Heber James Sheffield: Missionary in a Pacific Cyclone
I received the call for a mission July 11, 1900. Left home October 26. Arrived in Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, November 13 1900. Proceeded to learn the language that I might preach the gospel to the native inhabitants of the Tuamotu Islands, where I was assigned to labor, arriving there January 29, 1901. Fasted and prayed and studied diligently that I might quickly obtain the language. At the end of the four-and-a-half months I could converse quite freely and at the end of six months was preaching to and teaching the Islanders in their own language. Called a conference for October of 1902 at Hikueru on account of the Island being released from pearl diving restriction. Landed there September 22, 1902. Immediately began preparation for the October Semi-Annual Conference, which we held October 4th , 5th and 6th and at which we had an especial outpouring of the spirit of the Lord. Shortly after Conference the agitation of entertainment for the Governor of the Islands to be held January 1, 1903, was the topic of conversation. It developed in a portion of the people practicing (for execution on the day mentioned) of wild and wicked dances and immoral practices known to the natives before civilization reached them.
On Fast-day, December 7, 1902, we enjoyed an especial blessing of the Spirit of the Lord. Elder John T. Corbridge and a native Elder “Mehi” spoke and I followed, speaking on the subject, “Gods Spirit will not always strive with man”. I called those that were participating in the preparations, to repentance and to cease from their evil ways, using the children of Israel and their fore-fathers, the Nephites, for example, speaking frequently under the direction of the Lord’s spirit. The Spirit of Prophecy came upon me and I prophesied in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Holy Priesthood, that if they did not speedily repent, great destruction and trouble would come upon them. The word of this prophecy was soon the topic of conversation among the people of all denominations there represented. Comments both favorable and unfavorable came to us, some jeered and mocked and called words of slander and humiliation as we passed to and fro to our work. This did not daunt us in our work for we knew that the utterance had come under the direction of the Lord’s Spirit and that if no changes were made in the actions of those concerned, that it would not be very long before it would be fulfilled.
Many of those who had been participating repented and ceased from further indulgence. Those that repented, with those who were living righteous lives, were saved while those who disregarded the warning were all drowned, alike those who were living unrighteous lives.
Elders John R. Corbridge and Milton Oliver Bell sailed to the Island of Mangereva to open a mission there while Elder Joseph E. Allen and I remained at Hikueru. This Island is a small, low island, about 8 miles in length, of coral formation, with very little soil, a lagoon inside, and about 30 feet above sea-level at it’s highest point.
We labored zealously taking care of those who were suffering from an epidemic of black measles and spotted fever. My companion and I waited upon the people day and night, attending to over 200 natives, greatly aiding them and also assisting the Governor or Doctor (as he held both positions). He expressed his gratitude and satisfaction at our aiding and sustaining him, in his position, and also at our assisting and doing good to the natives.
The people seemed to have more confidence in us than in the Doctor, and by the power of God many wonderful cures were wrought among Catholics, Josephites, Protestants and our Saints. Two persons were baptized and six others had applied for baptism.
The New Year 1903 came and bright and early in the morning the natives were seen rolling two 40 gallon barrels of wine to their rendevous. This wine had been purchased from a Catholic Priest. The indulgence in wine, with their already whetted desire for corruption soon began to show publicly, however, the program (which we attended, paying homage to the Governor) went off in an excellent manner. This part was over by mid-day, a great feast was held at which we were among the honored guests, races and sports of many other kinds were indulged in. Corrupt, wicked dances were being indulged in, at different places about the Island, and with the shade of night-fall drunkenness was seen among a great number, men married and women married did not respect the sacredness of marriage, but with many others indulged in whoredom then rampant among them. All night long this condition continued and at the end of two days they commenced to show themselves in society as a dissipated broken-down lot of people, some of them sorrowful that they had allowed themselves to enter into the corruption. But alas! Too late, the judgement of the Lord had to follow. The city had been made to look very beautiful, having three government buildings in it made of coral rock, many very fine frame houses, and several places of business, arranged in such a manner as to present a good appearance, with four church edifices, one each belonging to the Catholics, Josephites, Protestants, and the Latter-day Saints. Coconut and other fine trees were very numerous upon all parts where there was soil, and in the remote places an underbrush grew.
