The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-29

I
bert was then loading a big cargo of drv
goods for California and 1 shipped in he1
for the long voyage, We were six months
and two days in sailing around Cane
Horn to San Francisco and when we ar
rived there the harbor was filed with
ships which had been deserted by their
crews for the gold fields. The crew OF
the Herbert also deserted and we were
left without'a man excepting the officers
and myself: The old man. / mean the
captain, shipped q crew of Cinnamon
and we set sail for Shanghai. There ]
left the Herbert and tried to get a ship for
Australia where the gold fields had just
been discovered l off sred $500 for a pas
sage but could not get ship so l staid
around Shanghai for a long time and
finally got a vessel which was going to
| the Sandwich Islands. There we loaded
potatoes for Sacramento and that is how
got into the California gold fields.
Mr.. Carey was % months in the Cali
fornia gold fields and during that time
| ne hit rich claim on the Scotch river
and came back to New York with
soo, QUO. This, as has been said, was all
lost in unfortunate speculations, and
when the war broke out Mr.. Carey was
working as rigger in Portland.
Mr.. Carey was also one of the 80 sur
vivors of the i'll fated ship Charles Will
liam Bartall which was run down by the
Cunard steamship Europa on the banks
| of Newfoundland and over 500 persons
drowned. He had this to say about the
| terrible disaster: "'This bark the
Charles William Bartall, had 500 passen-
gers bound for Canada. The most of
| them were women and children, who
were either joining friends in this coun-
try or were coming over here to make
homes for themselves. During the night
a terrible fog settled down over the
banks, the ship was under easy sail, when
suddenly the big Cunarder shot out of
the darkness and cut the bark in two
as If she had been made of cheese. was
below at the time we were struck but /
got out on deck before the bark went
down and grasped the head chains of the
steamer. Now I was 10 feet under water
and the next minute 1 was 10 feet out
OF it, but big sea was running and the
steamship was pitching about in terri
BILE way. Once when the steamship
buried her nose in a big wave 1 saw a
grabbed her dress. had all could to
hold on to the chain but managed to
keep her out of the water until we were
rescued by people on the steamship. She
was a Mrs. Berry of Boston and was the
only woman saved out Of the whole
crowd. I do not know whether she is
living now or not but she was alive few
years ago. One time when I was in Bos-
ton before the war heard some one call
ing, "Carey, Carey" and looked..about.
1t was this Mrs. Berry who had Joined
her husband, a merchant, and she was
delighted to see me. Her husband want
ed to give me money and other things but
l had plenty of money and didn't need
any of his.
Another time Mr.. Carey was one of
the crew of the bark Maria Hersey which
was wrecked in the gulf stream. For
six days and nights the crew chung to
the wreck with six feet and half of wat
er in her hold. Every minute they ex-
pected to be carried to the bottom in her
but she kept above the waves until the
brig Southern came along and took off
the crew. Mr.. Carey says that this was
the most trying experience in his life.
The reader now has some idea of what
Mr.. Carey has passed through during the
years of his eventful life though in lin
tied space it would be impossible to tell
of all his adventures on land and sea,
Some of his stories of ship wreck and dis
aster rival those of Clark Russell in in
terest, and Mr.. Carey's descriptions of the
lands he has seen, the people he has met
and the adventures he has passed through
would give a novelist enough material
for a library of volumes.
7. But it is his story of the Alabama and
Kearsarge that we are to tell, and SO it
will be necessary to pass over the other
tales and allow Mr.. Carey to relate this
story.
The Kearsarge was built in Ports
mouth in ninety days. said Mr.. Carey,
''and she was a magnificent vessel for
those days. had grown tired of life
ashore and wanted to get to sea again,
and here was chance for me to see lit
tie service, and tho Kearsarge was the
very vessel to see it in. I went to Boston
and as I had seen service in the navy be-
fore had no difficulty in enlisting. 1
was put ON board the receiving ship with
others, and five times 1 was drafted for
as many different ships which were fit
ting out in Boston, but each time I got
| out for / was determined to go to sea
with tn Kearsarge. After several weeks
of waiting they put ninety of us on board
tow boat and sent us down to Ports
mouth to the Kearsarge.
|. when went up over the side the Off
GERS of the ship were standing there and
picking out the old salts for petty officers.
They asked me if I had ever been in the
navy before; and when they found that I
had been in the Mexican war one of the
officers said, You will serve as bo'swain's
mate on board this ship. I protested for