The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-06-19
NO MAN NEEDS TO STARVE.
AZ OLD sAIIOps ENDLEss WAYS OF
pROCURIS0 FOOn

pud y Pocket Observation-Disclosures
VIII DO II, Even ON Desert Island
,"sailormen die hard. never knew one ;,
DO starved to DEATH"
But you have heard OF such thinesr
"Ob. yes / have heard Of . great mani
things have never seen. have been nearly
ali over the world. a. far a. the water reaches
but have never known man actually to dit
for want OF food or water"
Il was tho FIRST officer OF British tramS
steamship. lying at the Brooklyn stores. who
was speaking: real old tar II over there was
ono. with grizzled gray beard and . hst like
a wnd Of sole leather. 1t Is not necessary "a
follow his dialect II It may be SO called. for II
might make hard reading. as he IL Dane who
for many years has called Plymouth his homo;
and although his language In excellent, his
pronunciation 10 peculiar Tho ship. just In
from St. CroiI with cargo OF sugar. lay tied
70 the wharf The first officer OF this we'll
found British tramp had promised . Sun re-
porter O talk on nautical matters. and was
about to fulfil his promise. with an open box
Of st. Croix cigars. which arc generally bad.
lying on the bench for inspiration.
ct is harder to starvo man to death than
you would imagine" he won't on. There ID
food sverywhere-n tho earth. the sea. and the
air. And wator Is just as plenty. There Is
dying OF hunger or thirst"
what Is that?" he was asked.
lin q heavy sea IN IN open boat, with NO
bod or water on board. and everything soaked
with sea water. 1t might happen In such case.
but even then the chances would be thou
sand to one against it or course am talking
about mariners. Sniormen are not likely to
be cast away In tho middle OF prairie. which
Iknow nothing about. 1t is thirst that kills
them. before hunger has chance. An able
man is good for from seven to ten days with
out food. |: he has plenty OF water. Ihear that
some men have lived Ave or six weeks on
shore without eating. but shipwrecked men
cannot do that, because they are exposed to
heat or cold. and are worn down with ankle
~. Tho worry Is worse than the heat or cold"
"would they not be as badly or on desert
ISLAND as In All opcn boat !" wo asked.
"There are no desert islands" the sailor
man replied emphatically. "Lenstways. It de-
ponds upon what you mean by desert island.
There are plenty Of islands without any In
habitants. but very few In any part Of the world
without some vegetation. trees. sholls. sand.
and 30 on. don't call that desert island as
long as there Is a tree or n bush. Suppose you
were cast away on such m island. with moth
ing but the clothes on your back. You would
DO surprised to find how soon you would have
enough to eat and drink. n house to live In.
and how quickly you would come to living In
quite civilized way. II you were not rescued
that Is. II l were with you. or some other man
who has had experience with such things. I
have been through that several times. but
never came anywhere near starving"
You must have suffered with thirst 2" 1t
was suggested.
mot at ALL" he replied. "or not what you
might call suffered. But you have the right
idea fit: water is the first thing man wants.
I'll take you with me to IN island once spent
five weeks on with two other men. in north
latitude 12' "a, longitude about 60 west from
Greenwich. That put us. as OF course you
know. Just of the Spanish Main. as we still
call the north coast Of South America. 1t
would keep us here all night II I should tell
you how we came there. the wreck of tho ship.
and all that: but it was a collision. and the
bosun and one deck hand and reached the
island on spar. and precious gla We were to
hsre Wv. other nnd IN Ba
ter about that: YOU aud are to suppos. our
selves there together. landed about TIE middle
OF the afterDoun after floating and swimming
Without food or drink. There arc some trees
hs and sy but
LIVING soul. nor house. :,
I'VE dont care for "n{thnE in the world
don't seem able to Get. But courage. COM
rade! There ia plenty OF water here as there
is almost everywhere. We search the whole
and l the other. out Of course we find no
spring. for tho island is limestone formation.
There Is always chance of finding H. fresh
water spring Ivy digging few feet IN the sea
beach but we are too thlr,ty.at least you are
to run any risk OF wasting time in this way.
30 we will tax" y way that is sure. You still
have your watch on. and handkerchief in
Yes: but you cannot produce water from
watch and Il pocket handkerchief"
No: We must have also some shells from
tho crSsia! IRON from Your watch and in i've min.
utes. under this hot sun. we Will have fire; II
but it would take longer. You have. heard OF
rubbing two sticks, together! Well. that Is
net exactly the way. but pretty near it should
81 aShSgany s' shas , in the Vest Indies i
point on ono end. Then q block of dry
decayed wood nearly, rcady to fall apart, and
make @ small holo for the blunt point to lit
the palms OF my hands should have fire. in
from thirty to sixty minutes with hard work:
anicHer ana ND YOU w' can SGahos som" faei and
dozen OF the largest shells you can find while
mses th Has IS tho first stem in our now civil.
kation." tho nrst officer continued. The
minute wo produce fire We mako our first ad-
vance out OF lpSOlute SlNaSery. buC inc
water? You ask for yuu- thront Is burning up.
your tongue bi stored, your eyes perhaps be-
ginning to bulge: We are going to distil scn
water and make 1t III Tor drinking on exactly
the same principle that the ,sondonsers turn
salt water into fresh aboard ship only by a
much simpler process. II we had u small
still We could soon have enough fresh water
10 bathc in: but In tho absence Of n still we
must use shells and acknowledgements When
half III ono Of these shells with sea wnter
and lay 1t on the fire. he water soon bnils. and
steam Is produced. That steam Is absolutely
fresh water IN the form of vapor. Now, as we
have no condcnsinG apparatus. wo do tho best
We can. md TINT II TO io!d yoar handkerchief
two or three times and fusten It with twigs
stuck into tho ground Immediately over tho
gholl. whore it will catch every particle OF the
steam. After repIenishing the sea water
several times and the shells also TOR over u
bot ilre the shells soon crack and turn into
tmel the n.ikcrchief Is saturated with good
lresh water. You firt II through tho mir two
pr three times to cool It. and then suck the
hsndk erchief. spoonful OF water you get.
perhaps. 1t Is not much. but II Is life. II We
had no handk erchief we should be compelled
10 use piece Of our shirts.
Here we have fire and water; now for food.
There is SO much Of 1t all around us that
hardly know where to begin. At night. II 1t Is
.he right season. wo catch turtles on tho
beach. II not-do you see the handsome little
lizards. running over cverythingY They ore
not duinties. hut they are meat In tho sand
IL tho beach we will find clans or some other