The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-11-08
ON WRECK % HOURS.
The Lumber-Laden Steamer G. |
cclweIl and All Aboard Except
Captain GaskilI, Lost
in Storm.

Capt. John Gaskill, sole survivor OF the
crew Of the steamer George L. Colwell,
of Detroit. bound for New York from
Fernandina, Fla, with cargo Of lum
Der. Capt. Gaskill was cliuging to a
piece OF wreckage of his lost vessel to
which he had clung for % hours.
Capt. Staples and his officers dis
played care and skill in rescuiog Capt.
Gaskill. At first skiff was lowered
with a picked crew: this was smashed
against the iron hull of the steamer
and the crew struggled maufully in the
angry sea until hauled in by life. lines.
Capt. Staples steamed near the week
age, line was thrown to Capt. Gas.
kill, who made it fast around his waist
and was hauled aboard He had been
badly bruised. He was kindly cared
for on board and is now in St. Francis
Navier in6rmary here progressing favor
ably.
The following particulars of the
wreck We clip from the News and Cour
ier:
Twenty-four hours overdue and con.
siderably shaken up by an encounter
with the Caribbean Sea hurricane, the
stauch Clyde steamship Navahoe, Capt
Staples, came into port Wednesday.
Hardly had the gang plank been secur.
ed when the captain, accompanied by a
pale looking stranger, came ashore and
carriage was called to take the sick
man to St Francis Iufrnary. THAT
man." Capt Staples said to inquiries, is
the captain Of the steamship Geo. l.
Colwell, wrecked off this port Monday
morning and we picked him up fifty
niles east CT here Tuesday afternoon.
He was cut ard bruised by shifting lum-
Der and stuff before the vessel was
wrecked and is otherwise badly shaken
up, so he gees to the repair shop for a
bit. l think be will come out as good
as new, but he was pretty shaky when
we hauled him aboard.
''We had dusty time of it our
selves" continued the captain, when
urged to give further particulars. "lou
see, we came out of New York Satur-
day afternoon and caught bad weather
right along When off this coast we
got into the very teeth of the hurricane
and lay-to for eighteen hours, going to
sea probably fifty miles. Monday was
hard day and the night was worse.
Tuesday morning the seas were running
very high and the wind was terrific. At
about y 80 o'clock | went up on the
bridge, after being below short time,
AID the mate said: 1--WE are passing a
lot of wreckage. Keep sharp look
out, then, l replied, for we may fad
some poor fellow afoat on it.. With the
words scarcely out of my mouth, 1took
up the glasses and, sweeping the water
on all sides, discovered man on raft
about half mile to the eastward. The
whistle vas blown and even at that dis
taDce we could see, through the glasses
the frantic signs Of Joy made by the
lone mariner.
II ordered out boat as soon as we
came near to the tiny raft, but it was
stove in before it could be lowered into
the water. Then | decided to move the
Navahoe up to the raft and ware round
to windward, taxing great care not to
collide with the frail support which up
held the shipwrecked man. a rope was
finally gotten to the man on the raft
and with difficulty he was pulled up on
the Navahoe's deck. He managed to
tell US his name ard the fate of his
ship, the Geo. l. Colwell, and then
gave out, for he had cluug to few
planks for nearly twenty-four hours and
mad not had food or rest for nearly
twice that length of time. We did
what We could to make him comfort
able on the Navahoe and he will stop at
the In6rmary here until he is himself
again.
THE SURVIVOR STORY.
Capt. Gaskill was lying in little
white bed at ST. Francis Inirmary when
Reporter called and asked for story
of the wreck.
eve sailed from Fernandina, Fla,
Saturday morning." he said, with a
cargo Of 4OO, 900 feet of pine lumber,
and, with variable winds, was off Char
lesion, say fourteen miles, heading east
and north for Cape Roman, at about 2
o'clock Monday morning. when the
heavy blow struck US, but the weather
had been bad Sunday afternoon. The
>ouall was northwest, veering to north
east. and the cross seas were fearful.
The ship strained and behaved badly
from midnight and at 2 o'clock the
engines were working miserably. A
little later the terrible rolling had
thrown ashes and coal about 81 much
that the pumps became choked. |
had put out the cornucopia drag and
then the anchor, with forty fathoms Of
chain, but neither helped US at all, and
when, little later, the engines stop
ped, we wallowed in the trough of the
sea. Two gangs were working with
buckets and deck pump, but the wa
ter gained on US rapidly. At about 4
clock the Colwell was so low in the
water that heavy sea swung 1t almost
over ana dumped the decked load Of
lumber. With it went the after deck
house and smoke stack. There were
nine men in the after house and We
never even so much as heard'a cry as
they went to their grave beneath the
scething waters. After relieving her
self of the deck load the Colwcll righted
and plunged on for time, one minute
high on wave, then down in the valley,
with the boiling foam above US. 1t
must have been two hours later that a
great crash came. Louder to us than
ever was the horrible roar of the ocean:
and the Colwell split in two about amid
ships. There were only five men then
sbpard ard We we're thrown violently
into the sea. Half crazed as | was al
ready, l had still the instinct to strike