The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-11-24
THE WRECK OF
THE FALKENBURG
-saaaa-eraHH
Her Crew Rescued With Difficulty In
a PerIShIng Condition.
HER ROMANTIC HISTORY
One Of the Oldest Vessels IN the Coast
and Well known In Astoria us The
Property Of Cuptoln IlO,eI.
HER ROMANTIC HISTORY
san Francisco Chronicle

Fhl y fhWilhih = WlhNltlTs
The Old bnrkonline Jane A. Fnlkcf
burg was wrecked by hurricane a
thc night ~ Friday November i0ti
on Cape FllNtcfy. hut her crew ~ rlgl
men wvir rcacuod by the Htrnmrr Wa
Ia Walln Thursday morning an
brought In safety 10 this port ycstordn
afternoon when ;~llry~d the sailor
wriN on the ycrgv of insanity. Fo
nearly nyc nights they had clung {
the broken hull Of their ship with IN
sea washing over them and thrvat~nln
al every instant 10 i.'nd the old Graf
to the bottom. During all that Tim
few ~ IN" mon got any sl~rp and m
only food they had was a part ~ nacl
NJ raw polatncn Had the walla WALL
not sighted the men when she dld the!
would IN all probability have cas-
| themselves into The Doa
The Falkcnburg was ou- II the old
oa, ships an ,hr coast hnd when over
taken by thu storm WAS twenty tive
days oui from Pnr Hndbck. Washing
! ton. bound fur San Francisco with
load uf lumb@r eorElgnrd to W ]
| Adams fdr the Washington Mil com
| pauy - this city She was command
1 cd by Captain r M Maricn, lict
/ FIRST officer was whcittru. s-c1n,
mate. \. J. Anderson. aud the crcn
wcrv Scnmcn Frank Rancho. A. on
p'n. Otto sg del. Vans Yonacn. ant
| Harry Sing. Chlnrar cook Will,
| the woa Ihrr had b-,n threatening ant
some n,lfr winda had blown from th,
southeast nothing of particular Interest
occurred for "a" nrsl part of the yoy'
agr,
on the night ~ November 10th. how,
ever. the wcaih.r changed and as d
storm gathered Captain Maricn stood
watch Tor the first part ~ the night
Mate Whcitlcn bcing g. IN his bunk
when the ship was In latitude q dc.
grrcH. ~ minutes, north. longitude ~
west. the wind. whiah had bc,u blow
ing nuunlly frsn thr southeast. sud
denly increased IN volume and broke
into a hurricane. throv ing thc shin
on her boam ends The Rran nan high
and the sudden lurch CAUSED tha, part
u the cargo u lumber which was on
the deck tu SHIFT to the starbeard.
Captain Mnrdrn was thrown Of his
feet and Mate Whclttcp was dashed
Violently against the wall Of his bunk,
The crew farrd equally - badly In
an instant the scaS began breaking
0yci the vessel and FOR few minutes
II looked as 4 she would so to the
bottom The captain ordered an hands
10 cut away the rigging and then the
main and mlzErn mlsts had 10 be- cut
In order 10 gci loose rom the wrcckngc
aud shifting cargo " lumber The
wind and waves increased IN strength
every moment ana the bulwarks were
soon smashed and washed away. The
lumber was also carried overheard
aud The deck was frrcd from this dan
SET HuJ the top of the hatch was
picked W and carried over the rail and
60 add To- the danger the water began
pouring into the hatch waIcrloggiug
the ship
In the meanwhile the wr,ckNgc had
been holding the vcsscl down on her
braw ends and as the waves increased
IN volume the main mast was driven
through the for'cn'Jc. breaking the
roofing ~ II II had been of paper The
bnckstays had to be- sawed away In
order TO clear from the wrcckagc and
finally after hours of labor the Graf,
rirhtcd herself ana lay at the mercy
~ the waves.
So old was the ship that she had been
unable tn with stand the severe test put
on her Her sides above the water line
wcrc stove In and her ribs showed
through at many points Nothing but
shells remained OF the forNcastlc, gal
ley and cabin, and IL was on the roof
OF the latter place that the crew crowd
cG during the days that followed. To
add to the terrors OF their position u
search OF the galley showed that for
food nothing but few potatoes rec
maincd, There was no water to be Sc
cured, for It had been stored In casks
IN the flooded hold.
After the vessel became water-logged
she settled In the water until the main
deck was nearly On a level with the
water The aeas continued and swept
over the deck with such force that II
was dangerous 90 attempt to move from
the top OF the cabin to the forward
part OF the ship, The vessel started
to drift toward the northwest the
wind. which had decreased by morning,
driving her along The men clung to
each other for hours and eagerly scan
ned the waters for sight Of sail, The
vessel driftcd northwest for about 10
miles aud then the wind veered, caus-
Ing the ship to irift In Il 2ig-Zag course
to the northwest towlrd the shore. The
night Of Wednesday found the derellct
In the neighborhood OF Grays Harbor.
by that time all hands had given
up hope Of ever being rescued, Their
miserable provisions We're nearly con-
sumed and the loss of sleep and terri
BILE strain, both mental and physical,
had toll upon them. Shortly after
daybreak on the morning OF Thursday,
the 1lth, vessel wps sighted about