost vessels,
went on shore on bed of sand Her
bowspirit 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 is creditable to the Captains
'The Adler was the next ship
astern of the Calliope. She touched
the reef at s o'clock with her stern.
Just as she did SO the cables were
slipped and almost Immediately the
vessel was lifted bodily out of the
sea on the reef, where she now lies
: 1T of smooth water altogether.
hat will give you some idea of the
-orce of the waves and the sea that
as running. The crew lived aboard
le wreck from o'clock on Satur-
ny morning until Sunday morning,
when they were rescued, all very
ruch knocked about and bruised.
these three ships-the Adler, Eber
and Nipsic-were thus cleared away.
ard the Calliope was within twenty
yards of the reef.
A TICKLIsH POSITION.
"The Vandalia now come down on
,ur port bow, the reef being on our
: Jrt quarter, with the Olga close on
)Lr starboard quarter. / could not
ct my vessel ride to the extent of
Ter cables, with the reef so close as
ern of me. To move ahead would
De to run down the Vandalia. and If
,he Olga had gone ahead she would
AVE battered into the Calliope. 1t
vas the most ticklish position I was
ever in, and without exaggeration
several times the Calliope's rudder
vas within six feet of the reef. Had
The touched it would have been all
10 with US. / had to sheer over to
get out of the way of the Olga, to go
ahead to clear the reef, and to slack
cables when the Vandalia came down
IN me. At one time the three yes
els were locked together, and had 1t
lot been for the powerful engines of
he Calliope we would never have
''Not liking the idea of being
Knocked to pieces, I decided not to
emain in this position any longer.
There were two courses open-to
beach the vessel on the sand, which
would save the lives OF all on board.
,ut may be destroyed the vessel; the
'ther, to slip the cables and make
straight for sea, taking chances of