Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-04-08
Frozen IN

"This sudden close OF navigation -
q bad thing On the vessels out" re-
marked IN old sail-loft man yesterday,
"but / don't expect our lake marine
will ever see such another time as in
1843. I was sailing in the Albatross
then, and within twenty-four hours
Lake Huron froze six inches thick. On
the morning of November 10th, it was ~
warm as June. Next day we were fast
in the ice under the lee of an island,
100 miles from the mainland"
"What was the name Of that island Z"
asked man who was hewing crackers
behind the stove.
Gentlemen" said the saloon-keeper,
this sail-loft man il q person Of truth,
and hope there will be no further
Interruptions"
There We were fast as rock, and
the weather growing colder all the
time," continued the narrator. !" At
the end of the next four days the ice
around us was twenty. two inches thick"
"Who measured it?" queried All old
man with frost bitten ear. a
Gentlemen, If there is any man
here who doesn't believe that ice was
twenty-five inches thick, out he goesi :"
exclaimed the saloonist as he struck his
fist down.
AT the end of five days We hadn't
scrap Of provisions left. There were
seven men of us, and starvation stared
us in the face. We fried and ate our
boot legs, made a soup OF the mates
fur hat, and scraped along for three or
four days, and then We drew lots to see
who should die. It fell on the cook"
"Was he nigger?" asked the man
over q barrel.
Gentlemen, we must have order
herei" shouted the owner of the place.
81 was selected to kill him. sadly
continued the sail-lOft man. ~ put
him to sleep with morphine and then
sawed his head off. He lasted us three
days, and then we were as hungry as
ever. The next man to 60 was q sailor
from Chicago, but he had chswed plug
tobacco so long that it made US all sick.
His name was Smith"
"First name, if you please? que.
ried boy who was working next door
"Young man you go right out of
herel" ordered the. saloonist, and tls
boy had to obey.
ave next killed the captain Abl
he was fine eating, tell you! H., had
just enough brandy to season him clear
through. We let him commit suicide
by hanging: We ate the last of him on
Christmas"
with cranberry sauce ?" asked a
big deck hand.
what were they doing with cram
berry sauce ont there ?" demanded the
saloonist. This is true story, and !
know it,"
"Weil, we kept drawing lots and
eating each other mp. and by the LIST Of
February I was the only one left. On
the Sd OF February I had eaten the last
morsei of the last man, and was as
hungry AZ u bear. when somebody
hailed. I looked over the side and
there WAS farmer from the island half
a mile away
"WA IS the island inhabited ?"
:. IL WAS, but we couldn't see the
houses for the woods. There we'd been
eating ea ii other up, for three months,
with farms aud plenty right under our
noses! The farmer thought We might
want O change, and he'd come out to oil 81
us board at IL shillings per week."
"And you went with him 2"
"No. I saw signs Of breakup, and
I didn't dare leave the schooner. The
farmer was stout and fat, and I figured
that he'd last me over week. there
fore killed him and stuck by the craft.
The ice began to break up that night,
and in three days was at Port Huron
with more than half OF the farmer left"
I'D you ever tell this story be-
fore /? asked captain who had listened
without 8 word.
Never"
Twill you tell it again for glass OF
beer?
will"
"Then go ahead. I believe three OF
that crew were with me in the old Mary
Jones when we were cast away in the
Pacific, and that they helped me eat
woman and three children. Please
speak slowly and distinctly, and when
you get to these men describe them as
infinitely as possible"
When our reporter came away the
sail-loft man had cleared his voice and
begun:
"This sudden close Of navigation is
bad thing on the vessels out."-lDe-
troit Free Press.