The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-02-24
Came Here in a Schooner
Via the Straits of
Magellan.
Captain Blackburn's Terrible
Experience in an Open
Boat at Sea.
His Hands and Feet Were Frozen Sc
His Fingers and Toes Had to
Be Anputated.

A party of BIondikers arrived from
Gloucester, Mass, on the schooner Hat
tie 1. Phillips yesterday. The voyage
was made in 129 days. but a stop of
five days was made at Sandy Point. a
very heavy storm was encountered in
4 the Gulf stream, and the vessel was
hove-to for thirty-seven hours. Six
stops were made in the Straits Of Ma
gellan, and on each occasion the pros
pectors landed, but they never caught
a glimpse of a Patagonian.
Those who came out on the Phillips
are Howard Blackburn, captain; John
L. Harris, mate; Peter Rice, James
Nelson, Charles E. Clark, Leslie A
Cavanaugh, Charles ]. Strauberg, Fred
H. Story, Eldridge Wolfe, Fred E.
Head, William Murray, Otis E. Row
ell, L. L. Berry, Clement L. Pelly,
Clarence Dowle and Stephen Sponagle.
The following will come overland and
join the vessel here: W. w. Grant,
Jethro a. Heard, George Lee, John H.
Winneberg and Charles o. Swinson.
The Hattie I. Phillips is not much
larger than the pilot boat Oracle S.,
but she brought her passengers in COM
fort from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and in all the heavy weather not one
Of the six dories dashed On her decks
was damaged. The men are nearly all
artisans, among them being engineers,
machinists. boatbuilders, painters, etc,
so they will have no labor to hire when
it comes to putting their river boat to-
gether. The latter is 80 feet long, Is
feet broad and feet inches deep, and
is now in sections along with the en-
gines in the hold Of the schooner Only
provisions for the voyage here were
brought along. and the schooner will
be sold, and the party will buy their
Klondike supplies here and go to st.
Michael by steamer.
Howard Blackburn, the leader of the
expedition, is man who has had con-
siderable experience as a Gloucester
fisherman on the Atlantic coast. Some
time ago while out in a dory fishing for
halibut he and his companion got lost
While fixing drag Blackburn lost his
mittens overheard, and knowing that
his hands would freeze he grasped the
oars so that when it came to the worst
his hands would be frozen to the oars
and he could row anyhow. Thomas
Welch, his companion, went crazy after
thlrty-s1X hours of the exposure and
finally died. But Blackburn kept on
rowing, and finally he sighted the coast
of Newfoundland.
When rescued it was found necessary
to amputate the fingers on both hands
and the thumbs at the first joint. He
also lost three toes and. the heel of the
right foot and two toes from the left
foot.
The British ship Lancing, which left
here for London on October 2, has had
rough time Of it. On the 21st inst.
she was spoken ten miles east of Eddy
stone lighthouse, with her fore and
main topgallant masts and upper yards
gone.
The British ship Royal Forth is TAX
ing away the largest cargo of grain
that has left port this year. She has
on board 150,86O centals, or 5293 short
tons, Of wheat, valued at s160,114. Cap
tain Cooper is one of the most courte-
Gus and popular masters that visits
this port, and his host of friends are all
wishing that he make a record passage
with his valuable cargo.
The steamer President has at last ar
rived at Yaquina Bay in safety. She
was five days out from here, but was
kept outside by breaking bar.