On the morning of January 14, 1903, we were comfortably located in our neat four-room dwelling house in Hikueru, little did we think that danger threatened us when at 10 a.m. a north westerly wind began to blow quite fiercely, bringing rain with it and causing the sea to rise to great heights. The Island being not more than 30 feet above sea-level afforded but very little protection to its inhabitants. At 1 p.m. the sea commenced to roll over the land, coursing to the lagoon inside in small rivulets. It increased in volume as the hours passed on, when at 3 p.m. several buildings had been carried away, being broken into fragments by the mighty waves. Houses nearest the sea , which were not carried away, were filled with water, making it impossible for the occupants to remain in them. They were soon deserted and the people took refuge on the leeward side of the island or lower part of the city. Along about 6 p.m. the sea and storm calmed slightly, the sea only flooding the land occasionally. My companion and I cleaned the rubbish away from our house thinking that we might be able to save it. At 9 p.m. we retired and slept soundly while the wind blew and rain pattered on the roof.
At about 1 a.m. on Thursday, January 15th, we were awakened by the sea splashing and dashing against our house. We arose hastily and proceeded to clear away the rubbish which had lodged against it, thereby making a pathway for the waves to pass under the house which was built upon coral rock pillars about 4 feet high. Some of the traders whose buildings had been damaged, had the best part of their goods removed to a large stone building belonging to the government which all thought would not be molested. One trader paid $5.00 an hour to the natives to remove his goods to a hut on the leeward side of the island.
Distressing scenes commenced to present themselves. The storm increased in volume as the hours passed along, the sea growing rougher and the waves higher, carrying away building after building and bringing sorrow to the hearts of the people. They, with us, could be seen shivering, wading along with small bundles of clothes under their arms; mothers with their infants trying to shelter them from the wind, rain, and raging sea; fathers with their children tugging through the briny waves, as they rolled over the land; others with sick wives, who but a few days before had given premature birth to children on account of the measles; others who were still covered with measles were compelled to arise from beds of affliction and flee for life or run into death as the case may be. At this time we tied our coats inside of our blankets and tied them to a large coconut tree. The wind being cyclonic was constantly on the change, blowing a terrific gale all the while. It moved from the north-east around to the south and by 3 p.m. was blowing terrifically. It was this wind that increased the horrors of the people, as it caused the lagoon to become almost as angry and rough as the great sea, which was still increasing with rage and was now flooding over the land at the city five feet in depth.
At this juncture our house was struck by a mountainous wave, throwing it from its foundation and splitting it asunder. We could do no other than jump for our lives. The moment we struck water we were turned head over heels, being carried along in a roaring torrent at a very high rate of speed. I landed in a garden near a coconut tree to which I scrambled and climbed in a hurry. During the time of my being carried along Elder Allen had come in contact with a tree, which he climbed. You may imagine, if you can, our feelings when we looked about and could not see each other. We were fearful of the others not being alive. When the waves had lowered I ran toward where I had left Elder Allen and saw him up the tree. O what joy when our eyes met; no one but those present could realize how pleased we were to see each other again and alive. We both held to the same tree (but changed trees) from this time forth throughout the storm. We then made our way to the lower part of the island, climbing a tree each time the sea surged over the land. We had swam and waded a distance of about three miles and after arriving were soon with the Saints who had gathered. At dark there was not a building left standing on the island, all had been swept into the lagoon. Water had washed the strong government building up by the foundation, which was three feet in thickness, and had carried the pieces into the lagoon. Pieces of the foundation weighing 20 tons were rolled like pebbles by the waves, into the lagoon. One of the Saints brought each of us a piece of rope, which we tied to our waists in a square knot, leaving each end from the knot about three feet long. This rope we used to throw around the tree to protect us from being washed into the boiling sea.
