Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-12-04
4 FEARFUL EXPERIENCE.


The Sufferfngs OF Pilot Bertrand and Hi
Compositions Adrift In . Frail Boat For
Three Days in Storm-Hunger. Frost
Frenxy, Death and CannibaIism--AT Timely
Rescue,
PHTLADELPHIA, PA, November Is.
a dispatch from Lewis, Del, says: The
three-masted schooner Helen L. Angel,
from Georgetown, S. c., for Baltimore,
brought into port yesterday Pilot Marshal
Bertrand and Alfred Swanson, Nor
wegian, two of the three men who on
Monday morning left the pilot boat
Turley in skiff for the purpose OF
putting Thomas Marshall, another plot,
on board the steamship Pennsylvania,
which was bound for Philadelphia. They
succeeded in performing this duty and
started back to regain the TURKEY. The
weather was very rough, and they never
reached their vessel. 1t was supposed
they Were lost. Several pilot boats were
sent in search of them, and one cruised
500 miles off the coast without finding
them. Bertrand tells the following hor.
rible story:
Soon after leaving the Pennsylvania
they found that in the darkness they had
lost their bearings. They had no COM
pass on board, and not one of the Dcla-
ware lights was visible. Their frail boat
became manageable, and the wind and
sea rose higher every moment. When day
light broke they were drifting rapidly to
sea before strong northwest gale, and
then abandoned all hope except that they
might be carried within sight of some
vessel. This was but q forlorn chance,
IS Bertrand knew that only by some lucky
accident would their craft, which most OF
the time was in the hollow of the seas, be
sighted from the deck of any vessel. All
they could do was to keep her as much as
possible before the wind.
All Monday, Monday night and Tues.
day they drifted aimlessly about, suffer-
ing the extremes of hunger, thirst and
cold. Toward dusk on Tuesday evening,
both the Norwegians became delirious,
and before Bertrand could control them,
they lost oars and everything else that
was loose in the boat.
Thus left without means of handling
the skiff Bertrand can hardly explain how
it escaped from filling or capsizing. He
says that he occasionally sank into a
stupor in which the raving of his ship
mates, the roar of the wind, and the lash.
ing of waves, were curiously mingled
in whatever remained with him of con-
seriousness.
He supposes that it was about midnight
of Tuesday when one of the Norwegians,
whose name neither himself nor Swanson
knew, drew his sailors knife from its
sheath and made several plunges at him,
declaring that he would kill him and
drink his blood. The deranged man was
too feeble to carry out his intention. tx
hausted by his long fast, and clad in his
icy garments as in coat of mail he fell
shrieking and gasping across the thwarts
at Bertrand'S feet, and in few minutes
he was dead.
To add to the peril of the remaining
men, the boat shipped great deal of
water. The bailer was among the things
that the crazy men had thrown overheard,
and Bertrand was forced to take off one
of his rubber-boots to use in its place.
Thus he freed the boat from water but
his unprotected foot was frozen. Swan
son was SO near death as to be incapable
of rendering any assistance, and except
when he was raving he lay like log.
When the sun rose on Wednesday morn
ing Bertrand eagerly scanned the hori-
zon in search of a sail, but saw nothing.
AS his glance fell upon the corpse of the
dead sailor, it occurred to him that it
might be the means of prolonging life un.
til rescue came. Horrible as the idea of
cannibalism was to him, he realized that
nothing else remained between them and
death. He reused Swanson, and was
happy to discover that his mind had
comparatively cleared and that he under
stood what was said to him.
The cold had not abated, but the sea
had gone down, and the day was bright.
Bertrand knew if they could keep alive
until nightfall, they would in all likeli-
hood be picked up, as they could not be
out of the path of the coasting vessels,
Then came the supreme moment. Ber-
trand indicated to Swanson what he pro-
posed to do, and the latter agreed with
him. With the small remnant of strength
left them they tore the stiffened oilskins
and the Undertaking from the dead man,
and left portion of the body exposed.
Into his breast and shoulder they plunged
their knives, and eagerly sucked the
blood from the wounds. They immedi-
ately felt refreshed, and the fortunes
which they had experienced were allayed.
Pausing for moment in their work, they
to it, and cut strips of flesh
from the corpse.
Each devoured a little, though Bertrand
says it was with loathing which only the
conviction of self-preservation could en-
able him to conquer.
They then laid back under the gun.
wales of their craft, occasionally raising
their heads to scan the waters for a sail.
They. were scarcely conscious of the pas
sage of time; but when the sun went
down, Bertrand saw passing it's disk
vessel not more than mile distant and
heading almost directly toward them.
The welcome vision animated him, and
springing to his feet with some vigor he
stretched himself to his full height in the
stern-sheets, and drawing off his oilskin
coat, swung it high above his head.
just at this moment fortune aided
him; the boat mounting high upon the
crest of long roller, so that it was
thrown into full view of the lookout on
the vessel. For moment she held her
course, and he feared that in the fading
light they were not seem A moment
more and he knew better, for she came
around before the wind and headed
straight toward them.
The rescuing vessel proved to be the
Helen L. Angel, which in the storm had
missed making the capeS of the Chesa-
peake. AS she neared the castaways she
launched boat, and by six O'Clock We'd
nesday evening they were comfortably
resting in her cabin and comforted with
iood and drink.
A Sensation in Court.
JACKSON MICH, November y
sensation was produced in the Hoi-
,on.b fri x,ac4ardau bv Frank Mason. OF