Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-30
EATEN BY HIS SHIPMATES
A DEAD SAILOR SAVES HIS
COMRADES LIVES,
A Terrible Story of Hunger, Thirst, Cold,
DelIrIum and a Struggle for Life at
Sea in an Open Skiff

A dispatch to the Philadelphia Press
from Lewes, Del, contains the following
additional particulars relative to canni-
balism in a skiff at sea, mentioned in
Fridays MORNING NEWS: The three
masted schooner Helen L. Angel, from
Georgetown, S. c., for Baltimore, brought
into port today Pilot Marshal Bertrand
and Alfred Swanson, a Norwegian, two
of the three men who on Monday morn
ing left the pilot boat Turley in skifF
for the purpose of putting Thomas Mar
shall, another pilot, on board the steam-
ship Pennsylvania, which was bound for
Philadelphia. They succeeded in per-
forming this duty, and started back to
regain the Turley, which was beating to
and fro off the Five Fathom lightship.
The weather was very thick and heavy
sea was running, aud they never reached
their vessel. 1t was consequently sup
posed that they had been lost. Several
pilot boats were sent in search of them,
and one cruised 800 miles off the coast
without discovering a trace. Bertrand
told the story of their rescue this after
noon, and the horrible cannibalism to
which the survivors were compelled to
resort.
Soon after leaving the Pennsylvania
they found that in the darkness they had
on board, and not one of the Delaware
lights was visible. Their frail boat be-
came Gnmanageable, and the wind and
sea rose higher every moment. When
daylight broke they We're drifting rapidly
out to sea before the strong northwest
gale, and then abandoned all hope, except
that they might be carried within sight
of some vessel. This was but a forIOrn
chance, as Bertrand knew that only by
aI-r 4
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 be-
fore the wind. The weather was
bitterly cold, and they had left the
Turley in such haste that they had failed
to take their thickest clothing or to throw
in any water or provisions. Soon the
spray, driven by the cutting blasts, fr0Ze
upon their Oilskins, and their stiffened
muscles refused to do their duty. One
man attended the helm, while the others
attempted to keep the boat from swamp
ing by constantly bailing her. All Mon
day, Monday night, and Tuesday they
drifted aimlessly about, suffering the eX-
tremes Of hunger, thirst, and cold. To-
ward dusk on Tuesday evening both the
NOrwegians, who were pilots appreG-
tices, became deliriOus, and before Ber-
oars and everything else that was loose
in the boat. Thus left withoutany means
of handling the skiff, Bertrand can hardly
explain how it escaped from filling or cap
sizing. He says that he occasionally
sank into stupor, in which the rawlings
of his shipmates, the roar OF the wind,
and the lashIng of the waves were Curl
Ously mingled in whatever remained to
him of consciousness.
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 deran. ed man was
too feeble to carry out his intention. EX-
hausted by his long fast, and clad IN mis-
icy garments as in coat of mail, he fell
shrieking and gGsping across the thwaTts
at Bertrand's feet. In few minutes he
was dead. The clouds had passed away,
the moon had risen, and its beams fell
upon the contorted features of the dead
sailor, upon whose face the freezing spray
quickly formed a film of ice. To add
10 the peril Of the remaining men, the
boat shipped a great deal of water. The
bailer was among the things that the
crazy men had thrown overload, and
Bertrand was forced to take off one Of his
freed the sOat from water, but his unpro-
tected foot was frozen. Swanson w3s so
near death as to be incapable Of rendering
any assistance, and except when he vas
raving he lay like log.
When the sun rose on Wednesday morn
ing, Bertrand eagerly scanned the horizon
in search of a sail, but he saw nothing.
AS his glance fell upon the corpse of tue
dead sailor, it occurred to him that here
lnipht no the FnpaDG 0f nrOICO Dir Iifo
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 CON-
paratively cleared, and that he under
stood what was said to him. The cold
had not abated, but the sea had gone
down. The day was bright, and Bertrand
knew that if they could keep alive until
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
proposed to do, and the latter agreed
with him. With the small remnant of
strength left them they tore the stiffened
Oil-skins and the underclOthing from the
dead, and left a portion of the body ex-
posed. Into his breast and shoulders
sucked the blood from the wounds. They
felt refreshed, and the tor
lures which they had experienced were
allayed. Pausing for moment in their
work they returned to it, and cut strips
of flesh from the corpse. Each devOured
little, though Bertrand says it was with
a lOathing which only the conviction of
selEpreseTvation could enable him TO
conquer. Then they laid back under the
orT1Vl Hytala aC M lxr
ing their heads to scan the waters for a
sail.
They were scarcely conscious Of the
passage of time, but when the sun went
down Bertrand saw passing its disk a
vessel not more than mile distant, and
headed almost directly toward them.
The welcome vision terminated him, and
springing to his feet with some vigOr, be
stretched himself TO his full height in the
stern sheets, and, drawing off his Oilskin
coat, swung 1t high above his head. Just
at this moment fortune aided him, the
boat mounting high upon the crest of a
long roller, so that it was thrown into
full view of the lookout on the forecastle
CT the vessel. For moment she held her
course, and he feared that in the fading
light they were not seen. A moment
more and he knew better, for she came
around before the wind, which was still
sail, mainsail, mainmast and spanker
were swung out, wing and wing, aud she
was headed straight toward them. The
vessel proved to be the Helen l..
Angel, which, in the storm, had missed
making the capes of the Chesapeake. As
she neared the helpless castaways she
launched a boat, and by O'Clock
Wednesday night they were comfortably
resting in her cabin and cOmfOrted with
food and drink.
For 60 hours these men had had nothing
1ut the salt water and the flesh and blood
If their shipmate. The scene of the rescue
y as So miles southeast of the Five FathOm
ightship, so that in the three days and
,wO nights which had elapsed since they
put off from the Turley, they had drifted
around in that narrow space. Just before
he Angel bore down upon them they
hrew overheard the body of the dead man.
The Angel arrived at the breakwater at
O'Clock this afternoon, and Bertrand
vas put ashore. He is in good condition
With the exception of his frozen feet.
swanson was sent to the Turley, which is
low lying at the breakwater and is re-
ported as doing well. 1t is said that
'ark passed the lost mems boat on Tues
lay, and that, Notwithstanding their hail
ng and signals, she paid no attention to
hem.
NEW BUILDINGS have lately been opened on