The Hawaiian gazette., 1902-06-10

-
northwest Of the Island Of Kauai
~ the remains Of what was once the
elegant British steel ship Fannie Kerr
is floating. smoking derelict. Fire
broke out on the vessel while she was
ON her way from Newcastle to San
Francisco and forced the captain and
crew to abandon her in mid ocean. The
last boat had scarcely showed away
from the side OF the flaming vessel. be
fore the coal gases exploded with a
terrific force that drove the decks and
superstructure high into the air The
captain and his men made the best OF
their way in the open boats toward
| Kauai. arriving there and on Niihau In
detachments on last Friday and Satur-
day.
The first news of the abandonment of
the vessel was brought Saturday morn
ing by Captain Tullett, the master of
the steamer James Makee, which ar
rived from Anabola. At the time that
Tullett left Kauai for Honolulu, only
half OF the crew had made land safely
and fears were entertained for the
safety of the first officer and fifteen
men. British Consul HOare was mott
fled of the affair and he in turn COM
municated with Admiral Merry. the
commandaut Of the local naval sta
ton. Admiral Merry at once gave or
ders to have the Albatross get ready
TO start In search Of the missing men,
the Government tug Iroquois also be-
ing ordered TO coal and be ready to
stand by. The Albatross waited until
the arrival Of the steamer w. G.. Hall
yesterday morning from Kauai, how
ever. in order to learn additional news
Of the lost men. The Hall brought the
news Of the safe arrival Of the missing
men. one party making Waimea, Kauai,
safely and the other reaching Niihau
Inasmuch as all of the crew had been
saved, there was no necessity for the
Albatross going in search of them, so
the vessel remained in port.
The Fannie Kerr left Newcastle, Aus
trala. April 7. bound for san Fran
cisco with 1880 tons Of coal. She car
ried coal from the North Extended col
llery. which is considered very dan
gerous variety. She was commanded
by Captain Charles Gibbons and car
ried "A crew Of twenty-nine men, in adj
ditlon TO the first and second officers
and the captains young son. How
long the vessel was at sea before the
fire was discovered is not now known.
But the reports received from Captain
| Gibbons state that the coal was on
fire for many days. Finally. on May
30. the fire got beyond all control and
burst forth, both fore and aft. 1t was
then that the captain and crew had to
take to the boats.
The disaster had been expected and
all Of the boats had been well provis-
Toned. Captain Gibbons, his son and
ten members of the crew got into one
boat; the second mate and four men
took the dingey; First officer Lockwood
and eleven men took another boat,
while four more went in the gig. 1t
was o'clock on the afternoon of May
49, while in north latitude 26.l5, west
longitude 1880, and about 500 miles
northwest OF the Island of Kauai, that
the boats were showed off. They had
been but short time from the ship
before the coal gases blew up, destroy
ing everything of the decks and send
ing the hames higher into the air. No
one was injured, however.
Strong northeast winds and heavy
seas were experienced and within "A
short time the dingey filed and the four
men had to be taken into the captains
tinued very bad. on the third and
fourth days, southwest winds with
| squalls and heavy rains, were encoun-
tered After this, the weather shifted
to north to northeasterly winds, with
frequent Gains and smooth seas. In
some manner the three boats got sepa-
| rated during the first night, IL Is
! thought. Captain Gibbons boat was
| provided with sail and, in addition.
| the men used the oars. For eight DAYS
| the crowd was at work and finally. on
the morning Of June 6, they arrived off
/ MakaWeli, where they landed.
They met the steamer Mikahala, Cap
] tam Gregory Of that vessel taking them
IN charge. To Captain Gregory Captain
Gibbons expressed the opinion that the
| two missing boats were steering a
course for French Frlgate Shoals
| which would have brought them about
600 miles 10 the north northwest of Ka-
uai Captain Gregory was then anchored
| a. Maxwell and he communicated with
/ captain Tullett of the steamer james
Makee, at Anahola, apprislng him of
! the loss of the vessel and the probable
/ loss OF the mate and fifteen members
! OF the crew. Captain Gibbons decided
to remain with the Mikahala while his
men were taken over to Waimea, to
await her return to Honolulu.
AS SOON as Captain Tullett made
own'the news in Honolulu the great
est interest was taken in the probable
rate of the missing men. and Admiral
Merry's prompt measures OF relief re-
ceived universal praise. 1t was origin
ally Intended 10 have dispatched the
Albatross Saturday evening for Kauai.
and have her try and speak the w. @.
Hall en- route, as 1t was thought possl-
ole that Captain Gibbons might come
! down on the Hall. or else some further
details OF the case might be learned.