The herald., 1893-05-09
AT SEA IN A SAIIB0AT'
'PATTLiNGlFoR TwENTY-ElGHT DAYS
WITH ADVERSE WINDS.

'Te VI onAp7s Crew Undergo TerT1Dlo
Experience After Eefng wrecked In tho
PaciAc ocoan--A Brave Woman was Ons
yof the Sufferers.
{. Captain Peterson of the bark Lady
Eampson, his wife and five sseanen- ar.
fivedin Honolulu in an enaciated con.
dition, They came in.an open boat only
tS.feet long and reported that theyshad
been % days tossing, about on The Paciac.
While the occupants of the .frail craft
were not'entirelg wittout provisions dur
Hng their long battle with the elements,
the effects of short commons and lack Of
sleep and shelter were pafpably apparent.
Mrs. Peterson, wsiio was clad ia q thin
blacktgcwn, vasworn nearly. to q shad-
fow, and her strength failed her com
pistely'as ahe.ysas Iifsed from the boat
and taken into the Eagle House.
The men wereisunburned, leaden eyed \
and hstless Tircirsheads drooped, and it
twas with dificulty thatythey could be
got tosspeal, but Caytain Peterson told
infafew words that tho Lady Iampson
hadabeen wrecked. at;night on & reef near
Palmyra island. when 44ldays out from
take TO the boats He was >very weak
Iandfspolre in whisper, at the same time
Begging that his wife betaken where sac
could get nour9shmentl andia little,rpst.
The Kanakas lent willing hands to
help the waits Of the oshan into hacks
and carriages, and they were quickly
driven to where they could commend at
tention. The little boat inswhioh they
had journeyed, over /, 900 miles became
an object Of interest for hundreds of peo-
pie. 1t was partly deeked inwith can
vas, and strips Of the Same material had
been stretched above the gunwale on ei-
ther side to prevent her being swarrcd.
In the boat were couple Of nearly emp
ty water kegs and a small quantity Of
biscuit and canned goods.
II haven't had my clothing off for go
days" said Captain Peterson when seen
at the Eagle House. He was hollow
checked and unshaven and looked indeed
as If he had suffered both mentally and
physically. 1The Lady Lampscn," he
said, twas from Sydney, and we were
bound to this port with 600 tons of coal
for Wilder & Co. We left Sydney last
November and were "A days out when
the vessel struck We had had bad
weather near Feejee. having been In 8
hurricane for "A hours, but after that wo
had fine northeast winds until we got
near Palmyra island when the weather
became dirty. Itwas 5:30 o'clock on tho
morning of Jan. 16 when we struck /
had not hsd an observation for two daya.
The night had been dark and storrfiy.
but the water was smooth then. I knew
j was to the east of the island, and that
there was sunken reef somewhere
around. was on deck myself and had
two men on the lookout aloft. There is
q strong westerly crirrent there, and
gness we were going about Eve knots en-
hour with all sails set
give minutes after she struck she be-
gan to break up, and l ordered the boats
out. We lowered the two boats. | took
charge Of one, and First Mate Harry Mil-
Ter took the other. III my boat there
were, besides my wife ard myself, sec-s
ond Mate G. Brown and Seaman w.
Carbon (both Swedes) Cabin Boy w.
Hayden of Liverpool, F. Weller, the
cook, who is German, and e. Everson,
Norwegian sailor The mates boat
contained German sailor named Sny-
der Oscar Magnerssn. q Swedej j. Jor-
gensen, a German, and seaman named
Martin.
'We started for Palmyra island in
company about in the morning, having
only FIVE gallons Of water for the two
boats The island Is only 40 miles from
the reef, but the current and tide were
so strong that we were.tr trying for nine
days to make headway against them, but
couldn't We dtifted to the westward,
SO | resolved to put back to the bark
We suffered greatly through want Of /
water, and we had barely enough to
moisten our tongues which were swollen
and dry.
eve found the bark settling down and
the water washing over her, SO we got |
aboard quickly and put some canned
goods, biscuit and water into the boats
We rugged the boats with canvss and
then started again for Palmyra island.
We tried for two days 70 make headway
but the heavy swell and wind bafsled u.s.
Thinking l would lose sight of the mates
boat, told him to steer for Honolulu,
anu 1 btcclCu lOI AtttO ttfJ SELL w . lOot |
sight Of the other boat and have had
heavy gales ever SINCE Ihave only had
an hours sleep at time during the day,
and have never laid down. At nighttime
the spray came over, wetting us all to
the skin, and in the day we dried our
clothes in the sun, if there was any. The
men have been quiet and accomplishing
even though on short allowance Of food
and water, and, thank goodness, we lost
nobody from our boat. 1t was terrible
experience, though, the worst have met
with during 4years Of ssafaring.
"After we passed the island Of Maui
we struck storm, and the boat half
filed with water. We thought then it
was all over after passing through so
many other dangers, but we managed to
bail her out and keep her right. The
first vessel we saw since we struck, rs
days ago, was steam schooner off Dia-
mond head this morning. | hope the
mates boat is safe, and if he steercd to
the eastward think they are all right"
The Lady Lanpson was well known
i'm San Francisco. She belonged to J. j.
Moore. Csptsin Peterson owned quar-
ter share in her and hsd his interest in
t1est insured for $4,000 in the Fire
rna&1's insurance company. He reckons