Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1896-01-13
SURVIVORS
OF a Wrecked Steamer Arrive
at Canso, N. S.
They Were Badly Frost-Bitten Some
. of Whom Can Not Recover.
Only One of the Men Could Walk When the
Boat Landed-The story of Their suf-
ferings Since Their Ship Was
Wrecked, is Extremely Thrilling.

CANso, N. s., Jan. 11.-A boat from
the wrecked steamer Ealing reached
here just as night and a furious snow
storm were closing in on the coast
The boat contained nine survivors of
the wreck in a deplorable condition,
and the story they tell of their suffer-
ings since Monday evening, when their
ship was wrecked, is thrilling.
The sad particulars can only be
gathered from them with difficulty, as
all are severely frost bitten, some un-
able to talk, others in delirium.
The names of the survivors are:
Thomas Thomas, Cardigan, Wales, Sec
ond officer, hands and feet badly
frozen; Fred Lindgren, Sweden, boat
swain, feet frozen; Noah Gridgar, New
foundland; feet frozen; Edward Will
hanson, Great Yarmouth, Eng, badly
frozen, and not likely to recover; John
Peterson, Denmark: JAS Baker, New
foundland; Henry Noble, Belfast, Ire.
f. L. Stevenson, Portland, Eng; VIM
Hager, London, an apprentice boy of
l6, all badly frozen. Only one of the
men could walk when the boat landed
The rest were carried to neighboring
houses and cared for.
From Second officer Thomas, al
though his sufferings are intense, was
gathered the following particulars:
The ship struck about six p, m. Mon
day, in dense vapor, hiding every
thing from view. They were unable
to see land or lights and were going at
quarter speed. An hour afterwards it
was necessary to take to the boats as
the ship was settling fast and the sea
was very heavy.
They were unable to get the star
board boats clear ,as the ship had list
ed to starboard. Two port boats were
cleared, and Capt. Meek, with the first
engineer, second officer, boatswain
and fourteen others got in the largest
boat, while the first officer, second
and third engineers and three sea-
men, took the smaller boat For Osev-
eral hours they hung by the line to
the wreck, the smaller boat
astern of the larger one, spray
and vapor covering the boats and men
with sheeting of ice. Towards day
light they saw the foremast of the
wreck go by the board and the ship
settle aft. The sea began breaking
heavily around them and they were
obliged to let her go in the hope of
reaching shore. They soon lost sight
of the small boat, and concluded that
she could not have lived in the sea
that was running and her crew of six
had probably persisted. The large
boat in charge of Capt. Meek was
unable to pull to shore and lost
its spar and rudder in the eff
fort to make sail. They were obliged
to drift before the gale, and two of the
men succumbed to the exposure dur
ing Tuesday night. The captain and
Fireman Wilson died Thursday morn
ing and later in the day the first en-
gineer and three others expired. Fri.
day, at noon, as they caught sight OF
land, the ninth of the crew, an ap'
prentice named Gilroy, died. All the
dead were consigned 10 the sea to
keep the heavily iced boat from sink.
ing and to make room for the living to
work. At daylight they sighted a
schooner about two miles to windward,
but all efforts to attract her attention
was futile. They were without com
| pass or food.
Collector Cooke and Port Medica'
| Officer Brief took charge of the surviv
ors Immediately, and there was no lack
of sympathetic assistance. 1t is scarce
| ly possible that all can recover, so fal
| gone are some of them.