Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-08-25
SAVED BY A POCKETKNIFE.
Survivor of the VILE de Havre Tells of o
Remarkable Escape.

Remarkable Escape.
BY tho sinking of la Bourgogno and
the awful loss of life is recalled the acci-
dent to the Vile de Havro of the Same
line in 1872, when tho lattcr named ship
was struck at night and went down at
once, carrying almost all on board. Pitt
fully few were those who were saved from
tho Havrc, but among them was tho
prominent New York lawyer Witthaus,
and the way in which he escaped is so OK
traorlinary that it sounds like well con-
coctcd tale instead Of the plain fact that
Mr. Witthaus vouchcs ii to be.
The afternoon preceding the accident to
the Havrc Mr.. Witthaus, with another
man, was on deck, and Mr.. Witthaus was
lcanings,ga,nst the taiIrail under the flag
staff in the stern. AS the two men stood
there talking the friend put his hand on
tho large life buoy that was hanging over
tho side and called Mr.. Witthaus atten-
ton to it,
"Look, " he said, "thcso life buoys are
simply screaming farces This one ont
here Is so stiff and hard with coats of paint
that you couldn't get it free except by
cutting it with II knife"
Mr.. Witthaus attempted TO move it, but
found 1t glued hard and fast. The friend
took out his knife and began idly sticking
1t into tho soft pine of the flagstaff and
amused himself so the rest of the time that
they talked before they wcrc interrupted
by the dinner gong. They both went be-
low.
Early the next morning while the pas
scngcrs were still asleep tho collision uc-
Cured, and in the mad panic that at once
followed Mr.. Witthaus did what no could
to get the women and children into the
lifcbonts. From the first he regarded him.
self as doomed, for there were not nearly
boats enough for all the passengers, and ID
was evident that the ship would float only
few minutes. Several women whom ha
knew on board he found places for Mt oncd
only to sec the boat ovcrturn as soon as ia
was launched and all go down, one II
| them with her two littlo children in hes
arms.
Mortified and sickcncd by the sight, hd
| went back to the stern of the ship, which
! was higher out of the water than the bow,
/ to wait until he, too, went down, and
| stood leaning again on the taffrail. As lie
did so in a flash he rccollcctCd the CONVERSE
ton of the afternoon before and looked
over the rail There still hung the life
buoy stiff and inmovablc, and the in
stinct Of self preservation sprang to lifo
! OHcc lllOrc. ~ hTllc 10 lrcc inc DuOE anu
he might be saved, but he had none with
him, and TO find one was impossible with
the ship liable TO 90 down at any second.
At the same moment his eye caught the
flagstaff, and there, where his friend had
evidently forgotten it the afternoon before,
stuck the knife With the haste of life and
death Mr.. Witthaus pulled it out and be-
gan to saw away ut the buoy, and he freed
it and threw himself off the deck into the
sea just in time to get beyond the vortex
that came as the great ship went down,
sucking hundreds of victims with II. Mr..
Witthaus floatcd about for some time, and
was at last picked up by a small boat that
was waiting about for chance survivors
and was brought back to New York to tell
of ono of the most awful catastrophics that
ever happened az sea New York Press.