Los Angeles daily herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1873-1876, 1874-03-19
The PeriIs OF the Deep.

airy Sth. The narrative of their suffer-
ings is thus given:
The schooner Thomas p. Barkalow,
of.Key West, Fla, Captain John b.
King, with crew of five men, con-
sisting of l.. G.. Thompson, mate; +.
M. Archer, William III. Spatchers,
John Sands and William r. Wilkins,
sailors, left Cedar Keys on the morn
ing of Thursday, February 9Th, for Key
West, with load of lumber. The
vessel was, to all appearances, in good
condition.; and aside from the adverse
winds encountered matters went on
smoothly, reaching Anclote Key on
the evening of Friday, the 9Th, where
they came to anchor and remained all
night. On the following morning, the
9TH of February, the schooner was got
under way at an early hour, the wind
at the time blowing strong from the
southwest, and after running a few
hours it was discovered that the vessel
was making water freely, though the
locality of the leak could not be ascer-
tanned. The pumps were Immediately
brought into requisition, and it re-
quired constant work to keep the
water down. Shortly after the vessel
began leaking the wind veered
to the northward, causing the
sea to run high, and tulminat-
ing in a mishap, to which may
be attributed all the suffering subse-
quently borne by the unfortunate
crew. The accident referred to was
the loss of the yawl, which was washed
from the davits and carried beyond
reach. Even had there been q posi-
bility of recovering the boat, it would
have been utterly useless, for the
stern-post was jerked out by the vio-
lence with which the craft was tossed
about. At this time there was no
thought that the lost boat would be
ultimately needed, nor did such an
idea occur until th5 following day, the
Sth, when, about o. clock in the morn
ing, it was discovered that the water
was gaining rapidly on the pumps, and
all efforts to keep it down were useless.
The pumps had been constantly work
ing during the twelve preceding hours
and all hands were thoroughly eX-
hausted. A part of the deck load was
then thrown off, thinking thereby to
relieve the vessel, but the water con-
tinued to pour in so rapidly as to pre-
clude all hope of keeping the little
vessel aflOat. At this time the schoOn-
er was under reefed foresail, and was
bearing up for Key West harbor, then
between thirty and forty miles distant.
The prospect of being water-logged did
not give the crew any great uneasi-
ness, for they imagined that distance
of forty miles could be easily accom-
plished in that condition, ard accord
ingly all the stores and effects were
placed on deck, and platform ar
ranged to keep them dry. About noon
the schooner filled, and as the water
covered the deck she gradually turned
on her port side, and everything that
had been placed on deck was swept
away. The crew assembled to the dry
side of the vessel, which remained in
that position for about an hour, during
which time, the rigging having been
cut away, the mainmast worked out
and she gradually righted.
There were on board the schooner
half dozen or more pigs, and when
she went over the swine floated off, all
but one striking out boldly for where
they imagined the land lay. The one
that remained swum around the wreck
and was eventually rescued by the
mate and proved to be a most import
ant capture; for upon it and about two
pounds of salt pork the unfortunate
crew subsisted during the subsequent
two weeks. From Sunday, the Sth, to
the following Thursday, the 18th, the
men remained on the schooner, parti-
ally submerged and suffering greatly
from cold and thirst.
Hunger did not assail them for that
they relieved by small morsels from
their limited s.pply of pork. A few
potatoes, about two dozen, were secured
from the fOrecastle by the men, who
dived for them, and with these their
thirst was partially assuaged.
After being two days on the vessel
It was seen that she would eventually
go to pieces, and the construction of a
raft was commenced out of the spars
and deck planks which were working
loose. On the morning of the 18th
some additions were made to the raft
and during the evening they showed
off from the wreck and took the
chances of rescue on frail structure
composed of light planks and few
spars. On this the six men remained
for eleven days, several times seeing
sails in the distance, which held forth
to them the hope of rescue, only
however, to be disappointed, as the
sails as MANY times faded out of sight
leaving the poor fellows respondent.
On the afternoon of the 23d sail
was observed, and shortly the vessel
appeared to be bearing down upon the
raft. An hour of suspense ensued, and
the wrecked crew were cheered by the
fact that the vessel held steadily on
her course, bearing down upon them
for should this opportunity ola rescue
to pass they felt conscious that none
could survive for another twenty-four
hours. The Campbell reached the raft
about o'clock in the evening, and
after considerable time and trouble
the wrecked crew were transferred
from the raft to the bark, and they
were saved.
They presented piteous sight, their
limbs being swollen to twice their
natural size, and all were covered with
sores and blisters, and not one of the
six was able to stand up when placed
on the deck of Captain Gorham's ves-
sci. For many days after their rescue
they required the utmost care, which
was given them by Captain Gorham
and his officers; and now, though not
recovered, the unfortunates are doing
well, but will require weeks they re-
cunerate thoroughly.
Captain King is . native of Norfolk,
Va, where his family at present are,
and Mr.. Thompson, the mate, resides
at Key West, where he has family.
They are entirely destitute, and it
would seem that there should be taken
some action, either by the city or pri-
vate charity, to provide for their want.
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