Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-11-12

tIy 10 INtN1 uiiuN rNAto Va Wis H'-I "ttt-
then take a rest; you will soon be man
again.
The poor fellow tried to mutter word
or two Of gratitude. He gulped down a
few swallows of soup, and after telling
the captain that his name was Bernard
Gilboy, and that he sailed 1862 days be-
fore from San Francisco, Cal, he was
taken below and put into bunk, where
he soon fell asleep.
His boat was h0isted inboard In short
order, the islanders failing on to the
tackle falls and singing joyous song.
She was strange looking craft. The
carpenter pulled his rule out of his pocket
and measured her. He Dimensions were:
Is feet over all; beam, 6 feet; depth, 2
fl. 6 in. She was decked over, and her
hull was divided into two compartments
by water-tight bulkhead about feet
from the stern. She had been rugged as
n schooner, but only the foremost was
standing.
The after compartment was 6 feet
long, with hatch in the centre and with
locker on each side. She appeared to
have been fitted out with a view to a
doep-water voyage, but looked much the
worse for wear. Her bottom was covered
with thick clusters of barnacles. Her
rigging was rather rotten, and her deck
was covered with slime.
The islanders focked round the boat,
whose name was the Paci6c-painted in
small letters on her stern. They ex-
pressed good deal of curiosity concern
ing her, as was evident from their excited
talk and gestures. The Pacific was
firmly dashed to ringbolts in the deck,
everything on board of her being taken
out. There wasn't scrap of food
aboard; ten-gallon keg contained four
and one-half inches of fresh water, and
there was about half gill of alcohol in
druggists bottle. That evening a fine
breeze arose and the schooner headed for
her destination, dancing over the waves
gallantly and clipper-like.
Next morning the steward woke up the
poor fellow so providentially rescued
from the rapacious jaws of death, whose
fangs were about closing on him when
the schooner cited him. He was much
refreshed, and after taking cup of cof-
fee and slice of toast went on deck,
where the cook, who was bit of bar
Der, cut his hair and trimmed his beard
Then he had good wash and was ready
for breakfast.
While he was partaking of plentiful
meal, which he said tasted better than
any he had eaten since leaving San
Francisco, he told his story, often hesita-
ting for word, and speaking in a strange
tone that reminded one of ghosts.
His name, as before mentioned, was
Bernard Gilboy His home was in Buff
falo, N. Y. From boyhood his hobby
was the sailing of small boats, and he
had gone to sea at an early age. 1t APP
pears that reading the account of Capt.
johnson crossing the Atlantic alone in
boat 10 feet keel feet inches beam
and 20 inches depth, induced him to un-
dertake voyage to Australia from San
Francisco. Accordingly he contracted
with Burns & Kneass of that port to build
him the boat picked up the day previous
of the dimensions given above. She was
launched on Friday, Aug. 3, 1882, and
she sailed on Friday, Aug. 1S. Is there
any wonder that she came to grief? The
only cause for establishment is that her
owner didn't fetch up for full due in
Davy Jones's locker, for as every sailor
knows, Friday is a most unlucky day.
On August 2 he got his clearance from the
Custom House. The craft had worry little
free board. She was laden with IA ten
gallon casks of water, 165 pounds of hard
tack packed in fifteen pound watertight
tin cans, two dozen cans of roast beef in
two-and-a-half-pound cans, two dozen
roast chickens in one pound cans, two doz.
One-pound caKs of salmon, two dozen cans
of homeless pigs feet, two dozen cans of
peaches, two dozen cans of condensed
milk, twenty-five pounds Of loaf sugar,
one gross of matches in six bottles, half q
gallon of alcohol in a druggists glass jar,
ten gallons of nut oil, five gallons of kerr
osene oil, three pounds of coffee, two
pounds of tea. one bar of CASTLE soap, two
pounds of lard, three pounds of nails, one
wooden pump, twelve feet of half-inch
hose, which he used as u syphon TO get
fresh water out of the kegs with, grains,
hammer and Ratchet, few copper tacks,
kerosene oil stove, pocket alcohol stove,
two lamps, one pound of candles, two
cOmpasses, barometer, and sextant, pat
tvur tunruu Ipgs ~uouufczuurrvi----a--.
powder and shot, revolver and cartridges,
clock and watch, nine knives, anchor and
sea drag, with about forty fathoms of one
and half inch line, q ball of spun-yarn
anda mariinspike,n navigation books, sheet
chart of the South Pacific, an American
flag, clothing, one pair of twelve-foot
oars, and an umbrella, which he found
handy when the wind was light and the
sun strong.
Thus equipped Gilroy put to sea in the
frail boat Pacific. His usual course was
to sail at night and heave to and rest
during the day. This he accomplished
as follows: First he threw his sea anchor
overheard on the weather side, hauled
down the jib, lowered tho foresail,
trimmed the main sheet fiat down and
dashed tho helm admidships. Thus, as
the boat drifted TO lceward the sea
anchor kept her head to sea and the main
sail steadied her. Trimmed in this way
the boat made quite good weather of ii,
even in heavy sea.
The Pacific made fair progress, with
little cventful happening until October
g, when Gilboy caught q turtle, which he
cut up and cooked His previous prey
had been bontos and flying fish, which
he caught ut rather rare intervals.
On the Goth day out he spoke the
barkentinc Tropicvance, Capt. Burns,
from Tahiti to San Francisco, in latitude
IA deg. 30 min. south and longitude 149
deg. 2 min. west. The captain supplied
Gilboy with as many oranges, bananas
aud lines as he would take, and promised
70 report him on his arrival in San Fran