Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-02-06

Y, MINNESOTA, THU
ON THE ROCKS.
The Crew OF tho Schooner ". o. Brow =,
! Survivors-Ftvo Drowned ana Three
Saved.
! From the Chicago Tribune Of this Norntno
A sailor named Jugan Alberts. one
of the survivors of the schooner Brown
disaster, reached Chicago Yesterday
afternoon. He lives in Freeport ana
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 IN account of
herloss has already been published in
the Tribune. No mention, however.
was made of the suferings of the crew.
and accordingly ~ the statement OF
Aberts is appended:
We left Duluth on the 23d of No.
vember, loaded with wheat, for R,i5aa-
10. The first three days out the wealth
er was good, but about IL o'clock on
the night of the 26lh the wind com.
menced blowing from the west.south-
west. and increased to q gale. The
foreboom suddenly gave way, and.
striking against the centreboari
wench, tore it from its fastenines, aud
lifted several planks, making quite o
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, aad no more water could
get in among the cargo. 1t was bitter
cold, and Manning, although suffering
terribly, maintained his position.
About 9 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.
fore this was unable to move, being
frozen almost stiff. His clothing had
been saturated with water, and was
like a board. Two of us corr1ed him
into the cabin and laid him on the
floor, and did what we could for him.
When the vessel went ashore I was in
the cabin. I reached the deck and saw
the captain, R. L. Manning, the first
mate, John Hanson, and q seaman.
Henry Edwards, overheard, entangled
in tho port fore. rigging. The fore
mast had fallen over the side of the
schooner. They were near the forecas.
tie when she struck, and had been
obliged to seize hold of the shrouds to
prevent being washed into the lake,
the water breaking over the vessel at q
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 I reached the deck, and
saw nothing more of them. Five of
the crew remained. T tried to get
Manning out of the cabin, out 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 + kept
tight grip on the railing around the
mainmast. The vessel shifted around
gradually, and came close up to other
rocks, the tops of which we're above
the water. The continual humping un-
stopped the mainmast, and it fell over
with loud crash. The wind, in the
meantime, gone down considerably.
and we experienced no difficulty in get
ting on shore. just before we landed,
the schooner broke IN two just in 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 60 back to the cabin,
which was by this time high and dry
on the rocks. The weather was in.
tensely cold, and no ono had any
matches. I found a dry shirt in one
of the hunks, and an old revolver in
mine, and I thought I 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 q
blaze, and started fro in tin pan,
which was placed on the floor of the
cabin. In the morning We went
ashore. We had had nothing to
cat for over forty hours: and were very
hungry. One man mentioned wheat,
and we determined to get 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 tho water, and there
was sufficient on the floor to last us o
week or two. We boiled some in 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 small raft,
and padded out to a rock
where the schooner's yawl WAS lying.
We reached her without mishap, and
towed her ashore. It took MS three
days to patch her up with boards and
canvas. We launched her on the 7th
of December, anu 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 and 9 o'clock in
the evening, and on going ashore found
q 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 cold1
A halt breed guided us across the coun-
try to Goulais Bay, and from there we
went to the Sault. The people there
were very kind to us, giving us o|athing
and paying our board. We len there
on the 3Oth in company with Mr.. Carl
ton, the Superintendent of the canal !;
Mir. Noble, the engineer, and Captain
Mcintyre. I started across the coun.
try to Bay City. Ny two companions
remained behind. We crossed the
Straits with team, and went to Che.
boygap; and from there to the end OF
the Lansing Railroad. I left there on
the goth of January, and came on to
Chicago.