The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-18
SAVED BY A LAST MATCH.
How "A shIpwrecked Crews Killing
Thirst Was QueDched.

How "a ShIpwrccked Crews Killing
Thirst Was QueDched.
From the New York sun. Dec Is.
A sulphur match, the only one aboard
ship. and an improvised distnling appa-
ratus are the features of the yarn of the
wreck of the three-masted lumber-laden
schooner Johanna Swan, abandoned of
Hatteras on Dec. .. Capt Wallace Shack
ford and the crew of the Swan landed here
yesterday from the ocean tug II. j. Bar
rett. Supt. Shackford of the American
Line pier read on Tuesday in the news
papers that his brother, the shipwrecked
skipper. was on the German bark Anna
bound from Bremen for this port, buck-
ing frosty seas and head gales off Fire
Island, The superintendent sent the Bar
rett after Capt Wallace.
The Swan left Satilla River Ga, for
New York on Nov. Is with $4,000 feet Of
yellow pine lumber below matches and
piled four and one-half feet on deck. She
ran into the great gale off Hatteras on
Nov. 26 and was hove to under close-reefed
canvas. A hurricane squalI on the morn
Ing of the next day ripped the mainsaH
from the bolt ropes. broke the main boom
aud started the deck load forward. The
schooner was put before the blast, trail
ing the blight of a big hawser to keep tha
following seas from popping her. great
gust struck her, the fore shoot parted and
the fore boom broke. The schooner
preached to- and a comber rolled over her
starboard bow, carrying away the forward
house and staving the main hatch. The
vessel fell into the trough and threatened
to roll over on her beam ends To prevent
this the men cue away shrouds and stays
and the masts feH.
The fore and main masts went by the
board, but the mizzen fell On the after
house smashing yawl on the stern dav-
It's. Later the mizzenmast rolled into the
sea and the men dashed themselves to the
wreck of the afterhouse on Nov Is they
saw schooner six miles astern, and they
hoisted on two spars dashed together a
pair of drawers and lounge cover as a
signal of distress. The schooner kept ON
her course.
The main deck OF the schooner was al
most flush with the seas when her masts
fell, and the men had had nothing to eat
since then On Nov. 20 some of the crew
swan into the cabin and fished out sew
eral cans of peas and beef and one can
OF blueberries. On the afternoon OF this
day they saw another schooner eight miles
away and signalled vainly to her. On the
morning of Nov. 30 the tongues and lips
OF the men were swollen from laok OF
water which they had not tasted in four
days. The sea had moderated and the
men could go about the aftendeck,
Mate Ernst Cannon, an Austrlan-Ameri-
can, and Bernhard Liljenblum, able sea-
man, I'll years old, decided to make a con-
denser out of tin tank used for storing
water for the shippers wash bowl. The
A. 3. fashioned the oblong tank. holding
about three gallons, into a square tank
hoidius ABOUT six quarts. In the top OF
the tank was lead pipe and to this
the mate attached one end of piece OF
nose. He put the other end into the COW
cred top of a wooden bucket The tanlr
was propped up a foot or so above the
deck and under II the mate put a brazier
that he had hammered out of sheet Of
copper. A rail of the schooner. dry ana
reslnous, was cut up into matehwood bv
the men and piled on the brazier. All
that was needed was match to start tha
condenser converting salt water to fresh.
capt. Shacxford had Just one match atovv
ed away in dry part of his clothes
All hands gathered around him to ableId
the precious bit of sulphur from the wind
capt. Bhactford struck the match IL
sputtered blue ana looked for an instant
as II II were going out. Then Il blazea
brightly, and the skipper carefully showed
II under the heaped-uD chips ana shaw
ings. The men couldn't cheer because
their parched throats and mouths uyouIdn,t
let them, but they looked happy. The
water was boiling in half an hour In
an hour the cover of the bucket was re-
moved, and enough water, somewhat
smoky" and not oversweet. the mate
says was seen on the bottom to give each
man two tablespOonfuls At 4 D. m. there
were four quarts Of water Ia the bucket
and the men drank greedily Ono OF them
became sick.
Just before daylight on Dec. Q the Ger
man bark Anna came along and heard the
efter bell of the wreck ringing wildly. The
Anna launched a boat and took off ali
hands. They were very weak and wera
treated handsomely by the German skin
-h-