The Portland daily press., 1895-02-09
UNDER BARE POLES.
The C. w. Dexter's Long Struggle
With the Storm.


Driven From Matinicus to Cape Ann Then
of Wind Split the Mainsail-Two Hogs
heads of Molasses Washed Overheard
One Man Disabled by Exposure.
| Yesterday afternoon at about three
| o'clock telephone message came from
| Capt. Trundy at the life saving station that
a small schooner was scudding before the
| gale under bare poles, was evidently in
great distress and needed help. The tug
Belknap Immediately steamed out through
| the ship channel, but lay to just inside
| Portland Head because it was too rough for
| her to go outside. The wind b eing fl ON
the southwest was jus. right to blow the
| laboring schooner to the entrance of the
channel and in due time she was within
reach of the tug and was towed up the har-
Dor and made fast at the end of Union
wharf. at about five o'clock.
| She was a picture of distress if ever there
was one. The mainsail was split and the
| gaf ripped from the mast. The fore
sail and jibs were down and frozen solid so
that Captain Huntington and his mate, Asa
Sawyer were not strong enough to release
them from the grip of the frost and ice.
Captain Huntington told the following
story: He said that they left Boston bound
| for Calais. their home port, laden deep with
oats, corn and -four, and with deck load
of several barres of pork, hogsheads OF
| molasses and blocks of marble and granite.
The vessels name is the @. W. Dexter.
They put into Cape Ann and left there
| Wednesday. They got down to Matinicus
rock by the middle of Thursday afternoon.
| Then the wind began to come strong from
the eastward and they turned about intend
| ing to make Portland harbor but early in
the evening sit came down thick AS tar and
the wind blew as if it would blow US all to
| pieces. I've been to sea ever since was
| little boy'' said the Captain "but never
see it blew SO hard before"
| They struggled with the gale all night.
| They tried to heave to, .but We're swept SO
| by the waves as TO render that imprudent
and so bore away before the storm.
| It was so thick with the snow fakes that
they could scarcely from one ED of the
schooner TO the other. She was SO heavily
laden that the rail was only a few feet
above the water in the dock and out there
| in the ocean was under water most of the
time, the waist being swept continually
and the water there being waist deep all
night long. Captain Huntington, Mate
| Sawyer and the third man. G. ii. Hun
tington. struggled for life. They were only
| able to keep on her half the mainsail.
Before morning c. H. Huntington had
given out. being completely exhausted and
disabled from the terrible exposure and
| had to remain in the cabin. Mate Sawyer
received a severe injury TO the leg trying to
save one of the hogsheads of molasses which
the waves lifted over the rail and swept in
| to the sea knocking him against plank
| and tanning him badly. Another hogshead
| was washed overheard.
| By six O'Clock yesterday morning they
| were nearly worn out as we have shown.
They had been driven back to Cape Ann
again whence they started two days before
when suddenly at about that hour the gale
shifted from the northeast to southwest
without once stopping BLOWN" as Captain
Huntington said. 1t changed SO quickly
that it jibed the mainsal splitting it badly
and ripping the gaf from the mast. This
completely disabled the craft the foresail
and ibis having been down long that
| they were a mass of ice and could not be
| handled by the two weary men. Thus under
| hare poles they were driven toward Port
| land again and scudded before the storm
! all the forenoon and came off the CAPE and
within Capt. Trundy's vision by the middle
of The afternoon.
| The vessel as is lay at the end of Union
| wharf showed very significantly her rough
| experience. In the waist where the waves
| had swept across, the blocks of marble and
granite were strewn about like go many
pebbles. Captain Huntington and Mate
Sawyer were wrapped in oilskins and were
covered with ice like everything else OF the
| outside of the vessel. The boat hanging
over the stern Of tie schooner had been
struck by huge wave and one of the dayits
| was driven through it,
| Captain Huntington expressed the great
est gladness and relief at having escaped
from the worst storm that he saw on the
ocean.
The extraordinary and sudden change in
the wind at a. m. off Cape Ann, was OF
course the same phenomenon that occurred
mere at about a. M, and drove all the ice
out of the harbor as described in another
column.
When asked what was 1.-THE trouble with
the disabled man, Captain Huntington said
that there was something the matter with
his head. 1t was a result of the terrible ex-
posure, AS he was all right when they
started. Probably lie was SO fatigued with
the exertion and benumbed with the cold
that he partially lost consciousness.
Regarding the Schooner Dixon.
Rockland, February S.-schooner j. 7.
Dixon. reported wrecked off Vineyard Haven
Yesterday, was owned by A. j. Bird & Co..
and others of this city including Captain
Baswick. Baswick was m Austrian by
birth. and had no relatives in this country.
He had lived here about twelve years. Mar
tin Lee, the mate, WAS Norwegian and
lived here, but did not ship from here. Tho
uuident titled body was undoubtedly that of
John Davidson of Nova Scotia.
Schlotterbeck' Eucalyptol Cream is for
the skin and complexion.