The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-06-27
ALONE ON A WRECK.
AsAHoR's REMARKABLE ExPER1ENcE.

T Ifle wreck OF the Ellen J. Nj kinUou the
vessel destined for J. c. Dmcan-s es-
cape, tells the following narrative of the
hardShips endured:
I'VE sailed away from san Francisco on
the oath of March Six days aftpryyard we
were Overtaken bv a gale which was OF sucb
violence that it strained the vessel very much
and caused her to lurch SO heavily that l
thought several times she would capSize.
On the morning of the sixth day was at the
wheel from TO 1 O'Clock The CAPTAIN.
whose name | never learned. came along and
ordered the first mate O'Brien, to reef the.
sails, 70 heave to and keep her head well of
ms was done, and then the mate took the
wheel from me and laShed il and told me to
sun stand by At about 2;50 o'clock / was
Stlll standing at my post, with the wheel
iaShed, when the vessel a iat-bOttOmed one
Sheered, and before she could right again
she was struck by a wave aft and keeed
right over. At that time, O'Brieu the mate
George and Johnny, of the port watch Il
don = know them by any other namcS5 the
one belonged to, were on the deck. They
chung to the rigging. l hung to the wheel
and noticed that the forward scuttle had
iioated away, and l knew that the water
must have run into the fOrecaStle and pre-
vented the men who were asleep there from
making their escape. The sliding scuttle on
the cabin had not been removed so | made
my way forward and pulled it away, and
called TO the Captain to come out Manuel
the second mate, first came out Of the cabin
and was Immediately followed by the Cap
tain, who was in his shirt and drawers He
asked whose watch it was and O'Brien re-
piled Mine, and she upset The Captain
clambered to the side Of the vessel and hung
there. The sea was running very high a the
time, and one wave. which seemed to be
much higher than any l had seen before,
caught the Captain and carried him away
] heard him halloO twice, but iU was impOS-
Sible to render him any assistance. That
was the last ] saw Of him. Then / took
a "a. .fa.rn 4
taching the other end to the vessel. The
other men did the same. We remained in
that position waiting for daylight which it
seemed to me never would come. As day
break approached, the wind calmed some
what, and the sea went down.
when light again dawncd, and l could
once more see about me, | took my sheath
knife, and, after running along the side of
the vessel, cut away the main and forward
rigging and braces, This allowed the masts
to sway with the motion of the vessel, and in
short time the mainmast snapped of and
fell into the sea, and, sometime after the
forward mast also went by the board. This
Hghtened the vessel considerably. and allow
ed her to get into a more upright position.
lying after tins at an angle Of about - de
greeS, which allowed Us more deck room, at
least SOthat we could with care, move around.
by this time the panC5 of hunger and thirst
came, and while my companions were giving
way to despair and We're not making any cf-
forts to help themselves. | thought of pro
curing provisions if possible. / made nv
way To the cabin, and found q kegOf whisky
and a box OF fruit and also q bag Of.pOtatoes
These secured and lashed them to the for
ward part of the wreck. We then took the
mainjIb and made a sort of tent Of il, and
five of us got under this COveT-thc first and
second mate and two sailors beside myself
AS the day wore on the wind moderated,
and we tiOated with the tide The provisions
which ! had secured | took charge of and
dealt out sparingly. We kept watch and
watch. i'm the hope of seeing q sail. but every
night aS darkness came on the deSpairinC cry
of NO sail in sight was uttered. At the end
of the third day, the second mate died and
we pitched him overheard. ! had managed
TO secure a small Cask of syrup. whicls | gave
to the men mixed with the liquor. That
night / fell asleep, and slept more SOUndly
than at any time since the wreck and on
awakiug ! found that the men had gone to
and provisions that we had and
unlashed them and let them fall overheard,
thus leaving us without anything to eat
With pole / managed to get into the hold
and draw up another sack of potatoes We
ate them raw, and subsiSted on them alone
TO the ninth daV after the wreck. On that
day could see the bodies of the dead men
in the fOrecaStle right under us. Ny com
paniOnS were becoming weary and | knew
that unless l got some food for them they
would not long survive 50 | had to do the
best ! could. | fished in the fOrecaStlc for
some cans of fruits and meats ] knew to be
there. got q piece OF IRON ana made q nook
and laShed it to the end of a pole, and com
menced fishing. | got hold of something and
hauled it up, and found it was the body of
one of the other watch. He had evidently
been jammed between some boxes, which had
held him 50 tight that he could not get out.
| put the hook down again and hauled up a
sack Of potatoes. and after that / brought up
Il box of butter. This was all we had to eat.
Fresh water we had none, and were forced
to drink salt water.
s.Frnm this I cannot Give any account Of
the days, as | could not keep track of them.
We came in sight of large number of birds
and Sea-gullS, which were swimming by,
and with 4 piece of wood which ! hurled at
them | killed one. Ii hoated toward the
wreck. and | took It mp and greediiy sucked
the blood, and then tore the flesh IN pieces
and gave each Of my companions small
piece 7 then made q hook and baited 10
with some of the flesh, and with that mana
ned to catch some fish. which ! ate eagerly,
and 10 tasted TO me as If 10 was the finest tuT-
key. One Of the men, George, was becoming
very faint, and / saw ne was going 20 die
/ told him DE must try to keep up. But he
replied that be did not think he would live
very long. ] asked him il be thought he was
going To God. and DE said \ cs. then said;
George, when YOU get To where God ls, tell
Him To- send US some water lie told me
that De- would, and then begged me not to
throw him overheard As soon as he died. lie
bcca mc inScuSiblc. aud in a short time died.
7 left mis- body remain under the cover one
whole ilv. and then put Do in the sea. be
lieve tha: hc kept hi- promise, for soon aft
er he died, q squali came ON, and the rain fell
in torrents. held ont my SOU wester until
it was full. and treasured the water The 9th
or men lapped the water from the side OF
the vessel Just as dogs do. The first mate
had become crazy from the effects OF drink
ing salt water. and ne died soon after George
That left me and Johnny on the wreck.
johnny was getting very weak, ana Thought
! would make one more effort 70 see II 1
could not get some preserves, in order To suS-
tain his life With piece of iron | cut
away a hole in the deck, and fiShed where L
knew preserves had been stored in the hold.
but was unable to get any. Some time af-
ter that Johnny died. IT must have been
about 10 o'clock at night. ! kept him with
me until , O'Clock in the morning, and then
rolled him over into the sea.
''Then I was left alone on the vessel /
said To- myself Now my turn Is coming and
I am left alone but as my name Is on my
arm in Indian ink, I'll lashmyseit 20 tie yes
sci. and if ever the veSSelis picked up shall
he known. l had become so weak th3t l
could scarcely stand. Ny tongue had be-
come parched and dry, my lips were swollen
and my body emaciated. so that there was
nothing but the skin to cover the ribs. 1t
was afternoon and ! thought | would take a
last look from under the cover. II was then
| caught sight Of a vessel which was lacking
about and going from the wreck. l tried to
halloO, or / did hallOo, but my voice was not
heard As I saw the vessel going q way. from
me nv heart seemed to cease beating, and ]
thought my last hope was gone. But | man
aged TO get strength enough TO raise my sou
Wester and shake il over my head. Some
one on the vessel seemed to get the signal
Tor the vessel hove to, and then | saw the
small boat come toward the wreck. This Is
the last | recollect. Five days afterward, as
I was informed by the Captain OF the Otago
| came to my senses when he told me thai