The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-07-23
KAIULANI IN
DIRE DISTRESS

tapia'a Ch.pperfold. chief officer OF
the American bars kniuiani. taptain
loliy BE- going through TO the states
aboard The :. :. Mariana lie has A
thrilling tale Of distress and personal
danger o. fel. aud feels lightly thank.
iul tAst 4. al.Ve TODAY % tell IL.
The kalulaui, bound from Newcastle
10 Hoaolulu with 1866 tons Of coal. put
into Auckland harbor ia dire distress
on June IL, sorely weatherbeaten aud
steering with jury rudder
The haiulani was sighted of Tiritiri
Island shortly after daylight, aud was
signalling for a tugboat 10 be sent to
her assistance.
Cbipper6eld gives the, following in
tefesting version Of what happened;
The barque left Newcastle on ApriI
10, and had strong easterly winds and
bad weather for several days. thence
tne weather until passing the North
cape, on the 22nd day out from New.
castle. Fine weather was then met
with till May l6. The barque was then
in lat. $3.50 south and long. 1854 80
west, or about 800 miles to the east.
ward OF East Cape, New Zealand. Here
the haiulani encountered a very severe
gale from the northeast, which gradual
~ hauled round to the west, and blew
with terrific force. These conditions
lasted for three days, making matters
very uncomfortable for everyone on
board. On the first day the bardue
lost several sails, including the fore.
san, lower topsail, staysail, etc. On
the second day tremendous sea struck
the windjammer' ON the port side.
and broke just ON the stern, smashing
the rudder IN three places, and tearing
one large piece away altogether. The
gale ragged throughout the day. and also
on the following day. Next day the
gale subsidized, light airs and Gains pre-.
vailing.
When the weather moderated Can
tain Colly set TO work 10 fix up Jury
tackle for the remnant Of the rudder.
which he succeeded in doing after a
week 3 hard work. In order 10 do this.
heavy chains had to be passed under
the gudgeon, and various attachments
secured, so as TO stop the rudder from
working about. 1t was found neces-
sary to jettison about 100 tons of coal
to give the barque the necessary tilt
at the stern, and then an Italian mem
Der of the crew was lowered over the
SIDE, and passed rope under the Tud-
der labout feet under the water),
ny which heavy chain was placed in.
to position. On May "a Captain ColIy
got his vessel under weigh, and de-
cided to make for Auckland TO have
repairs effected to her rudder,
The Kaiulani behaved remarkably
well under her jury rudder. On one
occasion she covered $50 miles day.
and on another, l5s miles. The New
Zealand coast was sighted on May 20,
from then till June II the vessel was
beating about the Hauraki gulf owing
to contrary winds.
Captain Colly's fine achievement in
navigating the vessel TO Auckland In
such difficult circumstances is highly
spoken of.
The Kaiulani has been docked at
Auckland to have a new rudder fitted.
She Will also undergo general survey
at the same time. She is a handsome
steel barque of 1871 tons gross register,
and was built at Bath, Maine, u. s. A..
in 1899. She is jointly owned by
Messrs. Williams, Dimond Co., Of
San Francisco, and Messrs. II. Hack
field Co., Of Honolulu. The Kaiulani
has accommodation for 40 frst.class
passengers, and was previously engag-
ed in the Honolulu.San francisco
trade.
As soon as opportunity offered Chip
perfeld Owed to investigate the in
jury TO the rudder. Captain Colly was
on the bridge at the time.
Soon after the first officer had gone
down the captain was Mortified to sec
an immense shark swimming near the
surface of the water. Running to
his cabin he seized n Winchester rifle
and fired at the man.eater ms soon as
it appeared with such deadly effect
that the great fish kicked once or
twice and then hoated belly up, as
dead as door.nail.
When ChipperGeld came to the sur
face he was ignorant Of the peril to
which he had been exposed. He will,
however, it is safe to say, take no
more chances with the terrors which
haunt the blue water of the New Zea.
land coast.