The Portland daily press., 1897-05-03
SAVED FOUR.
A French Brig Rescued Some OF the
YaitlOnt's Crew. AA
| They Had Seen Seventeen of Their Com
panions Die-The ships Dog Was Their
Only Food

panions Die-The Ships Dog Was Their
Only Food.
st. Johns, N. F.. May 1.-The French
brig Amadee, Capt. Fortin, from Milo,
which tarrived at st. Pierre tonight,
brought four more survivors of the lost
brig Valiant, which foundered as the
result of striking an iceberg off the
Grand Banks on the night of April IA.
These four were the only survivors of
boat load Of 81 men who left the sink
ing Valiant In a ships life boat, II hav-
ing perished as result of exposure and
from frost bites. The bodies of the II
dead men were thrown overheard. The
four survivors Kept themselves alive by
eating the flesh and drinking the blood
of dog belonging TO the brig valiant.
This dog they took with them when
they left the ship. They were absolutely
wlthout water, provisions. oars, sails
and proper clothing when they left the
brig. They say that they had only time
to jump from their berths into the life
boats, and that no opportunity was
Afforded them to make even slight pro-
visions against cold and starvation.
The II men who died suffered excruoi-
ating torments. The survivors seemed
to have Jared little better. All four of
the men are very weak. Two Of them
will lose all Of their limbs and the 9th
ers two will lose their feet as result of
the frost.
The survivors secured from the life
boat by the Amadee assert that none of
the bodies were rescued, and that In this
case no cannibnlism was attempted.
The condition of the four men previ-
ously rescued continues unchanged. Tho
surrounding this latest
rescue are such as to lead the friends
of the missing members of the crew to
believe that other boats may yet.be
picked up.
The news of the wreck of the Valiant
was brought to st. Pierre, Miq., on April
~ by four men, badly frost bitten, driv-
en- to cannibalism and finally rescued by
the French bark Victor Eugene. The
Valiant, 10 was announced, was on
the Grand Banks in the region of fog
and cold. The lookout suddenly saw a
cloud before him which became glisten-
ing wall. Then there was crash and
the men felt the deck settling beneath
their feet. A scramble for the boats fol-
lowed. 1t is known that one Of the
boats was swamped. When the four men
were picked up by the Victor Eugene
they were SO weak and cold that they
could scarcely lifs their heads. From
the first. the recovery of the men rescued
hy the Victor Eugene has been extreme
ly doubtfal owing Sto their weakened
condition.
The Valiant was wooden brig of 1853
tons. She was built at Melbourne, N.
s., by W. S. Kelley. Her owners were
l.. Coste and company of ST. Pierre,
Miq. Sue was "a feet beam and 10 feet
in depth. Her port of registry was st.
Milo, France. She was commanded by
Capt. Pierre.
Dog Flesh 81 Try Discredited.
st. Johns, N. T., May 2.-Last night
the surgeons performed amputations up
on the Valiant survivors, brought in
yesterday. Two who lost their hands
and the lower parts of their legs are not
expected to recover. The other two,
who underwent similar operations, are
somewhat better off. The remaining
four are still very weak. None of the
eight can be said to be out of danger.
The story told by the party rescued last
that dog food was all they had to eat is
disoredited here by many. 1t is feared
and believed that they also were com.
PEELED to resort to human flesh.