The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1898-03-25
LOSS OF SAGINAW
Disaster Recalled By the Sinking
Of the Maine.
OCEAN ISLAND TO KAUAI
Fate of Lieut.. Talbot and Four Men
Near Hanalei - The Rescuing
Party-Corvette Levant.
OCEAN ISLAND TO KAUAI


disasters in all waters. Most of the
residents Of Honolulu have more or
less clear recollection of the loss Of
life and ships in the hurricane at Apai,
Samoa. in 1889. Ships able TO travel
after the experience with the storm
put in here for repairs. About 143
men, Americans and Germans were
lost in that hurricane. Of the war
ships Trenton Vandalia, Nipsic and
CaIiope, the last named only was able
to steam out of the harbor and ride
the storm. The other three struck
the reef.
Much closer. home TO the people Of
Hawaii is the .sOrrowful story Of the
loss of the L. S. S. Saginaw, in the
year 1870. OF this ship and her fate
- the accounts say:
One of the most remarkable of these
catasuophes overlook the Saginaw in
1870. It was a steamer of the fourth
rate and carried seyenty-ive men and
officers. Midway in the vast expanse
of the Pacific ocean the vessel was
wrecked upon a mountain peak. This
peak, rising three and one-half miles
above the water, is known as Ocean
Island, one of the Midway group. On
this uninhabited and inhospitable
rock the voyagers were thrown, and
thought themselves fortunate to get
ashore without the loss of a life.
Captain Montgomery Sicard, who
was in command, ascertained by TAX
ing a Reckoning that he was somewhat
more than 1000 miles northwest from
the Hawaiian group, the nearest inhab-
tied land. So he and his ships crew
set TO work, and with pieces of wreck
age from the lost vessel, made such
additions of the gig as would render it
seaworthy. In this little boat, only %
feet in length, Lieutenant Talbot and
five men started off for help. The
voyage was perilous enough in so frail
a craft through the mighty swells of
the Pacific, In 36 days the most wes-
Eerly island of the Hawaiian group
was reached. A landing was attempt
ed through the surf, the small boat
was capsized and Talbot and four of
his men were drowned. Only one mem
Der of the expedition saved himself.
He could not swim a stroke, yet he
had survived six shipwrecks before.
His name was HalfOrd, and for his ser
vices in conducting a rescuing party
back to Ocean Island he was made a
gunner in the Navy. The boat in which
the famous voyage was made is pre-
served at Annapolis.
Ocean Island is a low reef instead of
a high mountain peak. Otherwise the
story is correct in almost every parti-
cular The westerly island was of
course Kauai. Captain" Montgomery
Sicard is now a rear-admiral and was
recently in command of the North At
lantic squadron. In speaking of the
Saginaw affair, a white man born on
Kauai, and there in 1870, said yester-
day:
IT was an awful thing for Liuet
Talbot and his four men TO lose their
lives on Kauai after what they had
gone through. They arrived off Kauai
during the night. We learned that
Talbot gave orders to tack away from
land and went to sleep, he being quite
exhausted. The men were worn out
with loss of sleep and with having but
little food and water. They allowed
the boat TO get in too close and she
was carried on the coral by the heavy
swell then on. This reef is between
Hanalei Bay and Kalihiwai. At low
water it is exposed. Had the party
waited till daylight natives would have
gone off from shore and taken them
into the mouth of Hanalei Bay. Two
men were alive as found by the Island
people in the morning. The name of
the sailor with Halford l forget, but
remember Halford quite well and
have seen him in Honolulu since The
other man died in a few hours. Some
of the bodies were not found for sew
eral days. The remains of Lieut.. Tai
bot were brought TO Honolulu and
placed in Nuuanu cemetery. He had
the name of being a magnificent young
fellow and he must have been to have
made that trip as a volunteer. They
had decked over the gig and made
quite a decent craft of it. You will
sometimes hear the story that the gig
is in use by natives on Kauai, but that
is incorrect. It was brought TO Homo
lulu and I believe the statement that
il is now in possession of the academy
at Annapolis is right"
A sailor man whose name if given
would be recognized by every one in
Honolulu, was sought out for a story
of the sending of the rescue party from
Honolulu to Ocean Island. He said:
THE Government dispatched the old
steamer Kilauea, of which S. G. Wild
er was agent to pick up the crew OF the
Saginaw. Halford went along. The
vessel was owned by the Government
and the authorities selected Capt. Tom
Long as the best man available out
of a whole lot in the field TO command
the expedition His first officer was
Capt John Rice, who after many ac-
tive years in seagoing has retired from
the captainey of the Tug Eleu. Prob
ably there are others in Honolulu who
were in the crew. Capt. Tom Long
had all the compass and chronometel
that he did have for the trip in his
watch and he fetched up the Island in
good time and without the least trou-
BILE in making his reckOnings. He was
fine navigator. The officers of the
Saginaw were greatly panied 10 learn
the fate of Lieut.. Talbot and as the
next subject of interest looked at Tom
Long taking the sun and making lun-