The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-01-09
SAVED BY FISH BLOOD.
Thrilling Story OF the Rescue OF
8hipwrecked Sailors.


= :. y
by Cant. ]. w. Leo, who. With his dve
companions IN suffering, reached New
York few days ego IN The steamship
Britannic from Liverpool ','.'''
Capt. Leo, whose home 10 In Rock.
land. Ne, was oce p& the victi1ns OF
the great September hurricane which
swept the Atlantic eoaat and brought
devastation to this city.
'sIt was On the 18th Of last septem.
ber," said Capt. Leo, shat cleared
from Kinks Ferry, on the Saint Mays
river, In Florida, with the schooner
seventy-six, Of 1se tons register, be.
longing 10 Dunn a Elliott, Of Thomas
ton. Me. We had large load of hard
pine lumber, . crew Of ak, and were
bound for Bszbioe, British Guiana, 2,eo0
miles AWAY. ...
"We had not more than got fairly
started when we saw indications Of
a hurricane, for which we prepared.
and our fears were more than realized.
From the southeast Il came, sweeping
with terrible fury, and we ran before
it under bare poles until we were about
300 miles west Of the Bermuda.
"It was half.past Ave on the morning
of September g." continued the cap
tain, ''when the hurricane, which was
at ita height, veered and struck rs on
the starboard side, and over the SevAn-
ty-six went on her beam ends, with
half Of her deck under water. James
Kennedy. the steward. was in the aft
cabin and the rest Of us were on deck.
We chung as best we could to the near
est supports we could lay hold OF. and
quickly threw on our boots and oil
skins, for we expected the schooner to
turn keel up, but she did not, for the
deck load OF lumber came crushing to
leeward, carrying away the masts.
Then the schooner righted, but sank.
with nearly all of her deck under the
waves, for she was full Of water.
"When the schooner settled in the
water only . small portion of the att
deck was left for us to stand on, for
the bow, with It's extra weight OF
chains and anchors, was entirely under
water. Everything that had been loose
ON the decks or capable of being torn
away by the falling lumber and rush
ing water had gone. This included
every drop OF drinking water that we
had.
"The first thing we did was to build
a platform, AZ best we could, out OF
pieces OF the deck, dashed together.
This gave rs . place where we could
stand and sleep in comparative securi.
ty for the time being. Then we rigged
up a long deck plank for flagstaff.
aud to its top fastened an old table
cloth, fshed out of the cabin, as signal
of distress.
There was not a drop Of fresh water
on the wreck, but from the cabin. after
the most severe effortss we succeeded
in getting a few cans Of soup. This
was our drink, and we made the allow
ance two-pound can each day for the
six of US. We had but one drink day.
which was taken at about ten o'clock
each morning as long as the soup last.
ed. We.also found few cans Of beef.
which we ate sparingly, for we did not
know how long it might be before re-
lief reached us.
"For Ave days the storm continued
and during nearly all of that time we
had to fairly cling to the wreck to save
ourselves from being washed over
board. r= ....-t. -.---
Fifteen days had gone. We were
nearly famished and almost crazed for
want Of water. Our supply Of canned
goods were gone and the last drop OF
soup had been consumed. We found
some hooks and lines in our submerged
cabin, and had succeeded in catching
some fish. These we ate raw. for we
had no means of cooking them.
"The fish would do for food, but our
thirst was a9onizing. We had hoped
for rain from day to day. but not
! drop had fallen since we were wrecked.
After the soup was gone we drunk the
blood from the fish We caught. We
| caught many dolphins- Their flesh was
too strong for food 30 long as we had
other fish, but we drained their blood
to moisten our parched throats. Three
| of the crew, negroes, known as Tom,
| Walter and Joe-with no other names
/ that we ever heard of-drank sea wa
ter. The mate. William Day; the stew
ard, Kennedy, and myself stuck to the
nauseating ash blood. asst
I'm the afternoon Of the 10th day
| we saw o British tramp steamer ap-
| proachinx. We saw that she sighted
| us, and turned from her course. We
were all filed with desire to scream
for 10Y, but no sound came from our
parched throats. The steamer proved
to be the Holy Well, bound from Gal
weston to Liverpool with load of cot
ton and grain. under the command OF
| Capt. Brown. For that captain and his
crew cannot say too much. More
than they did could not have been donc
for us."-Chicago Times-Herald.
| -Altamont Il the highest recorded
point in Maryland, 1850 feet.