Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-09-22
SCHOONER CAPS|zED
Three Sailors CIung TO a
Keel For Nine Days.
BIRDS THEIR ONLY DIET.
Finally Rescued From Their Perilous
Position bv Spanish Steamer.

| wreck of the British schooner Winder-
mere, whcu was capsized by a sudden
| squall when lsO miles from Mobile The
vessel was bound to that port from Key
| West.
There were eight ersons on board and
| five were drowned These were the cap
tain. and his wife, Of Port Lorne, Ms; First
| Mate Truman Holman, - years of age, of
| Annapolis, y. s.; Steward Henry Sun ds,
| a native of Norway, AZ years old, but
resident of Nova Scotia; Sean an Daniel
| August, "A Frenchman, 20 years Of age.
The Winderinere was built at Port Med
way, n. s, last January She was 29y
| tons register and was valued at $4,000.
| She was partly insured and the managing
| owners were John :. Hall e. Co. OF Boston.
| The three surviving seamen were rescued
| on the 10th about 1870 miles from MatanZas,
| the steamer being out about IL hours from
| that port. The survivors are Second Mate
| Charles LaCain of Annapolis y. :; James
| Clark of Yarmouth, Eng. and John
Mattox Of Birmingham, Eng.
A Thrilling Tale.
The story Of the wreck of the schooner
was written by the second mate on the
day Of Sept. Il, the day after they mad
| been picked up by the Palentino. IL is
signed by the three men who were rescued
and tells every detail Of their awful
| struggle with the elements. On Sept. Z
| all was as usual on board the boat, and
| they were skimming along under a good
breeze, with clear sky overhead The
| mainsail and mizzentopmast were set
| when the port watch went below, leaving
| John Mattox, James Clark and Charles
LaCain on deck.
The captains watch began at $50 and
| just before he came up squall appeared
| To the windward and seemed TO be travel
| ing toward The shp at a terrific rate Of
| speed. When the sailors saw it some Of
them went To the main hatch and called
| TO the captain that IL was coming and
| that he had better come on deck and take
| look. The captain was busy with his
| books at the time and diu not respond
readily, and at about 0:3O, just as he did
really come up, the squall struck the ship
| broadsides aud sent her over.
| AS she was going over the captain called
| out To tnke ia the mainsail, but there was
no time even to begin executing the order
| before the sAp was lying bottom up and
rolling about at fearful rate When the
| ship went over LtCain was standing near
| the main hatch al d quantity Of loose
spars knocked him into the sea How he
managed in his weakened condition to
clinlb over the side of the craft aud get on
| her keel he cannot tell: but when he finally
| reached that point he found the other two
survivors, one sitting on the stern and the
| other on the bow
| Captain and seamen Disappear.
| At ths time the captain was sighted on
the box drifting in the wake Of the ship.
a a..
for help forward and underneath the
ship. OF course they were powerless To
to aid anyone, and soon the shouting
ceased Two of the seamen were seen
swimming in the immediate vicinity OF the
ship, but there was not the slightest
| chance for them To remain on top of the
water without something to float them for
a very great length Of time. The captain
was in sight Of the ship for perhaps half
an hour, and then he disappeared, calling
as he went out Of sight for the men To save
his wife If they could A dog, which was
the pet of the crew. escaped from under
| the wreck and swan alongside Of the ship
| for more than an hour, when he became
| exhausted and went down.
For the rest Of the day the three men,
clingng to the wet and slippery bottom
| OF the schooner, experienced bitter
| weather The rain came down IA tor
rents and the wind blew n gale such as is
seldom seen, even by seamen who are used
to all kinds Of weather and expect the
wind. They kept sharp watch out for a
SAIL but saw none, and when the sun
went down they huddled together IN the
| middle Of the craft to watch ont the
night.
| Friday, Sept 8, brought no change in
weather conditions; during the day the
men managed to catch little water in their
clothing, which they drank. There was
some salt " ter in IL, however, and it
made them sughtly Ill, besides increasing
their thirst On Saturday, Sept. o, there
was slight rainstorm in the morning,
about sunrise, and this gave theIl an OPP
portunity to get little more water
Later in the day the sun came out with a
| terrible heat, and the men took off their
clothing and dipped it into the sea to pro-
tect them from the heat,
Days of Anxiety.
| On Sund, y morning, when the sun rose,
the first hope came to the half famished
sailors, when they sighted bark off
| their bows and tried to signal her. One Of
the men took Of his jacket, and then they
took turns in waving it, until the craft
passed out OF slght without having seen
| them. Towards noon on that day they
managed to capture two small sea birds,
which they ate. The wind increased
toward night and on the following morn
| ing, Monday, the weather was raw and
| cold again, with the sea dashing up over
the ship under a strong wind. On Tues
| day a steamer was sighted in the distance,
but she was so far away that the men
could do nothing to attract her and sac
passed out sight. On this day one II
| the men caught another sea bird.
On Wednesday, Sept. l3. the ship
wrecked men saw several vessels, both ia
the forenoon and afternoon, aud at about
| II o'clock In the evening they saw the
green light Of steamer very near D
th, m, but no pne had Sfrength enough -
call out loud enough for those on board w.
| hear.
On Thursday, Sept. IA, one or two ships
were sighted, and on Friday night The
men could discern the shore lights AIS
o'clock on the morning Of Saturday. Sep.
lB, the steamer Palentino came alongside
/ aud took than on hnard