New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-11-07

overheard he gave himself up for
/ lost. He got but one look at the
ship, and realizing, that she was driiv-
ing, away from him and that he was
beyond rescue, be ceased swimming,
and hoped to drown at once.
just then a, hen-coop foated
within reach, and in a second he
changed his mind and fastened to
/ the float. He was clear on the point
OF floating all that day and far into
the night then he lost consciousness,
but did not letg his float. He re-
membered nothing the next day un-
til about an hour before shutdown.
when he opened his eyes. and came to
his senses to find himself lying on the
sands, his float near by, and the
storm cleared away. He was stiff
and sore and beWildered, and he
craWled further up to the shore and
went to sleep again, and it was sun
rise before he again opened his eyes.
About an hour later he knew that he
was on an island about three miles
long by one mile wide. 1t was well
wooded, contained several springs of
fresh water land there was an abund-
ance of wild fruit to sustain life.
There was not an inhabitant or sign
OF one, nor did he find any living
thing except birds and monkeys.
Wheaton was not only a good sea-
man but a well educated and we'll
posted man, and he had sailed on the
Pacific for many years. There was
hardly an island in that ocean which
he had not set foot on and
could recognize by sight again. After
q bit he began to figure on his loca-
ton, and hehad made out that hehad
been driven ashore on an unknown
and unchartered island lying very
close to the equator, andinlongitude
l2O degrees west. This put him mid
way on northeast, and southwest
line, between the Marquesas group
and the Galapagos Islands. He Wis
tied both groups, and as both were
inhabited at that time he could not
be mistaken in his location had he
gone ashore on any one of them. He
found proofs satisfactory to himself
that the island was of volcanic orr
gin, not over twelve or fifteen years
old, and that the Iuxuriant vegeta-
ton was due to tropical climate. The
birds, Of which there were several
species, could perhaps have flown
there from some of the other islands,
but how the monkeys reached the
spot was a puzzler the captain never
got over. That he found 'em there
was proved when he was rescued,
there being two pet animals on the
raft.
When the castaWay came to walk
around his island he found the wreck
of the Scotch brig Mcneil on the east
shore, and the wreck Of the Califor-
MIA ship Golden Bar on the west
coast. Both craft had been reported
lost with all on board two or three
years before. The one was a whaler
and the other a trader. The captain
not only said he found them, but he
had proofs again. He had the name
board OF the ship and some papers
belonging to the brig. He found
and buried the skeletons of thirteen
sailors, and among the debris of the
wreck he secured large quantity of
clothing, considerable money, some
bedding, a lot of tools, ropes, boards
and planks, and within week he be-
gan the work of building a boat to
enable him to escape.
[ always felt that the old man must
have had a jolly life of it for the ten
months and over he was on what he
called wheaton Island, ''buth he dwelt
on the fact thatit was terribly lonely.
Invent harder with him because he
had a wife and six children, and he
knew that they would be mourning his
death. He found several barrels of
Whiskey and a lot Of tobacco in the
plumber, but he was not content to
sit still and enjoy himself He put
in two months on his boat, and had
just got her finished when storm
set in and she broke her moorings
and drifted out to sea- Anxiety and
exposure, aided by the worry about
the folks at home, laid the old man
on his back for several weeks, and
he probably had close call from
slipping his cables He got up
slowly, and as he had been wasteful
with his materials, he found that he
must turn to a raft if he ever got
away. He worked at it odd hours,
being i'll and Respondent, for several
months, and when it was finished he
hesitated a full month before making
a start, hoping every day to sight a
sail. He had a signal flying by day,
and almost every night he kept a
fire going, but rescue never came.
One day, two weeks before he set
out on his voyage, the Captain made
a great discovery. In a rough, wild
place in the center of the island,
where mass ofrock was thrown up
in great confusion, he found a lump
of gold as big as your fist. Aye!more
than that, he found masses of it so
heavy that he could not lift them.
These chunks, he said, were as pure
as his big nugget. andethat i not