The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-10-23
Three Men Managed to
Reach Bit of Ledge
And Hung There, Half Drowned,
for Many Hours.

PASSPORT, October 22.--A tale of terrible
suffering during and for three days fol-
lowing the severe gale of last Wednesday,
was told here upon the arrival of the
survivors OF the crew of the schooner
DeIma, which struck Muir ledge, OF
Grand Manan island, last Wednesday
and went to pieces in a few minutes.
One OF the crew, John Carver, of Indian
River, Me, was lost. OF the three surviv-
ors two were seriously Injured by the
beating OF the waves and all suffered
severely from exposure.
The Delma was bound from Boston for
Calais with a general cargo and was just
of Muir ledge when she encountered the
full force of the gale. The storm came up
almost without warming and although
nearly every yard of canvas was taken
in as soon as possible and everything
made snug the crew found themselves
unab 10 to control the vessel and within
half an hour she was dashed upon the
ledge and pounded into fragments Cap
tain George Young and two of the crew
managed to reach bit OF the ledge which
stood a few feet above water, but John
body was recovered. The bit of rock upon
which the shipwrecked sailors found
place of safety for the time soon began
to disappear as the tide came in, and
when the sea was at its height the men
were obliged to remain in standing
position, with the waters reaching nearly
to the hips. This was repeated at every
tide and when last their signal of distress
wa seen last Saturday all were nearly ex-
hausted. During all the time of the stay
in their precarious position on the rock.
the men suffered terribly from GOLD and
hunger, and two of them, Capt. Young
and Mate Walter Durham, were suffering
from injuries received when their schoon-
er went on the rocks Wednesday. Capt.
Young's shoulder was dislocated and bad
ly bruised and one of Mate Dunham's
legs was crushed. They had no food,
the cold wind blowing upon their wet
garments chilled them through and
through, and the necessity of standing
several hours at each high tide left little
time for sleep and at least one man was
obliged to remain on watch all the time.
Besides all this the body of their drowned
shipmate had to be cared for lest it be
washed away by the waves.
The position of the sufferers was the
more trying because OF a heavy fog which
settled down over that portion OF the sea
as soon as the storm abated and which
hung over the water until Saturday fore
noon, making 1t impossible for anyone
on shore noticing the signal of distress
which they displayed. Soon after the fog
cleared away, however, those on shore
noticed the signal and a boat was started
to their assistance. The men were landed
in a lonely unsettled part OF the country
and were kindly cared for until they
were able to proceed to this place. Here,
Carver's body, which had been in their
care for four days, was prepared for bur-
ial and sent to his former home at Indian
Harbor. The other members OF the Grew.
are receiving medical treatment and soon
hope to fully recover from their rough
experie nee.
Carver, the drowned man, was IS years
of age and single.
The spot where the DeIlna was lost Is
considered one of the most dangerous
along the coast. 1t was there that the
Furniss Line steamer Warwick was lost
two years ago, and the bones of many
vessel, large and small, lie near this
treaoherous bit of ledge.
The Delma was a schooner of about 100
tons.