The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-07-13
CROSSING THE OCEAN.
DANGEROUS UNDERTAKING OF a
SOLITdRY NAVIGATOR.
ne Hopes To Secure "a Fortune by y Fool
hardy Trip to Europe I'm n go Foot
bost-His Adventures when Reported.

NEW YORK. July l3.-The Norwegian
bark Noah vi. Captain Johannis Are
berg, from Stavsnger. Norway, arrived
IN port yesterday. Tie captain reports
that on July 3. 100 miles sIuthtast 10y
east ol Shelf ourn-. n. s., III sighted q
dory hYng signal ot distress. Toe bprk
bore down upon the little craft which
proved TO be the Fly NJ Dutchnan OF
Shelbourne, y. D.. mann- "a by "a solitary
navigator. In addiIio to the union
| geck, union down, sine was flying Il ee
Mason's flag, also upside down. The
Noah hove TO within speaking distance,
| AID. as IL w n calm day. the dury saiieu
alongside and her navil "a or was soon
| stretching his legs on the deck OF the
bark.
I'VE all gai bered around Lim." said
| Capta Arrrbers yssterlay, Ito hear
| his story He said he was O. ptain j.
Gardiner ana was from She.bourne,
l'ound for Amsterdam. He COM lained
| OF feeling badly en- account of not having
had anything h I to drink except grog In
.ver "A week. and / had the cook make
him some coffee al once. After he had par
| taken OF mt least six cups and had eaten
some beef he related his adventures to Us.
TIE boat, he said, hat en- built espec-
| alIy for the trip and sic rode on the
waves like feather. He had encoua-
tered i'll luck fron the start, however,
apd was nearly orn out with ceaseless
/
Kept him back SO that. although he had
been out sixteen days, he had only made
| 100 miles.
Little Gran on Fire.
"In addition to the heavy weather. he
said that his oil stove had caught fire one
night, and as it was near his bedding.
that also caught fire, and he had to throw
stove, bedding, and all bis clothing, ex-
cept what he had on, overheard. He
happened to have on at the time OF the
| fire coat, shirt, trousers. bat,
and one shoe, and in these gar
ments he came on board the bark
| Garoi er was eating. aud found ner
very staunch little craft. Sh. was extre-
mely dirty. though. and the CAP ain
| himself cerlainly hal not taken a. wash
in all the sixteen days he had been out.
| lie explained That the sea stopped over
| him he greater part of he time, and he
thought it unnecessary TO add soap TO
| water.
Boat Twenty Feet Long.
"The dory was twenty feet long, and
carried a mainsail and staysail. She was
decked over all except small round
| cockpit IN which tie captain sat, ana
which was provided with tarpauiin
| that extended from the sides to the
captains waist where IL was fastened
with a belt. The tarpaulin. of course. was
only intended for heavy weather, and
Capt. Gardiner said that for two days he
sat buckled in 1t. with the waves some
| times breaking clear over the frail craft.
A number Of times he thought his boat
would turn not only turtle, but clean
| over, but she could not stay bottom side
up on account of heavy lead keel on
her fiat bottom. That fat bottom
| was the greatest curiosity to mt. The
idea OF man trying to cross the
ocean. where he would naturally have
to beat against the wind in fist,bot.
| "The captain explained this by saying
that he thought he would have mostly "A
beam wind and could therefore sail faster
with fat-bottomed boat. He admitted
that he was grievously disappointed. but
said that he was going to stick 1t out as
long as he had started.
Captain Acted Strangely.
"The captain remained aboar.l my boat
two hours, and during tho last half hour
acted so strangely that l thought he
must be unbalanced. The trials OF his
| trip had without doubt affected his mind,
| and for time had doubts about letting
him return to his boat. He seemed 50
searnest in his purpose when telling us of
| his trip aud the living he expected to
make ont Of exhibiting himself and his
boat: in Amsterdam that decided not
| to intefere with him.
| During the gales and in the fire he ad
I lost his compass. clock and canvas drag
| anchor for use during storms. replaced
these and gave him some bedclothes. On
| coming aboard the captain compared his
reckoning with mine, aud found him to
be exactly correct.
| His APP pearance Picturesque.
"The captains appearances was de-
cid edly picturesque. His head AMI
monstache were closely shaven on ac-
| count OF the length of the voyage and
the scarcity OF BARRIERS on the ocean, he
| said. He was about 90 years old. He
ore no socks and only one shoe Of
| fered him a pair Of socks. but he de-
| cllned them, but assured me that his feet
| were quite warm under the tarpaulin.
| His greatest misfortune, he thou Int, was
| the loss of his tobacco, which he had to
| throw overheard with the bed clothing.
| / gave him anew stock OF the luxury.
| The captain said that he had lived in
| Holland, but had emlgrated TO Shell
| bourne and had lived there many years.
After stretching himself and thoroughly
| enjoying the luxury OF large space TO
walk on, he captain departed. but be
| fore going he told OF a sad Incident OF
| his urney. His little dog Sneider had
| been his only companion when he sailed
| from Shelbourne. and had proved a
| first-class sailor. He tied a rope to
ulHl anu dliOWcu ruiz dIOuuu
| he deck, even in the roughest weather.
| Oitentimes he fell overheard. but. as the
| rope was tied to him, he was always
| hauled back again in safety. During one
| Of the heavy gales Snvider was pat under
! matches and so Impatient did he get at
| this that be was finally allowed on deck.
| lie stayed there only moment, however.
| for n big wtve came along and carried
| Sneder overheard aud the Captain
| never saw any more OF his faithful COM
| panIon In misery.
After relating this story aud bidding
US farewell, the cap ain climbed over
| tho rail and shaking hands with my
sailors gave us signal to cast his boa
| Off lie never lof ked at IA after setting
| aboard the dory, but hoisted his sail aud
| bore away on his cours He has pro-
visions Nth him for n seventyNve days
trip, aud the brave old man will proDa-
bly, make it all right"
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