At this juncture we were overcome with fatigue and laid on the wet ground, the rain pouring down, and slept until the waves again aroused us. The wind increased in velocity and strength in-so-much it seemed to take everything before it. Coconut trees were felled to the ground and then carried into the lagoon by the raging billows. Then came the waves from the lagoon and met the waves which came over the island from the leeward, banking it on the island and increasing the horrors of the situation. The mighty waves from the lagoon brought the broken fragments of buildings, which had previously been swept from the land, and piled them with the dead bodies of people, pigs and dogs, upon the land where we had taken refuge, and we had nowhere else to go.
A big pile of these timber fragments lodged against our tree, and served as a place of rest between waves. We would slip down the tree between the waves and rest on this timber and when we could hear the next wave coming we would climb up again. Elder Allen went up first each time and I followed him on account of my being longer in the mission and with more experience in swimming and being able to reach in diving ten feet more in depth of water than he. My diving depth was 38 feet and his 28 feet. Elder Corbridge could reach 48 feet.
O, what an awful night! Natives could be heard wailing for their dead, which had either been swept from the land, crushed by falling trees, or buried under the rubbish which was being lodged against the trees that were still standing. Men who had strapped their children to their shoulders, were carried away; women who were wailing and moaning for the loss of their little ones, and husbands were also swept bodily into the mighty deep and were never seen again; children were torn from the grasp of their parents and drowned before their eyes; others were wading the briny water, which had now become waist deep on the highest part of the land, watching that they were not crushed by falling trees or struck by tin roofing or other articles which were brought up by the waves and which were being hurled through the air at the rate of from 70 to 90 miles per hour, which was the velocity of the wind. The rain was still pouring down in torrents. Thus the storm raged on and in order to avoid being swept from the land, my companion and I climbed a tree and hung there all night by means of the rope which we had tied to our waists. Trees fell to the right, to the left, behind and in front of us, the mighty waves rolled over us, but our tree stood up, although a young one, and we were not even struck by those that were falling. Who could deny our being protected by the hand of God? The storm was still increasing in volume and between waves the natives were wildly running to and fro almost nude, their clothing, like ours, having been torn from their bodies, asking, “What shall we do?” We answered, “Trust in the Lord for He only can save you.” Thus passed that awful Thursday night and up to day-light of Friday, January 16th.
The waves by now, 30 feet deep, kept on washing over us more and more, and more of the people were being drowned, and just to see the situation it looked that none would be spared alive. We had gone through the fierceness of the storm and had arrived at the point where we had learned that we were powerless to save ourselves. At this moment I told my companion that I felt the Spirit of God resting upon me, and that it prompted me to command the wind to cease and the sea to be calm. He said: “Heed its promptings and I know it will be so”. I spoke as I was given utterance, commanding the wind to cease and the sea to be calm, in the name of Jesus Christ and by authority of the Holy Priesthood”. Not another wave went over us. In ten minutes it grew calmer and the natives came flocking to where we were as it seemed the best place to be they said. “O, how my companion and I praised the Lord in all humility for His protecting care and bounteous blessings that had been showered upon us”. We then held prayer and thanksgiving meeting with those assembled all thanking the living God that we had escaped alive.
We were very weak through exposure, being almost destitute for clothing, and being without water to drink or food to eat for such a long time, (almost three days and nights). We had nothing left on us but our pants and fragments of our garments . (We later recovered our old coats tied to the tree during the storm). There was not food available save that which could be gleaned from among the rubbish. The first we had was sea soaked sea biscuit and some corned beef found by natives which we rationed out to them. My companion and I at this time went around to see if we could aid any that were more weak and in worse condition than we. Near a great pile of rubbish we found four persons who had drifted from four to six miles on the rolling, mountainous waves from the opposite side of the island. They were nude and weak, being almost frozen to death, while one had a cut four inches long on the back of his head from which blood was dripping. We found an old mat and covered them with it; also gave them a few clothes which were taken from the rubbish nearby. We found a coconut, split it open and they ate heartily of it.
