New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-11-07
FEARFUL SUFFERING AT SEA.
DRIFTING ABOUT FOR TWENTY THREE
DAYS ON A WRECKED SCHOONER
ONLY A FEW RAW FISH SERVE AS FOOD FOR
EIGHT MEN-oNE OF THEM. THE COOK. GOES

ONLY FEW RAW FISH SERVE AS FOOD FOR
LIGHT MEN-oNE OF THEM. THE COOK. GOES
INSANE AND TRIES TO LEAP OVERHEARD
terrible story of shipwreck and suffering
told yesterday by the captain and six members Of
the crew OF the little schooner Jennie F. Wiley,
which was wrecked in the storm which swept
through the West Indies in the latter part OF Sep
TENDER. For twenty-three days. described In
Yesterdays Tribune. the wrecked schooner drifted
about There not bite TO eat on board and
there was no water 10 drink. Everything had been
swept away in the hurricane. Fishing tackle was
made out of pins and sacloth. and one small fish
rewarded the industry Of the This was
divided into equal parts and each of the eight men
the boat received his share. Water was OBJ
tane1 in small quantities by catching It 1t fell
from the clouds in the captains rubber coat. One
OF the crew, the cook. became insane from the SUI
fering. and is now In hospital at Nassau
Captain F. c. Buerer OF the schooner and six OF
the sailors arrived here late Saturday night from
Nassau on the New-York and Cuba mail steamship
Saratoga. They still showed signs Of the suffering
which they had gone through and were dsinclined
to talk much about the experience they had had
Captain Buener. however. told of part Of the ex-
perience Of the men.
we were on our way from Jacksonville to Mar
Unique" he said. land from there we were 10 sail
for New-York During the last days OF September
ran into hurricane. The sails were reefed and
the matches battened down. For several days the
storm continued. and rode through it safely.
At times would be In a part Of the sea which
quiet and seemed to be far removed from the
storm. and then would get into its centre again
on October I. when were about six hundred
miles east Of Abaco. the storm increased In Vio-
lence The schooner was tossed about like bit OF
wood and we could not control her. All her boats
were carried away. and then the masts went ovfr-
board The wind increased In violence, and our
deckhouse followed the other wreckage. The men
in a porilous position and were in danger OF
being swept overheard. They were completely ex-
hausted with their efforts to fight the storm. which
had now continued for five days. They chung TO the
matn boom until the wind went down The storm
had carried away par, Of the deck and the schooner
slowly filed with water. until the only place on
which could take refuge was on the roof OF the
cabin. All our provisions and water had been lost.
We helpless.
Hunger and thirst soon made us desperate and
did know what to do Finally we found
some pins in our clothing and bent them into the
shape Of hshhooks. Then to make a line we found
a piece OF sacloth which we unravelled and then
braided into A fairly good line. For bait we USED
a piece Of brght-colored cloth from our clothing
We fished for two days without getting Dlte
when. as we were about to give up in despair. one
OF the men hooked fish. We were hardly able 10
move when he attempted land the fish, as we
afraid he would lose it, Finally ii was brought
on board. 1t small fish, but II seemed to US
to be whole fortune ] divided the fish In eight
equal parts and we each ate our share raw and
not q scrap was left. This on the eleventh day
after the wreck We had no water. and the thirst
was becoming much more aggravating than me
hunger | had saved my rubber coat and When on
the twelfth day heavy rainstorm came up,
started in 10 get water was compelled 10
sit down on the cabin ROOF and hold the coat in
hasin-lik form to ga Their the water. sa; this way
for eleven hours, and every time | would cQHect a
few snoonfhls OF water in the coat we would drink
H. or RAJ Their moisten our lips with It, as there was
not enough 10 drink. Ny lips were cracked ana
blood was running Of them. and the men were
suffering equally | thought as | sat In tha one
be parayzed We drifting about In what We
thought the regular track OF vessels. ana we
watched day and night for some boat TO come 70
our aid but none Finally. after We had neen
drifting about for eighteen DAYS, the cook became
insane from the awful suffering. He tried 70 jump
off the wreck and we. in our weak state; were
hardly able 70 hold him We caught several more
small FISH and one small shark all OF which we
ate raw Finally on October 3. We sighted land
and soon the wreck tossed up on Walker Key.
Abaco. We rescued from there by Spanish
fishing smack and taken 10 the town. and then Wa
found that in the terrible twenty three days We
had drifted six hundred miles. After rest at
AbacO went 70 Nassau whore the American
Consul looked after lis and US home The
wr eek was more than any one can ever realize I'M
less he has experienced the same thing | believe
that II had heen the wreck ono day more
we would have all gone mad Ike the poor cook
The Jennie F Wiley hailed from Thomaston
Ne She is owned by Dunn Elliott. She IS
small 530-ton schooner built IN fs7n She was left
a total wreck on Walker Key