The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-30
SAVED BY A BICYCLE.
Thrilling Story Told by the Cook of
Wrecked Steamer.
New York Special


rarely has so thrilling a sea story been
heard as that told by Jean Boulanger cook
ana steward Of the three-masted schooner
J 1t r. Wiley, which was wrecked in
the hurricane that swept through the West
Indies last month. For twenty-slx DAYS
Jean and his seven companions drifted
about on portion of the wrecked hulk
after miraculous escape from death, fight
ing starvation and thirst on the one hand
and the peril of drowning on the other I'M
III they were rescued by passing ship.
Inc strangest feature of the rema BILE
bicycle
The Jennie F. Wiley was a three-masted
schooner of about four hundred tons, hail
ing from ThomaSton, Me. George Benner
was the captain, Frank Sunderland the
mate, and Jean Boulanger the cook and
steward. The rest Of the crew were four
ScandinaVians The schooner had carried
coal to Jacksonville, Fla, where the cargo
was discharged and the vessel loaded with
lumber for Martinique. The schooner sailed
from Jacksonville on Oct. ! and as soon as
1t was out of port it met head winds and
q heavy sea. The waves pounded the vessel
with such unrelenting Vigor that soon the
seams started. In few minutes more the
planking was stove in. and the sea rushed
into the hold. Captain Benner called all
hands to man the pumps, but hardly had
they grasped the brake handles, when the
hurricane came with fearful force and
hurled the Wiley over to port on the beam
ends. The vessel lay completely capsized,
with its topmasts in the water, but by mi
raculous good fortune every man scrambled
there they scrambled upon the plankng of
the poop deck. All that afternoon and night
deck dashed to the taffrail. One man re-
NAMED on watch above, looking for
chance sail.
AS the hours passed they began to realize
their plight. Their stores, which had been
kept between decks. were washed away.
Not BISCUIT remained. The water barrels
were gone. There was not drop to re-
lieve the thirst which began to torment
them. They had to find food of some kind
and sought TO get it from the sea. A cot
ton hook was rugged up and baited with a
piece OF rancid meat which was found. A
shark was caught and the men eagerly de-
voured it.
Several days passed end starvation was
again staring the crew in the face, when
Mate Sunderland one day saw the wreck
of the captains bicycle beneath the water
that covered the after part of the lower
when that part of the ship was carried
away, and had become fouled with ropes,
which prevented IL from going overheard.
He fished it up, and with the spoke wires
fashioned some small sharp hooks. These
were baited with oilskins. and the
starving sailors We're making meal of raw
dolphin. The food problem was thus tenn
porarily solved but the men We're in sore
straits for water. 1t had rained several
times since their first meal of shark meat
and they had caught enough water to sat
isfy their thirst for a time. But they were
Obliged to drink it as fast as they caught
1t, because they had nothing to keep 1t in.
Here again the bicycle served them in good
stead.
The frame Of the machine was broken, and
twisted, and smashed, but the pneumatic
tires remained sound and unpunctured. The
next time it rained quite a quantity OF
water was caught in a piece of canvas
stl etched on the deck and poured into the
tires, where it was safely stored against
loss, evaporation, or contamination. Capt.
Benner took charge of the pneumatic tire
reservoirs. and doled out portion of water
TO each man three times q day.
From the time OF the discovery OF the BIZ
cycle the danger of death from thirst was
practically eliminated. for they were drift
ing i'm a latitude where rains were frequent
and they could catch enough to keep their
tires full as a reserve store between the
rains. But the food question soon became
serious again. They caught their last dol
phin Oct %. Several of the men were so
weak they could not sit up, and after four
days more Of agony they Were rescued on
Oct. 26 by the Sea Clipper, British schoon='
err. which landed them at Nassau, whence
they came on to New York.