The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-28
STORY OF THE LLFEBoAT.

Hts Commanders n Trump, with . Record
Boat Made = v OF A06 MiIes.
George Unsworth. the blond young French
navigator who had charge Of the lifeboat that
was sent out from La Champagne to seek help
from passing liner or freighter, was too busy on
Saturday night. not to say too modest, to spin q
long yarn of the perilous six.day trip of the life.
boat through the frosty seas south of the Banks
of Newfoundland to tho Holland-America
steamship Rotterdam. He had a refreshing
sleep and was in CHEEKY mood yesterday
when he heard that his ship had been
found and towed into Halifax. He talked
In the cool and leisurely fashion of o
Yankee skipper. and but for his accent he
might have passed easily for an educated
American sailor. He Is not q Third Lieutenant,
but Is merely acting in that capacity on La
Champagne during the Illness of Third Lieuten-
ant Mott. He belongs to the twin.screw crack
of tho French line, La Touraine, and is her First
Lieutenant. The agents of tho line here say
that he is celebrated among his shipmates for
his clear head and his sang froid. The first
words he uttered when he came aboard the
Rotterdam, after shaking hands with Capt.
Bonner, were:
I'VE are in latitude 4s' 1V north and longi-
tude 81 west"
Capt. Bonner says the young man handed him
the notebook containing tho record of this cal
c%ulation. He had made the figures while APP
preaching the Rotterdam. Then the Captain
compared his position as he made it out with
that of Unsworth and found that they agreed to
2 minute; Unsworth showed by the chart that
he had left the ChsmpaGne about 80 miles
about 225 miles and then. to get back into tho
steamship track; which he had crossed, he
the point where he left tho Champagne to Hall.
fax was about 800 miles. Lieut.. Unsworth's
story was brought out by questions. He said:
BEFORE THE BOAT STARTED.
well. gentlemen. what do you wanti lam no
n%ovelist; Why did the Champagne GO so far to
the north That is q matter left to the Individual
make a quicker passage, and maybe to avoid
Ice, which is not so heavy north as 1t is south at
shock came. I think that tho engines must
have made two hundred or more revolutions a
engineer was In charge Of the engine room and
II he had not shut off steam so quickly think in
hve or six seconds after the shock the engines
would have gone to pieces. and perhaps a great
hole might have been made in the hull OF the
ship. The Captain was in the chart room, and
man from the bridge TO find out what had hap.
pened, and the Qusrtermaster returned with
the matter was; that the engine room, was filed
with steam. and tho engineers were TOO busy to
cident, and we could not sec any part OF the
propeller over the stern: Wo supposed that
Eoundings. and found that we were In forty
fathomsi Then was decided TO anchor tho
hhin; ana we let me starboard anchor go.
The enGineers could find no evidence of n
broak inboErd, They waited until 3 o'clock the
next morning, Feb. 1s. and started the engines
slowly, They could see by looking over no
stern that there WAS no wash and that the pro-
peller was not moving. Then we knew that tho
tail shaft was broken, and, rs we could not re.
pair 1t at sen, II was thought the best thing
TO do was TO send a boat TO the south for
assistance. l knew that ] was, TO go about
TWO hours before We started. The Cap.
tain wished me to go rather than any
other otiGer socauss ! speak English. We pro.
ships. Each man wore two suits OF under.