Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-08

castle; off on the port quarter the German
man-of war Adler on her beam ends high up on
the reef. her propeller and rndder gone. much
OF her copper stripped from her bottom BY the
violence OF the waves after being wrecked. In
close proximity TO the German ship were great
blocks OF coral broken from the reef during the
storm and now left by the waves landmarks
OF the force of the terrific sea prevailing. In
various places the masts or some portion OF the
upper works of several merchant vessels
bore mute and sad evidence of loss of life and
property. Directly astern of the water-covered
Nandalia and not far from the starboard quar-
ter Of the Trenton lay the broadside Of .
schooner which had been dashed to pieces on
the reef during the night aud which, after max
ing the tour of the reef-locked blight containing
the wrecks Of the two American men-of-war,
had stuck fast on a protuberance Of the jagged
reef and remained fixed for weeks afterward.
Directly opposite the Trenton and vantialia
and between them and the beach lay the Nipsie,
boats gone. smokepipe gone, rigging broken,
lying keeled over to port, picture OF helpless
For of toward Matafele. with her bows point
ing toward the mouth Of the vaisigano river.
lay the German war ship Olga, hard and fast
on the coral sand bottom, and beyond q few
broken ropes and general appearance OF I'M
tidiness, looking, at this distance, not much
the worse for the perilous experiences OF the
past forty-eight hours
THE BEACH A MASS OF wnEcKAay
The beach, as far as the eye could reach. both
toward Matafele and Matonto, seemed q mass
OF wreckage, a prominent object directly OPP
posite the American ships being the ornamental
bow and fgure-head OF the lost German man
of-war Eber. This vessel had been one OF the
flrst of the war vessels I'm port TO go on the
reef. and had struck the jagged edge, hung for
moment, and then had capsized and gone
down with all hands on board. Four or five
men and one officer were washed ashore
through the surf with life enough remaining to
pull through.
THE BAND PLAYED JorrULLr.
As soon as the members Of the dag ships
band could recover their wits and instr uments
equally scattered by recent events. the strains
OF well-remembered airs were once more heard
on the morning air, and as the daylight
strengthened and the Sunday sun beamed upon
the disconsolate crowd gathered upon the deck
OF the Trenton. more or less congratulations
were exchanged between the survivors. and
already plans began to be discussed for the i'm
mediate future. In obedience to the admirafs
order, /, as pay master Of the yandalia, prepared
to go ashore by the first opportunity
to make arrangements for the messing
and shelter OF our men. The first craft
to Apr zach the ship was . native boat
manned by The crew Of that noble samoan.
Chief Suamanatafa, he being at the steering
oar. Into this boat 1 WAS speedily lowered, a
rope being passed around under my arms, and
SO left the Trenton, as it proved, for the last
time. for | never set foot on her decks again.
AS the chief skilfully guided the boat through
intricacies of the reef from the stern Of the
ship we passed quite close TO the starboard side
OF the Vandal;a and noted the fact that her
poop deck had been entirely torn loose from
the stern of The ship and by q strange irony
had hoated about until stranded on tho top
gallant forecastle, the opposite end Of the ship
The landing on the beach was effected without
incident. there being no surf.
Several of the officers of the Nipsic were on
the beach. as also pretty nearly all of the popu-
lation of the town, native and foreign
MIR. Gurr. an English resident. at once had
me taken to one OF the large general furnishing
stores with which Apia was supplied. and in
spite OF the day speedily had me in fair bust
ness condition, with a light straw hat. n pair of
thin trousers, soft socks. pair OF canvas shoes
and Chinese sort of blouse.
On the way from the beach the Differentiated
native expression "Kalo'ta Ali, - poor fellow"
gave evidence of the real confederation felt
by these gentle sayages.
The procurement of a comfortable barrack
Tor the crew of survivors was accomplished by
noon of that notable day. and a short message
in writing to Lieut.. Carlin brought all OF the
Vandalia's men ashore the same afternoon the
night being passed in a native church editice
not far from the landing.
LIVING IN COMPARATIVE COMFORT.
Rations in plenty we're assured from the stock
on hand in various stores and magazines,
means for replenishment from Auckland being
at once perfected, to be put into operation by
the next steamer Of the fortnightly service from
that port. OF necessity the police regulations
was speedily formulated by Admiral Kimberly,
drawn with especial reference to the novelty OF
the situation, and which experience proved to
be amply sufficient for the maintenance of
order during the weary weeks which followed
the wreck. The crew of the Nipsic returned to
their ship when ii became evident that the in
juries to her hull and bottom were not of SO
serious nature as was at first feared, SO that
the Trentons crew and the survivors from the
vandalia were the two bodies of Americans liv-
ing ashore.
The German survivors we came in contact
with but seldom, for the best of feelings did
not exist between us, and their headquarters
were more than mile distant up the shore of
the bay and not far from Munuluu point.
Naturally great care was taken to prevent the
occurrence of anything like an epidemic, and
one OF the first things attended to was the
quality OF the drinking and cooking water.
The river called the Vaisigano ran not far
from Camp Vandalia," as our barracks were
called, and at FIRST it hoped that this stream
coming, as it does directly from the mountain
range dividing the island Of Upolo in An east
and west direction, would be available for these
purposes. A few cases, however, of stomach
trouble among the men gave cause to suspect
the water, SO search made for another
hard to find, and a spring vi perfectly safe and,
for that climate, cool water was discovered,
and thereafter watering party" was one of
the first of the daily items in the routine car
ried out by the officer of the day.
Bringing water, sweeping the street for some
distance each way from the barracks, removing
the multitudinous debris constantly accumulat-
ing and the collection of eatables from the va
rious stores able to supply our acquisitions. en-
ployed quite a large percentage of the vandalia
survivors, and for those not SO employed daily
drill and inspection kept every man and officer
from idleness and tended greatly to the con-
tentment and average health enjoyed during
the long wait Tor relief.
BUT LITTLE FRUIT.
or fruit there was 9 comparative dearth, the
gale having destroyed great numbers of banana
plants, and the white man does not take kindly
to taro. The alligator pear, 80 nutritious and
toothsome, WAS not In season, and the medical
staff discouraged the use of cocoanut milk.
After the first few days succeeding the wreck
the dietary comprised beef, both flesh and
salt. Canned salmon, rice, bareback, fresh
bread, salt fish, canned meats, principally
colonial mutton, an occasional ration Of fresh
pork, beans, tea coffee, sugar, pickles, and an
occasional blowout" on plum duff" that
pudding dear to sailor heart with plenty of
plain sauce.
A German baker living not far from head
quarter had the contract for all the fresh bread
required, and 1t must be said that in the main
his efforts to supply good article we're