The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-09-25
Dozens Injured and One Lost
When Transport Meets Typhoon
Letter TO Mother Here, Robert Maby Describes Graphically
HOW thomas With One Thousand Souls Aboard Nearly Found
cred Of Formosan Coast

"A graphic account Of the events
which happened aboard the transport
Thomas, when she ran into a typhoon
off the coast Of Japan on the last
homeward voyage from Manila, the
dangers to which the passengers and
crew were subjected, the loss of n sol.
der, how dozens were injured, the
grounding of the vessel and how every
one, for many hours, sat in wet cloth
ing within reach of a life preserver,
was received in n letter from Robert
l.. Maby, member of the quarter
masters s department, to his mother,
Mrs. }. NJ. Maby Of 1923 Beretania
Avenue. The letter was written from
Nagasak on August 81, twelve days af.
ter the transport had left Manila. His
account of the near-disaster follows:
Takes Northern Route
ave left Manila on August, IS, on
our trip to San Francisco via the north
ern route in order to save time. How
ever, we had such an eventful voyage
and encountered so many delays, that
we will be at least two weeks behind
schedule when we do leave this port.
Just after we passed the breakwa.
ter in Manila Bay, five submarines rose
from beneath the surface and bid Us
gOdspeed on our journey. We passed
on down the bay to the Island of Cor
regidOr, the main fortress in the Philip,
pines, and there two hydroplanes flew
over us and bid us pleasant journey
We left Manila with nearly two thou,
sand souls on board, so you see, there
were many at the dock to bid us good
by.
Ship Rides Easy
1.-The second day out from Manila
the weather became overcast and We
were notified that "A typhoon was rag
ing to the north of us. This is the
season of the year when such storms
are common in this part of the world
so no one paid much attention to the
notice, thinking the storm would pas.
over in few hours.
Late that night, the wind begar
to rise rapidly and by Saturday morn
ing was blowing gale. The wind in
creased in violence and the sea became
exceedingly rough, but the ship rode
easily. Saturday night, things begar
to happen. The wind rose to more thar
one hundred and thirty miles an hour
and the waves became tremendously
high.
Oil Outlets Water
In order to settle them bit We
used oil on the water, which was q
great help indeed. Early Sunday morn
ing, We lost one of our gangways, fol
lowed few minutes later by one OF
our life boats. Just as the boat wa,
cut away from the davits, it swung in
against the ships side, and stove il
one Of the second cabin portfolios.
THE flying glass severely cut two
of the passengers who were asleep
the time. In few moments the whole
second cabin was flooded. The first
"abin did not get off so easily. Al
cabins on the upper deck were flooded
for the greater part of two days and
nearly all clothing in them was ruined
Later on, In the night, we lost another
of our boats, and had three Others
broken and rendered useless. At about
the same time we lost the top of oul
main mast, putting the wireless out OF
commission and cutting us off entirely
with the outside world.
Hit Opposite Side
During Sunday everyone sat around
In as, comfortable a place as he could
find, hoping that the wind would die
down and the waves subside. This ac
tually did happen, and, just about the
time all were thinking that the worse
had happened, we entered the opposite
side of the typhoOn. A typhoOn whirl,
around in spiral fashion, the center be
ing quite calm. When we entered the
second part of the storm, the wind
sprang up with redoubled fury and
seemed bent on certain destruction.
- few minutes after ten that night
there was an extra large wave that
seemed to clutch us, lift us on high
and then drop us back again. This
wave was ground swell. Just as we
were sinking from the crest of one OF
these mountainous waves, huge bur,
of an island mass, arose in the dark
ness before us. The jar and scrapinp
noise was caused when we struck the
bottom. Quick work on the part OF
the ships captain saved us, for he
Immediately ordered the engines re-
verSed at full speed and backed off
thus clearing the island,
Wear Life PTeservers
Meanwhile, in the first cabin, and