, 1901-10-11
HERMIT OF THE SEA.
THE REMARKABLE VOYAGE OF A
FINNISH SAILOR.


After seven years NvyagiuE on near
ly every ocean. the only occupant of
the little vessel which he himself built,
Capt. Adolphus Frietsch LANDED here
from his last solitary cruise. met his
family, which had come all the way
from Milwaukee to see him, and an
bounced his determination to sell his
boat. retire from his solitary sea life.
and sGend the remainder Of his years
in Pensacola on tie proceeds OF his
voyages and spec'iations. says a New
Orleans writer. capt. Frietsch Is a
Finn, only IL years old, but has been
at sea for "a years. Seven years ago,
when he was living in Milwaukee, en-
| gagged in the schooner trade there, the
viking spirit seized on him and he de-
termined TO travel over the world and
visit all the seas. He himself built a
little vessel. the Nina, with a 4O-foot
keel. He left. Milwaukee in 1894 for
Liverpool. passing through the Great
Lakes by way of Buffalo and the Erie
canal to New York. His little vesse!
aroused some interest at the time and
thousands came to see her. He set sail
from New York for Europe; and for
most of the world. that was the las
heard of Capt. Frietsch and his Nm
That vas seven years ago. The soil
tary mariner has been blowing the
ocean waves evor since. The Nina
has long since gone the way Of all
such tiny vessels and the captain
comes to New Orleans in a NV yes
sci. the Anna F.. also built by IN
and Il trilc larger thar the MIN.
having a ii-foot keel and 12-fOOt beJm
He comes here from q cruise along
the coasts of South and Central Amer
lea and the tropics with the little YES
sci stocked with shells. corals and
other marine C]uriosities. all collected
by himself, for whenever he saw cor
ais or shells that pleased his fancy he
Owed overheard to collect them. Sew
en- years in a hermitage on the sea is
remarkable, and it seems strange that
Capt. Frietsch should have escaped all
its dangers-but very narrowly at
times, for when the first vessel. the
Nina, was wrecked off the reef in Kill
brennan sound, the captain just missed
by a few seconds. going with her to
destruction. To navigate a vessel
without a crew is a difficult matter.
for there is the question of the
watches. Who was going to look after
the Nina or the Anna F. when the
captain, boatswain. chief mariner, all
rolled in one, We're asleep? Over this
apparently ~insuperable difficulty Capt.
Frietsch triumphed by a lesson he
learned in the matter of sleep. which
he lays any one can learn who will
make the proper trial-the ability to
sleep for a fixed time, an hour, two
hours or three hours, as the sleeper
might desire. This enabled the cap
tain to rest during Gains and when
there was no danger to fear and to
be awake and to attend to his boat
when danger threatened. He natural
ly Sept most of the day, because there
was less danger of his little vessel be
ing run into, as it could be seen.
whereas at night he had to be more
particular and keep a watch for yes
sells. In crowded places like the Brit
ish channel he denied himself all
sleep, and when he was on the route
of vessels he seldom allowed himself
more han two hours rest. making a
good examination of the horizon be-
fore retiring to rest to make sure there
were no vessels within reach which
might run him down. He timed him
self carefully and gagged his rest by
the character of the water in which he
was and the outlook for the weather.
He also so trained himself to the
slightest lufing in the wine or differ
ent rolling Of the vessel. So, accus-
toned did he become in time to the
system of voluntary sleeping and wax
ing at a fixed time that when the Nina
was wrecked. when it was evident that
she would go on the Kilbrennan reefs
he timed the hour at which the wreck
was to occur. and having made all the
necessary arrangements what he
would do when the little vessel went
to pieces. and finding that this could
not occur before an hour, he lay down
and took a good hours sleep so that
he would be rested and invigorated
when the wreck came. The Nina was
wrecked at the appointed time, and it
was only by superhuman effort that
Capt. Frietsch was rescued. But, how
ever pleasant it may be, and full Of
adventure, an ocean hermitage be-
ONE tiresome in time: and so Capt.
Frict5Ch has concluded, after having
BEEN tossed about in his two little
boats for seven years, that he will re-
turn to the domestic life of a land
lubber."