Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-12-13
SAVED FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH.
Twenty-Five Sailors Escape a Horrible
Fate IN the Arctic.

A special dispatch from st. Johns, \. F..
saws: The fortunate interpOsition of the
| Newfoundland whaling steamship Eagle pre-
vented a repetition of starvation and death
so mOurnfuily associated with the Greeley
Arctic expedition. The Eagle arrived her.
yesterday and brought twenty-five Peter.
| head whalemen, who abandoned theiI
vessel on the eastern side Of Davis Straits.
| The following account is CLEANED from the
officers and crew of the lost whsler:
On the 18th of March the whaling ship
| Catherine, Captain Benzie, well equipped
| and manned with a crew of twenty-five
men, sailed from Peterhead, Scotland, fol-
! Cumberland Gulf and Davis Straits to pros
ecute whaling and sealing. On the voyage
westward as far as the neighbUrhOOd of the
| fishing ground, storms and turbulent seas
characterized the voyage. The ship rolled
and strained and labOred heavily. Early in
! May the Cathsrine rounded Cape Farewell
and was headed for Davis Straits.
The weather was most unprOpitiOus for
the prosecution of the voyage and no work
was accomplished down TO September. On
the 3Oth of the month the Catherine leaked
so badly that it became necessary to beach
the ship and accordingly she was stranded
on the eastern side of Davis Straits. She
had not been beached long before she fell
OYER on her starbOard side. Under the i'm
pact of a heavy sea, her bottom and her
side were pierced and crushed by the rocks
of the reef and before evening she was q
complete wreck.
Meantime the boats were disengaXed from
the wreck. Some provisions and clothing,
charts and other nautical instruments were
saved and placed in the DOats and a depart
Al, -
able route to cross the hOmsward bound
track of any late Scotch or Newfoundland
whalers Two hundred miles of rough
water were traversed by the whalers with
sails and oars. Ten days and nights were
occupied in composing this distance.
The crew suffered terribly from continuous
exposure. Their clothing was mesger, and
they had no fire. Their limbs were cramped
from being imprisoned in the small space
available in little boat, and very dismal
prospect loOmed before them. At length,
about sunset, Black Head Island was
reached, and the whalerS lsnded and hauled
up their boats on this island. There they
found a station house established and
owned by williams Il Sons, of London. 1t
was very sparsely provisiOned, and was
controlled by a Russian named Frederick
Sherman, assisted by German gunner
and an Italian cook. Here the Peterhead
whaiers were treated with barbariOus in
fortunately rare among civilized
men. The shipwrecked sailors were denied |
shelter under the station house roof. Their |
clothes dripping with sea spray were left |
outside to freeze and the fisher waits were |
to seek refuge in the toOpiks
Of some nOmadic EsquimauX. who had
pitched their camps for the season on Black
Island
These warm-hearted people divided with
The Psterhead whalers the meagre sleeping
space of their wigwamS and the warmth Of
heir camp-fires, their bear steaks and their
'sal and walrus blubber. -Four days were
passed under these conditions. At length,
lftsr much suspense and gloomy forebod-
ngs, about noon on the 10th welcome sail
vas sighted. Signals were Immediately
loisted and the vessel proved TO be the
Eagle. of st. Johns, \. F.
She bore down on the island and in
hort time had transferred the whalerS from
he shore to the ship. There were at the
ime of the rescue not more than eight or
line weeks provisions to meet the demands ,
# the permanent residents, the ESqulmaux
md the new contingency of whalerS. The
Iage was the last ship in the Arctic, and
without her proyidential interpOSition there
must have been terrible loss of human
fe. Landed yesterday from the Eagle. ,
he shipwrecked whalers were cOmforta-
ly lodged by the shipping master at st.
ohns.