Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-02-12
From the Chicago Tribune of this Morning.

From the Chicago Tribune of this Morning.
A sailor named Jugan Alberts, one
of the survivors of the schooner Brown
disaster, reached Chicago yesterday
afternoon. He lives in Freeport, and
is on his way home to see his mother,
who thinks he is dead, it having been
reported in the newspapers that he was
drowned. The vessel alluded to, the
William O. Brown, of this city, went
ashore near Mamainse Point, Lake
| Superior, during the storm of the 9th
of last November, and an account OF
herloss has already been published in
the Tribune. No mention, however,
was made of the sufferings of the crew,
and accordingly the statement OF
Aberts is appended 5.- ~ g.sesas
We left Duluth on the 23d of No
vember, loaded with wheat, for Buffa-
10. The first three days out the wealth
er was good, but about 12 O'Clock on
the night of the Goth the wind com
menced blowing from the west-south-
west, and increased to a gale. The
foreboom suddenly gave way, and,
striking against the celltreboard
wench, tore it from its fastenings, and
lifted several planks, making quite a
large hole in the deck The waves
/ washed fore and aft, and the water
! poured into the aperture SO fast that
we were fearful the schooner would fill
and sink. The second mate, George
Manning, procured some canvas and
blankets, and placed them over
the opening, lying on top of them to
keep them in position. The vessel was
placed before the wind to avoid the
deck washing, and no more water could
get in among the cargo. Tt was bitter
cold, and Manning, although suffering
terribly, maintained his position.
About o'clock in the morning we saw
land right ahead, and after five or ten
minutes subsequently we struck on the
rocks, which are about fifty or seventy
five feet from the shore. Manning be-
i fore this was unable to move, being
frozen almost stiff His clothing had
been saturated with water, and was
Ike board. Two Of us carried him
into the cabin and laid him on, the
/ floor, and did what we could for him.
When the vessel went ashore [ was in
the cabin. [ reached the deck and saw
the captain, r. L.. Manning, the first
mate, John Hanson, and a seaman,
Henry Edwards overheard, entangled
i'll the port fore rigging. The fore
mast had fallen over the side of the
schooner. They were near the forecas-
1 tie when she struck, and had been
1 Obliged to seize hold of the shrouds to
prevent being washed into the lake,
the water breaking over the vessel at a
fearful rate. The mast fell on them
and threw them into the water. They
must have been crushed, or seriously
hurt, for they said nothing. They sank
soon after / reached the deck, and [
saw nothing more of them. Five Of
the crew remained. [ tried to get
/ Manning out of the cabin, but the
water GENE in SO fast that I had to
leave. Poor fellow, he was drowned
One of the other men suddenly disap-
peared, and no one knew what became
of him. He must have been washed
overheard. Only three of us remained
then-John Ring, Macolm Nc.
Cloud, and myself. Two of them were
holding on to the windlass, and I kept
a tight grip on the railing around the
malnmast. The vessel shifted around
gradually, and came close up to other
rocks, the tops of which were above
the water. The continual humping un-
| stepped the mainmast, and it fell over
with loud crash. The wind, in the
meantime, gone down considera bly.s
and we experienced no difficulty in get
ting on shore Just before we Landed,
the schooner broke IN two just III front
Of the cabin. We thought some of the
others might have got ashore, and we
looked around for them or their bodies,
/ but could find no traces Of
them. Finding no shelter, we
concluded to go back to the cabin,
which was by this time high and dry
on the. rocks. The weather was in
tensely cold, and no one had any
matches. 1 found dry shirt in on
of the bunks, and an old revolver in
mine, and [ thought / could succeed
IN striking light, The powder was
fortunately dry, and, withdrawing the
bullets, I fired at the shirt, which ig-
nited. We blowed the rag into a
blaze, and started a fire in tin pan,
which was placed on the floor of the
cabin. In the morning we went
! ashore. We had had Dothing to
| SiA" ISi oNSI 4oIb1 anu were very
hungry. One man mentioned wheat,
and we determined totget some. One
side OF the cabin was in good condi
tion, and afforded pretty good protec-
ton. Some of the wheat had been
washed into it by the water. and there
was sufficient on the floor to last us q
week or two. We boiled some in a pan.
/ By keeping it on the fire two or three
hours it became soft and excellent to
use. We stayed in the cabin two days
and nights, and then we got some
boards and made a small raft.
and padded out to a rock
where the sehooner's yawl was lying.
We reached her without a mishap, and
toWed her ashore. It took us three
days to patch her up with boards and
canvas. We launched her or the 7th
OF December, and pulled her along the
shore for about twenty five miles. We
knew not where we were going. but as
luck would have it We arrived safely at
Batcheewauaung Bay. We saw a light
on shore between s and 9 o'clock in
the evening, and on going ashore found
saw-mill. There were two white
men there, and they gave us
something to eat We remained
with them until Christmas, having
been pretty nearly used up by the cold
A half breed guided us across the coun-
try to Goulais Bay, and from there we
went to the Sault. The people there
We're very kind to us, giving us clothing
and paying our board. We left there
on the 30th in company with Mr.. Carl
ton, the superintendent of the canal !;
MI. Noble, the engineer, and Captain
Mcintyre. I started across the coun-
try to Bay City: My two companions
remained behind. We crossed the
Straits with team, and went to Che
boygan, and from there to the end of
the Lansing Railroad. [ left there on
the Goth OF January, and came on to
! Chicago.
JAY GoULD's restitution of property
to the Erie Company is the subject of
Z l. I II 40