Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1884-12-06
A TRAGEDY OF THE SEA.

Press this morning furnishes very
interesting details of the awful suf-
ferings OF pilot Marshall Bertrand
and Andreas Peter Hansen, who,
after supplying the steamship Penn
sylvania with IA pilot, failed in their
attempt to return to the pilot boat
Turley. There was third man in
the boat, named Alfred Swanson.
but he went crazy from drinking
salt water, and died forty eight hours
after leaving the Pennsylvania.
Having no compass on board, they
lost their bearings, and the weather
being thick, could see none of the
bay-lights. The weather was bitter
ly 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 froze upon their oilskins, and
their stiffened muscles refused to do
their duty. One man attended the
helm, while the other attempted to
keep the boat from swapping by
constantly bailing her. All Monday
and Monday night and Tuesday they
drove aimlessly about, suffe ring the
extremes of hunger, thirst and cold.
Towards dusk on Tuesday evening,
the other men, who were pilot APP
prentices, became deliriouS, and,
before Bertrand could control them,
they threw overheard the oars and
everything else that was loose in the
boat. Thus left without any means
of handling the shift, Bertrand can
hardly explain how it escaped from
filling or capsizing. He says he oc
casionally sunk into stupor, in
which the rawlings of his shipmateS,
the roar of the wind and the lashing
of the waves we're curiously mingled
in whatever remained to him of con
seriousness. He supposes that it was
about midnight Of Tuesday when
Swanson drew his sailors knife from
its sheath and made several plunges
at him, declaring he would kill him
and drink his blood. Although rous-
ed to consciousness by his danger,
Bertrand declares that he was too
weak to make any resistance, and,
closing his eyes, patiently waited
for the death that seemed near and
not unwelcome. But the deranged
man was himself too feeble to Garry
out his intention. Exhausted by his
long fast, and clad in his icy gar
ments as in coat of mail, he fell,
shrieking and gasping, across the
thwarts at Bertrand's feet. In a
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
spume drift quickly formed film of
ice. To add to the peril of the re-
naming men, the boat shipped
great deal of water. The bailer was
among the things that the crazy men
had thrown overheard, and Ber-
trand was forced to take off one of
his rubber boots to use in its place.
Thus he freed the boat of water, but
his unprotected foot was frozen.
Hanson was SO near death as to be
incapable of rendering any assistance
and, except when he was ravlng. he
laid like log. Early on Wednes-
day morning, there being no vessel
in sight, the two men stabbed the
dead body of their comrade and
sucking the blood from the wounds,
revived and refreshed themselves in
that way. Later in the day they
cut strips of flesh from the corpse
and devoured a little. Bertrand,
however, denies that he partook of
it. Hanson admits that he ate
pieces of SwanSon's flesh, aud thinks
Bertrand did too. Just as the sun
was abaut setting Bertrand saw the
outline OF a vessel. He swung his
oilskin coat about his head, attract
ing the attention of the lookout, they
were soon taken on board the
schooner Emma F. Engel, from
Georgetown, S. c., bound to Balti-
more. They were landed at the
Delaware Break-water. Just before
the Engal bore down upon them the
dead body of Swanson was thrown
overheard, and two sharks that had
been following the bout pouneed
upon it instantly. Hansen. the
other survivor, says that bark, sup
posed to he the Viator, passed them
within a lines throw. but that the
captain refused to take them on
board or to give them water or bread.