Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-07-31
PERHS OF 1HB SRI.
TlsekM a ths Llstllnn Csad h II
IMa d HhtR.
Tale OF Hasdshsps 0a11sssa BY the
cspssis asd nis Wns.

csp<. J. Aibess Chapman. The veil.
Known yes captain ef Nsv Yssk, IL viii
bio wife snd iiss,s dssshsss, sssppEsg d
Mr.. r. 4. Smiths on Eastsss svsaus,
Enovins that he bad bssn rscsn4iy shir-
wrecked On the coast Of Australia, JoUn.
SAL reporter called upos bin yesterday In
sr!sr 70 obtain IN account Of tbs captains
srv4risscs. Tbs captain u . remarkably
.,.,ssn specimen Of . New Brunswick
man. He stands feet inches In hs
soesinz feet. snd hes shoulders % match.
He rudy eonstensnes shows the effect Of
the ysryies reahsr and climates that be
has met % his "a Yeas Of following the
sss.
He came to this ceustfy vhsn not Is
yssrs of.ss. He srfiysd in New York on
. bnssnuo d from the experience gained
Ia the sh i; .es yoysse secured piscs be-
fore The mas ia deep ses chip. In six
,s.,. ~ raj 1on himself place o. IN
ar W.lbia three years be became .
,..,.n.pi. Of 4. ship engaged in the foreign
s,.ds gssr slncs ihen he has commanded
t.r,e ,L.p,. Three times has he circum-
a.yis.tpsi the globe. There 10 hardly .
tno. a country tha. he has not visitsd. He
has . remarkably nns record, having never
hsa mauDy or even row on board or 70
Of his thips. Before this last utterly ur-
svoidAbie ship~reck be had never lost .
vessel For years he has been employ ed
~ one firm. Scsmmell Bros. Of New York.
Bald the captain:
"Os January 10 Of this year left New
York city on the fuIl-riGged ship Joseph
II. Sasmmeil Of New York. She vas Of
1900 tons bdrthen and had been built only
four years ago In So. John. N. b. She
vas Owned by Scammeil Bros,, but flew
the Canadian f,g on account Of our ship
Ny wife. my little girl, myself Is captain,
three officers. IL men before the mast, .
steward and q ssswArdsss. We carried .
general cargo. We cleared for Melbourne.
victoris. Australia. We made good run
and nothing out Of the common happened.
We made the coast Of Victoria early in
May.
"On the morning Of the 8sh We were of
the entrance to the harbor Of Melbourne
The COST along there 10 wicked. The only
wsy to get into the bay 10 through . narrow
b ght between two hesds. Bout II
noticed some black clouds In the sou vest
Didntthink much Of them. But IL was .
typhoon. 10 about ten minutes ii began to
blow. Crest heavens. how it did Glow !.
regular great gansi Why, you lsndsmen
dons know what breeze 10, but can tell
you il was awful"
How about last Saturday. Captain"
Bah That WAS only . little squsll.
You ought to have seen that typhoon. Why
1t nearly blew the clothes OF my back. with
the sid Of lines we could hardly crawl
across the deck. Whswi How IL did
blovl And then it rained and hailed so
that you couldnt see IN inch In front Of
your noss.s II was late in the fall and it
was bitterly cold. did what could to
keep control OF the ship but there was too
much Of q sea on. The currents we're the
worst I've ever run scross. Twas resu-
lar boiling pot. We spun around like q
peg top. We couldn't tell where We were
or where We were going Might have been
in Jericho for all knew. hept oil the
canvass could on the ship. worked like
sAve. but couldn't do a thing. knew
We were in much danger but how bad ]
didnt know. Is was pitch black. At about
eleven O'Clock we struck"
"Wsrs you surprised, or did you expect
m"
Surprised that isn't the word to say
what I Vas. Hsdn't any more thought Of
it than the man in the moon. We lay there
pretty safely. There was = beautiful
English steel ship near US on shore. She
went to pieces fast; metal ships always do,
snd her crew took TO their boats, but the
sss was too much for 'hsm, and seven were
drowned. How that ses ran; seemed
higher than a mountain. My officers
wanted sme to leave. but said,
No, we can't see . thing and
our boats | wouldn't live minute
49,. ~. .tunL RAM A o'ni,nb thu al. han. ~ IN
run dosn and the wind eased up bit. At
day light, ! O'Clock Of the second day. we
took to the boats and made for the shore.
I've followed the sea good many years
but that surf beat all I've ever seeu. 1t
was terrible sight can tell you. That
surf pounded away on the beach worse than
any steam hammer that ever was made.
But we made the beach.
when We went through the surf, it
seemed as though we'd been shot out Of .
cannon. We landed ourselves, not one Of
the shore folks lifting hand to help Us.
There was Q GUNNER hotel there, but ~ il
vas nearly winter then, there was only .
man and his family and his sons family.
Bot those women didn't offer my wife or
little girl or the stewardess . dry skirt even,
and they were soaking vet. and there vss
. cold rain and Il was very chilly. Some
Of the shore fishermen built Nc . FIRE. but
that was all. They are queer people out
there.
Three hours after our ship and the
Britisher struck, they knew Ii up ct the
city. but they didn't send life boat or >
tug to our relief. although rockets we're
going up oil the time. why. there 10 sixty
mles Of the worst coast in the world. be-
tween Sidney and Melbourne. without a
light orr life boat. Nine vhips were Loot
that night along there. II I'd lsfs the ship
any earlier we'd have been lost. or IL we'd
lsft later, for it began to blow right after
We took to the boats. By 3 O'Clock in the
afternoon the ship was kindline wood. She
Vas = beauty. but nothing could have saved
her"
The captain did not tell much about his
share OF the work on board that awful
night, bu, in point Of fact he has won from
all sides the heartiest commendation. He
did not 20 below from the beginning OF
the storm to the end. He stuck to the
last. After the wreck the party spent i've
weeks at Melbourne. which the captain de-
seribed % one Of the finest and cieanest