The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-09-23

kept life Ii them until they reached the
last extremity, when each watched the
other, hoping that he would die in order
that his body might give them food.
Some did die, and before death had
CONCEALED their blood it was taken to
moisten the lips Of the survivors. When
the time came that there were 10 more
dying men, they drew lots to decide ON
the next sacrifice and plunged a knife
Into the heart Of the loser in the hideous
gamble and drank the blood that spout
ed forth.
The survivors are Mark Anderson and
Goodman Thomas, the first a once
brawny sailor and the second a 17-year-
old boy. The boys breast Is gashed and
torn. When they were left alone on the
raft, the mad sailor fell upon him and bit
him like a hungry dog. The two men
are in the hospital, both ravinG. But
when they We're taken on board the
Woodruff they were able to talk, and the
u~nspeakable horrors they went through
were gathered and pieced out from re-
current moments Of sanity and lucidity.
1t was 9 o'clock one afternoon when
the Woodruff saw something floating in
the sea. It lay Of the path Of the steam
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saw something on the floating wreckage
that seemed to have human form, al
though it did not move. He altered the
course OF his ship and steamed over until
the figures Of the two men were plain.
The sky was daFkening rapidly, and the
sea was by no means smooth, but he sent
a boat to ascertain liz the two men were
dead.
All about the floating wreck the water
was brokea By the sharp fms of sharks,
which were 50 thick that they jostled
each other and almost leaped clear in
their frantic endeavors to drag the bodies
from the raft. There were so many and
they were so ravenous that the Wood
runs boat had TO beat them away with
oars and boat hooks lest they should
snatch the limbs of the boat crew. When
they came close, the Woodruf's men saw
there was still life in the two figures On
the raft. The man and the boy lay on
their faces, but their bodies twitched and
Of incoherent mutteringS.
There are not words fit to be printed
that would adequately describe the condi-
ton Of the raft. Human fragments hard
" to be recognized as such adhered to the
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made the reseuers shrek aloud and put
their hands before their faces. They cali
ed to the two tsxitching figures on the
raft, but their only answer was the blood
curdling gabble Of Iunatics. They drag
ged them off and into the boat and forced
water ard brandy down their throats.
This revived the men. and they were able
to cry out a HAT Of their plight and what
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and gave them {. respite from the horrors
of realization. In their paroxysms they
lived over what they had gone through
Il fried to throw themselves upon their
rescuers, calling them by the anne of
those who had died or been slaughtered
on the raft.
Had the men Of the Woodruff known
the enormify represented by these two
men 1t Is doubtful if they would have
saved them, but at the time they did not
know how much was raging and how
much was truth.
The men were hauled upon the steam
er's deck and put III hunks, with men to
watch them aud tend them under the eye
OF the CAPTAIN. At intervals they recov-
cred consciousness, only to lose 1t. The
boy alone manifested a continued inn
provement. His lucid intervals were
longer and Of more frequent occurrence.
He could not be still. Whenever bis
brain was master Of itself he told what
had happened on the raft. They tried to
Etep him, but could not, except by drug
Kine him to sleep, and 1t was only when
be was drugged TO sleep that his watch
eFs had a rest from the terrible recital.
This is the story he told, not as he told
it, but as the captain Of the Woodruff
pieced 1t together:
On Aug. , the Norwegian bark prof
general cargo and d crew or IA, besides
the captain and mate.
on the Florida coast they were struck
~ tAe same hurricanu which caused xneh