OCEANIA: Sunk the Night Before

The day before it was announced, London and New York newspaper offices knew last week that the starboard propeller and part of the shaft of the British liner Tahiti had fallen off, some 500 mi. from the Cook Islands, that the Tahiti was sinking while two U. S. vessels, the Matson liner Ventura and the Shipping Board’s Antinous were rushing to the rescue. Reason: first news of the sinking Tahiti came from Suva, a Fiji island just west (from New York) of the International date line (180° east of Greenwich) a spot where the sun rises 14 hr. ahead of New York. At 9:30 o’clock of a midwinter Monday morning Suva announced the sinking Tahiti’s 175 passengers were safely transferred to the Ventura. New York papers recorded the fact at 7:30 o’clock of a midsummer Sunday evening.