The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-18
RESCUED IN MIDoCEAN.
Crew After Drifting for Months in
the 'seaNveed Sea" Is Saved.

the "SeaNveed Sea" Is Saved.
From the San Francisco Examiner.
OF all the tales of the "Seaweed Sea"
that have been CLEANED, the most curious
Is told by Capt. Louis Pennington, a New
York shipmaster who has for many years
been engaged in the trade between this
metropolis and the Azores. Upon the side
board in his dining-room stands a silver
service, presented to him by grateful sur
vivors of a lost ship that had been drift
ing Tor months along the edge of the North
Atlantic whirlpool-amid a region OF
Gains, and where only silence and loneh-
ness abide. The stiffness of the mid-At lan-
tlc exceeds that awful and indescribab3e
silence of the African desert that Plny
IN VAN attempted to portray.
Here is the story of Capt. Pennington as
nave II from Maj. Tremper of Kingston,
Who as steamship man himself, is cour-
ageous to the verge of rashness, though
ne never has Ventured upon an exploration
OF the ''Sargasso Sea"
We sailed from our wharf In Brooklyn
IN the stanch little steamer that l had
commanded for several years and expect
ed 70 sight for Horta lights in about nine
days" began Capt. Pennington. Tho
weather was fine. because the month was
June and the voyage for the first two
days was wholly uneventful l went to
bed early on the third night and slept
soundly; but when 1 awakened in the
morning and looked at the compass that
swung over my bunk I was amazed to find
that the course of the ship had been
changed during the night and that instead
OF steaming east one point south we We're
proceeding almost due southeast. Natur-
ally, my first thought was that the COM
pass was defective. but 1 sent for the Of
nicer on watch TO ask an explanation.
The information he gave me was star
ting in the highest degree. He said that
during the middle watch 1 had come on
deck in my pyjamas, distinctly given the
order 70 change the direction of the ship
and that the new sailing directions had
been passed to the next officer, who had
taken charge when his watch arrived.
Il felt that could not be true! Never
before had l been charged with walk
ing in my sleep. l was in perfect health,
and never had believed in omens of any
kind, but when l resented the charge the
officers reply was decidedly annoying. He
merely suggested that l send for the sec
ond officer who had had the watch and
for the man who had been at the wheel.
This l did. In a few minutes both these
men appeared, before me. I questioned
them separately and they confirmed in
every way the statements made to me by
the first officer. 1 was very much i'm
pressed. No motive could possibly exist
for inventng such a story, and became
convinced that for the first time in my
life, as far as l knew, L had actually
given a command while / was asleep. l
Immediately gave orders to have the ship
put back upon her course, but as soon
as / reached my cabin the impulse be-
came so strong that 1 returned to the
wheel house and countermanded the or
der.
For three days we sailed in a south
-. - nft .ar-1o aDF1
of the last day, and at a moment when
1 had definitely concluded to put my
steamer back upon her proper course, the
man on lookout at the masthead reported
a derelict down on the horizon, 10 the
southwark The ships course was chang
ed and we made directly for the floating
object Already sea grass had been OBJ
served In large quantities. Packs of IT,
many acres in extent, were passed, and
the bright green which they impaired to
the surface of the sea produced a brill
liant effect against the dark blue OF the
ocean. After a few hours we came with
in hailing distance of a dismasted brig,
and discovered seven men on board! we
ran as close as possible and sent boat
for the survivors.
1.-THE brig was British, and was bound
from Honduras to London. Her sails and
masts had been carried way In cy-
clone four months before. A boats crew,
with the first mate had set out 10 reach
the coast in the hope of securing succor,
but they had evidently been lost, because
no record had ever been made as 1 very
well knew. The survivors on the brig
consisted of the captain, five passengers
and the cook. The rest of the crew hav-
ing deserted, either had shared the fate
of their companions or had been picked
up by a sailing vessel bound on a long
voyage. The people aboard had not suf-.
fered for want of food, because the brig
carried in the hold a large consignment
of salt beef that had been shipped at Gal
weston to the outward trip. One of the
passengers was an ingenious man. He
had rugged up device with taujaulins
for catching rain, and had thus main
tanned the water supply. The gratitude
of the rescued men was great however,
and they testified their appreciation by
presenting me with a handsome. silver
trophy"