The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-12-07
6N 4 RAFT N L GALE:

Ghrtlling Experience in Gale on Lake
Iichigzn-Four men 8f s Scfiooneris
Grew Lost and Fodr Others LeFt to cling
for Thirty-one Hours to a Gradually:
Sinking Raft-Ope becomes a Maniac and
Dies-Sescue of the others With the
Water hnee-Deep on the Raft:
MTEwAUKEE, November 25.
The propeller Wisconsin,. on her arrival here
from Grand Haven tn s morning, brought tho
news of the loss of the schooner Coflingwood
and er Captain and fourof her crew in Thurs
days storm. When about two hours out from
Grand Haven the men on board the w .sconsin
heard cries for help coming up from the water.
The WiscOnsins ife-b0at was manned and put
out in the direction from VIII ch the Sounds
came. The boats crew soon came upon raft
on which were found three haiffrozen meu.
They were taken ON board the Wisconsin, and
proved TO be the survivors of the crew Of eight
men belonging to the schooner Coliingwood.
Their names are: r. d. sheldon, Frank Nc
Fee, and Nicholas Johnson. The following is
Johnsons account of the loss Of the schooner
and tn remaining FIVE of the crews
1he Collingwood was loaded with cedar
poles, and was going from St Helena to Chs
eago. She was a miserable old thing and was
almost unseaworthy. / understand the boat
was worth about $4,000, ara the cargo about
$500. ST. Helena is near the mouth Of the
Straits. During the gale Thursday afternoon
the Vessel became waterl9gged, and we
tVorlze the pump for all 1t was worth. About
four O'Clock in the afternoon the pump got
choked, and things looked pretty blue, tell
you. The gale was blowing from the north
west, and about fV D clock the sea made the
vessel roll over. There we lay, right on the
broadside, till the topmast went out,
when with a great groan she Strengthened
up her b-am5-ends and kept that
way for about an hour Then, all of sudden,
the deck btirst up eaused by the pressure Of
the water against the cargo, and she rolled
over and went down head first. The whole
crew, eight Of us, were all hanging for dear
life to the tafrail thinking that Is would be
the last thing that would give way. After She
went down the sea washed over us. The Cap
tain and three other men who were lost were
seen floating with posts under their aims
There was piece of deck about six feet
square and three of US got on that. Sheldon
got ON another raft the We three were on
when we were picked up. Four of us
finally got to that raft We suf
fered terribly, the air being biting cold,
and a fierce gale was blowing. To
make matters worse the steward became
a raving maniac during Thursday night, and
it was all that two of could do to keep the
poor fellow the raft All through the
night and during Friday the man fought u.s.
and several times he succeeded in getting into
the water but dragged him out. About
four O'Clock yesterday afternoon his strength
died. We held on to his body for awhile, but
had to let it wash overheard. Finally, as we
had no way of fastening it to the raft we took
some papers and things otit of his pockets;
and among them was receipt for a consider
able sum of money that he had deposited
with a Chicago store-kecper named Jacobs
early yesterday morning all of us became
almost totally blind from he terrible expo
sure. That. of course, only tended to aggra-
vate our sufferings. How we managed to live
30 long under the circumstances the Lord only
knows But we couldn't have lasted much
long r. Last night we were so sleepy that it
was with difficulty we could keep our eyes
open. The raft gradually began lowering as
the posts under it absorbed the water, and
from dark until the time we were found
we stood in water the whole time nearly knee
deep. If there had been any place to sit down
we would have gone to sleep and frozen TO
death. We continued walking from one end
to the other, and some one would occasionally
go to sleep while walking and step overheard
The others would pull the unfortunate back
onto the raft. McFee walked off the raft three
times last night, and 1 succeeded after great
trouble in getting him back each time. For
thirty-one hours we didn't have thing to eat
managed to dig little bit CT oakum out of
the raft and the three of us chewed this for
twelve hours. MeFee would have died in
couple of hours if we hadn't been picked up.
He was beginning to act crazy, and was SO
numb that it was with difficulty that we kept
him on his feet. If the Wisconsin hadn't come
along just when she did it would have been
gOOd-by with us, for we couldn't have lived
much longer, and we real Zed also that the
raft was gradually becoming waterlogged and
sinking"
But little is know. concerning the lost men.
Captain WilletS was sixty years Of age, and a
resident of Kingston, Canada. The name of
the steward who persisted on the raft could not
be ascertained. The other pc sons lost con-
sisted of two Norwegian sailors and a boy. All
are supposed to have been Canadians.
The clerk of the Wisconsin said that it was
little peculiar, but by the merest accident the
boat had been driven a quarter of point out
of the way in coming across, and this unusual
course caused them to fird the survivors of
the crew.
The survivors of the wreck were found on
the boat, and they proved sorry looking lot.
Their hands, feet and limbs were badly frosted
and swollen, and it was with difficulty they
could walk. Mr.. Sheldon, the mate, said the
sufferings of himself and companions during
the long time they were drifting around at the
mercy of the cold waves were terrible in the
extreme, and that words were ina iequate to
describe what they had gone through.