The Penn's Grove record., 1883-12-29


= starving at Sea.
An Italian bark has reached Balti
more with the survivors of two BostoT
ships, the Dauntless and the Freeman
Clarke, which were lost on the Soutl
African coast. Thomas Hines, IN o
the crew of the Clarke, tells this story
1t was in last May that | was in Cal
cutta, India, where L had just obtained
my discharge from an English ship, by
surrenderlng one months pay. l die
this because / was anxious to get bacl
to my family who reside in Liverpool
One day while walking along the street
1 was accosted by some strangers, who
invited me to take a drink. took SOM
brandy and lemonade. This was the
last | remember until the next day
when / found myself on board the BARI
Freeman Clarke, of Boston, bound fol-
the Hub, with a cargo of Jute. l reali
/ zed at once that / had been s'shang.
haied;n went to the quarterback and
begged the officer in chdrge to let me &C
ashore, but this request was refused.
AS o as the vessel sailed the miseries
of the crew began, for the bark was old
and leaky, and the weather bad, and we
we're constantly at the pumps. On the
18th of July after being out over two
months, we met With very bad weather,
and not being able to get an observa-
ton the captain whose name was Will
liams, lost his bearings. He tried to
make Port Elizabeth, where there is a
safe harbor, but on the morning of the
18th, when the sun again shone forth,
he found that he had gone far past Port
Elizabeth, and was about II hundred
and ten niles eff from the Cape st.
Francis Light. The sea was heavy and
the vessel was still under shortened sail,
when about twoo'clock in the afternoon,
while Hines and the Port watch were
below the alarm Of fire was given. In
a moment all was in a hustle. The
flames were discovered pouring forth i'll
volumes frem the after part of the YES
sci. The first glance showed the dan
ger and all sail was clapped on the YES
sci and she was headed for the shore.
For seven hours the men fought the fire,
but at 8 O'Clock they abandoned the
vessel and took to the boats. The crew
numbered eighteen men. The captain,
with the second mate, whose name was
Boyle, the steward, a Chinaman, and
three seamen took one boat, and the
first officer, Mr.. Weymouth, with the
remainder of the crew, took the other.
The captains boat was well p~rovisioned,
but by some unfortunate short-sighted-
ness the large boat had no provisions at
all except a bag of ships biscuits and
no water. The biscuits were shortly
wet and became inedible, hence the
suffering which ensued. When they
left the burning vessel they were about
ten miles from land, but the coast is
much exposed at this point and any
attempt to pass the breakers would
have been death, so both boats set sail
for Port Elizabeth, about n hundred
miles to the west of them. During the
first night a gale parted the two boats
and they saw nothing of each other for
two days, when they discovered 1T fat
inshore, heading for the land. TT
(nearly a week they sailed along the
coast, suffering from cold and starsa
ton. They had nothing to eat, aid 1t
was fearfully cold and rained cortinu-
ously, the rough weather keeping the
men continually bailing. Under this
terrible strain two of the crew died,
one, the cook, a young man tom Bos-
ton, and the a young Norwegian sailor.
They died very quietly, and IS soon as
they were dead the bodies we're tossed
overheard. When hope was at its last
ebb, Port Elizabeth light was sighted.
They raised a shirt on an oar as a signal,
which was recognized, aud three fishing
vessels and a steamtug put off and
rescued them, They were taken to
Port Elizabeth and kindly cared for by
the American consul until they recov-
cred and were then sent to Cape Town,
where they were put on various vessels.
Hines had to wait until September
before he could get a ship n was put
ON the Roma, where he found the sur
vivors of the Dauntless, and all were
brought to Baltimore. He says that
before he left Port Elizabeth a party of
of explorers went overland to sect they
could discover any traces of the captain,
but all they found wasa broken-up boat
far down the coast. The unfortunate
men must have attempted TO land in the
surf, and probably paid the penalty OF
their rashness with their lives.