The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-12-10
ROMANCE OF THE SEA.
4 PIucEy and Pretty Lille woman
Eighteen Days in II Small Boat
Amid TcDpcsis. SNOW ana kocHS


Amid Tcnpcsis. Snow and Rocky
Isles.
san Francisco Chronicle, November -,
ON the Steamer Mikado, which arrived
IN this port on Saturday, last, came
Captain Groves and his wife and two
| chldren-one babe-who have had Il
most remarkable escape from the never
satisfied jaws Of old ocean. All that hu-
man beings could suffer endure an l live,
/ fell to their unfortunate lot The Cap.
tain and his wife are both comparatively
Young, and look sufficiently careworn to
| have borne the burdens of many more
wears than have yet rolled ever their
heads. The lady is small, dehcately
formed, and yet plucky or courageous,
and full of animation when detailing the
thrilling adventures through which she
and her husband have passed. On April
- they left Antwerp tor Calla9 IN the
ship Albert Gallatin, They had pros.
porous voyage for three months. But
August , of Cape Horn, 81 degrees south
and - degrees west, a heavy sea struck
the ship and carried away the rudder ut
about 10 o'clock +. NJ. Then Tor four
! teen days every effort WAS made to re-
/ place it, but the weather continued severe
/ and the rough winds and waves tossed
/ the rudderlcSs ship to and fro like cork
| And all this time. as tho heavy seas roll.
! ed over the vessel, every soul on board
WAS continually drenched, SO that not
one of them wore dry garment for two
]
washed ship was found to be within two
miles oF the Ildetonso Islands and DRIFT
! ing on to the rocks. Immediately all on
/ board the unmanageable vessel were COM
PEELED hastily to abondon her, which they
/ did in two l,e-boats at about A. VI.
! The Captain, his wife, two children and
/ five scamen took one boat. and the re-
! mainder of the crew the other, and the
| latlcr have not been heard from since.
| After all were in the small boat, the cap
| tain's brave little wife rushed on to The
ship and snatched the chrcnomcters and
charts and brought them away safely.
/ The life boat soon filled with water and
was well.nigh swamped beside the ship.
| The boat got away with sixty pounds OF
bread but this was saturated with salt
water, when she filed. They brought
away no fresh water, and tor two days
were without drop while
driven about by the boisterous
waves and seeking landing-place. Au-
gust II they got on shore on Hermit Is
land, but the Elk days they remained
there i. Numbered and ligh:ninged anc
showed. and was so cold that they were
little better off than in the ocean. The
rocky isle was barren, uninhabited and
desolate. August "a they lett this island,
hoping to make Staten Land, some hum
dreds of miles distant but near the Straits
of Lemaire, through which vessels often
pass. They were out but single day,
! however, when the sea became too heavy
for them 10 proceed and drove them back
into ScourfeId Bay, on Herschell Island.
But the sea was SO rough they could not
land. and had to stay IN their boat all
night Everything was wet, and they
had to bail constantly to keep the boat
front going down with them. That night
was very cold, and the canvas over their
heads froze stiff They could not lie
down nor sleep, and had to sit in stoop-
ing position, which Mrs Groves did with
her babe on her lap, while the snow on
the awning pressed it down SO low and
hard upon her head that her attitude was
ANYTHING but comfortable, Next day
they navigatcd around this island and
landed on Wellaston island. While on
these black, barren and rocky Islands
they often found it difficult TO get fire,
and suffered Intolcrably from the cold.
Here thew found little wild celery,
which they mixed with their salt sea
soaked bread and preserved meats, which
they had served ia small quantities. The
daily allowance of each one WAS but y
couple of ounces of this coarse fare, which
WAS warmed altogether, and each one
took spoonful. There were nine souls
Of them in all They renamed IN TINS
distressing condition until tho following
Tuesday, when they again started Tor
Staten Land, with q light wind from the
southwest. At midnight they were be-
Gained an hour or two, after which the
wind frcshcncd from the nOrthward.
Next day it blew gale from the north
northwest, and in the evening the temp
est became So fierce they were obliged TO
make raft of their oars and lash the
boat L. them and let her drag, while they
were kept constantly bailing. They
again lost all the fresh water on board,
the boat filed and destroyed all their
provisions, and Mrs. Groves looked up to
her husband and said sadly, 81 guess we
are gone this time That night they
drifted back about forty miles from the
land they were approaching. Next day
WAS more moderate. Some of the men
Tell asleep on their oars and lost three
of them. But in the heavy seas, when
ever wave came, they were all Obliged
to pull for lite. After week OF such
voyaging, the captains wife one day saw
u ship. They pulled for her, out Were
not observed. The day following, about
+. NJ, they saw an island about TWEEN
ty-fve miles of. At 7, Nj. they sight
cd vessel, and made for her She
proved TO be the ship Syren, from Bos-
ton to Honolulu. The shipwrecked wan
derers had now been ahoat or on frozen
islands for eighteen days, in all of which
time they had never had change of