The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1877-10-24
ADRIFT FOR SEVEN DAYS.
The Terrible Sunerinaa OF a Boats Crew
Without Food or Wnter---Rescue Comes
Too Late for One Man who had been
Driven to Drinking from the Sen.

IL CIEtblV VI " Asoos SAS'
Without Food or Wnter---Rescue Comes
Too Late for One Man who had been
Driven to Drinking from the Sen.
A New Orleans Times reporter inter
viewed the five men of the steamship
Gussie, who for seven nights and six days,
without food or water, were the sport OF
the waves in the Gulf of Mexico. Sum-
med up, the narrowing details of their
suff rings are to the following effect
The steamship Gussie, Captain Rich
ard Hill, owing to the fact of the tanks
at Indianola being destroyed by the
storm, left that port with O cargo of cat
tie and without the necessary supply of
water. Captain Hill made for South
west Pass +. replenish his water and
and then proceed on his journey to
Havana. On the morning of the 10Th of
September the weather was fair, wind
northwest, blowing about seven knots an
hour. At 1890 P. N. the same night
Southwest Pass light bore north north
east, distance nine miles. At 1895 P. n.
the ship was hauled for the light, when
the starboard shaft broke. Finding it
impossible to remedy the evil, and loath
to drift around at the mercy of the winds,
Captain Hill concluded to send q boat to
Southwest Pass for assistance. The
boat was launched, and at midnight the
wind veered west by north, blowing a
good six-knot breeze. South Pass was
sighted, and after some delay the tug
Rio Grande took the Gussie in tow,
bringing her to the city.
In the mean time the unfortunate men
we're passing through the terrible ordeal
of ship wrecked mariners. After leaving
the ship, the boats crew, consisting of
John Duffy, chief officer; Dan Nc
Donald, Mat. Bayron, John O'Neil, Dan
Crockett and Joseph Davis, pulled for
the Southwest Pass Light, secure in the
seaworthiness of their metallic life-boat,
and without q thought of the danger
that threatened them. Not q man Of
them but thought lie would reach the
light in three hours at the most, yet as
hour after hour slipped by and theyfound
that they made NJ Roadway against the
current, despair beset their souls. En-
couraged by Mate Duffy, they bent to
lQolT OhCb, Dlb w IL 1S&A' OoJA6Ao
found them with their compass and two
lamps out of sight of land, exhausted by
their exertion, without food OF water,
and a prey to the elements. On the
morning Of the goth they saw n ship,
supposed to be the Medora, and so close
that they could see the men at work
on board the vessel, but in vain they
tried to signal her by means Of a shirt
loisted on an oar. She was soon lost to
view and despair beset them. Davis
gave out and luy exhausted in the bot
tom of the boat. On the second day
they saw a steamer, low down Oh the
horizon, bound eastward, but at too
great q distance to see them. Truly,
then they gave themselves up for lost.
Bayron, however, managed to improvise
q sail out of three shirts, and slowly
they breasted the current until the gale
reached them, and for three days they
were storm-tossed on the crest of the
waves. Then followed a calm, yet the
sea ran high. Their parched Threats
crayed for water. Mcdonald desperate
" drank the saline which surrounded
him, but found that only augmented his
thirst. Desperately they glared at each
other. Hunger gnawed at their vitals,
vet they refrained from capnibalism.
Sharks surrounded the boat, curveting
in the water as if in anticipation of the
dainty morsels of human flesh in store
for them, if possible lending additional
horror to the scene. The plug was
taken out of the bottom of the boat, and
the water entered in until she was half
full. Then the men in turns lay down
in the water until thoroughly saturated,
thus distilling the water into their
body. In vain, the ~uufortunates soy,
they attempted 70 think of a hereafter ;
the most trivial things in their life passed
before them like q panorama. Bayron
thought of watering the cat on the Gus
sic, and imagined that he was revealing
in the troughs. Mcdonald had visions
of glaciers-all seemed in their sense
delirium-to. be i'll Elysiu,n only to re-
turn to the full realization of the sur
roundings.
On the morning of the seventh day
the brig Coquette, Captain Cognel, hove
in sight, and with q last expiring effort
they signalled her. The brig saw the
sign of distress and bore up for them,
reaching them only to find that, with
the exception of Bayron, all helplessly
lay about the boat. They were taken
aboard and kindly treated, but despite
the efforts Of the captain Mcdonald died.