Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-07
A TALE OF THE SEA.
How n Flock of Birds Rescued Sailors
From Desperate Plight.


From Desperate Plight.
From the Philadelphia Telegraph
The stanch British steamer Kensington
arrived at Philadelphia the other day with
a cargo 'of sugar from Sourabaya. Java.
and her captain John LangwiIl, unfoldad
to reporter story of the trip which 1t is
safe to say has not a duplicate in mari
time annals. 1t reads like page from one
oil Clark Russeils books of big oceans mar
Vels, but is even more wonderful for it
has the stamp of undoubted truth. Tales
of the sea have been written of ship and
crews owing their salvation to various
causes, but surely no one ever heard of a
crew owing their lives to the Intervention
of birds.
Yet these are what saved Capt Langwill
and the sailors of the Kensington. for had
IL not been for their fortunate interview
ton they would have been unable to ex-
tflcate themselves from the unusual enemy
that assailed them.
The steamer was about five DAYS ont from
Sourabaya, which was left on September
~. She was ploughing her way through
tne lndlan ocean. 1t was terrifically hot
capt LangWill declares ne never knew it
to be hotter. The sun beat down with bills.
terlng effect upon the decks and SO heated
did they become that 1t was impossible for
one to place his hand upon the iron plates
"i'iioul IldhllS 1t burned. Inc OF
sugar was in baskets, of which there were
12,S23, each basket being about five feet
hsh 1t was coarse, brown sugar and as
soon as 1t began to feel the effects of the
suns furnace rays it emitted an odor that
resempled that which comes from a candy
mdnufactory
Just then the vessels PROV turned into
vast Held of seaweed, a growth peculiar
10 That portion of the Indian ocean and
then began the crews troubles These
weeds extended for miles There apneared
no eid OF them. Far as the eye could reach
hothlns else was visible They covered
completely the whole oceans surface These
weeds We're the home of a peculiarly large
ana VOracious species of the dragon fiy The
steamer was no sooner in their midst than
attracted by the savory fumes of the sugar.
they swarmed upon the decks in millions.
They covered everything.
thousands of them penetrated the hold
ana leasted upon the sugar Thousands
Were, were on the decks, seeking to get below
men these got savage. A sugar laden YES
sci was something they did not strike every
day. 1t was a delightful change from the
monotony of weed fare. Big enough to do
illschleI they got savage and attacked the
crew. Capt Langwill had just thirty-tyo
men, and they had the battle of their lives
Inc flies could not be driven off Beaten
OH by the crew, they only returned In
greater numbers and renewed the attack
ihelr bites were something awful Cant
ltangWill said. and 1t was not long before
the body of each man of the crew was a
mass of blood
This terrible pest of flies lasted for five
days. How much longer it would have con-
unueu capt. Langwill could not saw hut
When hope had died in the breasts of the
crew, and they We're thinking of giving up
hopeless fight, a strange event occurred
rescue was at hand. 1t came none too
soon, Tor the crew had become too weak
70 longer struggle against their fly foe
far up In the sky the desperate sailors
saw flock of birds wheeling and circIinr
lneSe proved the S3ViorS Of he
ION crew. They were a mighty army of
boatswain's birds, the deadly foe of The
dragon fly OF the Indian ocean. Upon the
pest these birds chiefly subsist They bad
evidently scented their ancient enemy ana
Just as the steamer was directly under
them they swooped down. These birds of
me sea resemble dove, but are many
times larger. They have long tails and
sharp beaks. There were hundreds Of
them.
Down they came upon the ships decks.
a asa the crews timely rescuers the
HES had no chance. They We're eaten by
the boatswains as quickly as a flock of
parn-yard fowl dispose of their daily meal
oI corn and soon there were not enough
OF the flies to cause further trouble
w men thirty days out from Sourabaya the
kensinston entered the Suez canal After
that the voyage was uneventful to this
port but from skipper down to cabin how
all bear traces of the terrible exnerienca
with the vicious dragon fy Cant Ja,,g
VIII has been a steamer captain for fifteen
years, though he has sailed the seas for
thlrty years; He is typical old sea dog
anu can tel many tales of the sea that
would appear Incredible to a landsman hut
his experience on this last trip is some
thing such as he never encountered before
and which he does not want to encounter
again.
What would you have done If the birds
mad not appeared?" he was asked
That Is hard to answer now" he said
nut one thing is sure, we could not have
kept up the fight much longer"
capt. Langwill also said that while at
Sourabaya he learned that ARRANGEMENTS
had been made to bring the entire sugar
crop of Java to this country