We found pieces of cloth and bound up the cut in the man’s head. We then proceeded to make shelter for those who had drifted ashore. In a short time pieces of timber had been gathered and a rude place of shelter prepared for them to which they were carried. Elder Allen and I, in passing among the rubbish, found a bottle of olive oil and several small cans of oysters. We used the oil for the purpose of administering to the sick and ate the contents of a can of oysters, taking the balance to a person who had been appointed to receive the fragments of food found, so that it might be properly divided among the survivors. The only water available was that which was in the remaining few of old and new coconuts that could be found among the rubbish and this supply was soon exhausted. A Mr. J. Gilbert of the Re-Organized Josephite Church, my companion and I fitted up two condensers from the pipes of destroyed iron bedsteads and iron cisterns that were dived from the lagoon by the natives. From those two condensers we obtained 200 gallons of water each day, which gave us about a pint of water each. By this means the people were kept from perishing for the want of water. Sixty-one of the sixty-three sailing boats that were in the lagoon were smashed entirely and were piled up with the balance of the rubbish, the two that were partly broken were later taken to the shipyards for repair.
The Governor selected we Elders to take charge of burying the dead, giving each of us charge over six men. Besides the bodies that were among the rubbish, there were many bodies constantly drifting ashore in a decayed condition and they had to be given immediate attention. We went about the work as zealously as possible, burying as many as 20 bodies in one day. The smell of the bodies that drifted in from seaward was awful, and many were so mutilated and swollen that they were not recognizable. Those bodies were buried in one hole side-by-side in a sand eddy as that was the only soil left. 127 buried.
As you must know, the food that we had been hunting out from the rubbish was practically gone and starvation was staring us in the face when on Monday, relief in the way of food came to us. A sailing vessel by the name of “Teiti” came to land. My what cheering went on. The vessel was laden with Tahitian food, viz; Tare, bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, melons, etc. It was taken in charge by the Governor and rationed out to the people, to give all just enough to sustain life that it might last as long as possible. We were all hoping and praying for other relief to come. On the following Wednesday, January 22nd, the relief came. O, my, how we cheered and rejoiced. O how good the food from these vessels tasted. The Steamer “Excelsior” brought this second supply of provisions and spent two days conveying some of the people to their own lands and to other lands that had escaped the storm.
On Saturday, January 24th, we steamed out for Tahiti, loaded with people, left 144 of them at Makemo, (an island) steamed onward and landed in Papeete, Tahiti, Tuesday, January 27, 1903. The sick and the wounded were taken to the French hospital and treated at the expense of the government, to whom the land belongs.
Before the storm there were about 1700 persons on the island; 370 natives and 8 whites perished at Hikueru, at Marokau 90 perished; at Hao, 5; at Takume, 15; at Raroia, 12; at Amanu, 3; at Napuka, 12, making a total of 515 persons drowned. Although the loss of life was great we lost only about 100 of the Latter-day Saints.
Elder John T. Corbridge wrote me as follows: “Dear Brother, you have the consolation of knowing that your Heavenly Father is mindful of you; as the prophecy you uttered under the influence of the Holy Spirit had been wonderfully fulfilled, and it is miraculous, the manner in which the power of God was shown to you at your critical moments.”
The following clipping was taken from the Semi-Weekly Deseret News of February 1903 - I think the 10th.
WERE THE ELDERS AMONG VICTIMS?
Many Utah people apprehensive of disaster on the South Sea Islands - four were on the Tuamotu Group in October - what Eugene Cannon says.
From Monday’s daily:
A distressing bit of news to many people in this city was that which came over the wires yesterday from San Francisco, telling of a destructive storm which swept over the Tuamotu Group of the South Sea Islands last month. According to the account, which appears in another part of this issue, a tidal wave struck the Islands of Hao, Hikueru, and Marokau, where the natives were engaged in pearl fishing, and snuffed out a thousand lives, among them eight whites. The names of four of the latter are given, but the others are not mentioned, thus making apprehensive many people of this section as to the safety of four “Mormon Elders” known to have been laboring there. Last October, Elders H. J. Sheffield Jr., of Kaysville, Utah; M. O. Bell of Logan; J. Corbridge of Layton; and Joseph E. Allen of Cache Valley were in that vicinity but, of course, it is not certain that they were still there when the dreadful calamity here mentioned occurred. It may be that they had been moved to some other island, and it is sincerely to be hoped that such is the case, although until such time as definite news is forthcoming, their friends will feel more or less apprehensive. This much is reasonably certain however, the disaster included among it’s victims many members of the Church, as numbers of them pursued the business of pearl fishing for a livelihood. These will consist principally of young people, as they are those who engage in this kind of business, being expert divers and being able to make a good living.
Among those especially concerned in the matter is Eugene M. Cannon of this city, who was a missionary to these islands between seven and eight years ago. Mr. Cannon says there is ample cause for apprehension as the news would indicate that the entire group was made desolate, leaving little chance for the escape of anyone. The Taumotu Group along with many others, is very low, and a tidal wave such as that reported would prove disastrous to a large area of the country. The Islands on which pearl fishing is carried on are principally of coral formation and therefore dangerously close to sea level. Such a disaster occurred there in the 70's at which time 50 people were drowned. Further news of the catastrophe will be awaited with interest by the many friends of the Elders above named. It may be that the boat which brought word of the disaster has also brought letters from the Elders above named laboring on those islands, in which event the true condition of affairs will be brought to light. When heard from in October, Elders Corbridge and Bell had been assigned to the Gambier Group, while Elders Sheffield and Allen were to have remained in the Tuamotua’s.
I knew the folks would be nearly worried to death, so sent a letter to my wife and parents, a copy of which follows:
Papeete, Tahiti, January 27, 1903
Mr. H.J. Sheffield, Kaysville, Utah
Dear Parents,
I have just arrived at Tahiti by the Steamer “Excelsior” from the Tuamotu Islands. We have had a cyclone and flood in the Islands. Brother Allen and I escaped with our lives but stranded, with no other thing whatever. Brother E. S. Hall is penning these few lines for me, for the reason that I have blood poison in my hand through having been bitten by a scorpion during the flood, and infected while burying the dead bodies. It is past all danger now so don’t worry.
With love to all, I am as ever your loving son,
H. J. Sheffield, Jr.
This followed next in an issue of the Deseret News
MORMON ELDER’S NARROW ESCAPE
That the apprehension felt for the missionaries on the South Sea Islands was not ill-advised, was made clear today on receipt of news from the scene of devastation; the same stating that Elders H. J. Sheffield, Jr., of Kaysville and Joseph E. Allen of Coveyville, Cache County had the experience of their lives in the tidal wave which swept the islands last month.
The letter was from Elder E. S. Hall of Cannon Ward, this city, who is now temporarily in charge of the Society Islands Mission. It was written at Papeete and stated briefly in effect that Elders Sheffield and Allen had reached there from the Tuamotua’s almost naked and in rather a bad way, as a result of the awful experience to which they were subjected in that section. Elder Sheffield the letter states, not only suffered the experience of being nearly drowned, but to make matters worse, was bitten on the right hand by a scorpion while clearing rubbish during the early part of the storm, and was infected while assisting to bury victims of the deadly disaster. The letter bore the date of January 26, 1903, (should be the 27th). The Elders having arrived just as the steamship “Mariposa” was pulling out for San Francisco. This accounts for the brevity of the story sent. It stated however, that Elder Sheffield was fast recovering from the bite received and that otherwise neither was any worse for their experience.
As stated in last night’s “News”, Elders Bell and Corbridge, who were on the Tuamotua’s in October, are now laboring on the Gambiers and thus escaped the experience of their companions.
36 days are required for a round trip, 15 days from Tahiti to Kaysville.
Below is a satellite image of the Island of Hikueru.
