The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-07-26
MIGHT HAVE SAVED SHIP
WHAT MATE COUGH SAYS OF
LOST JOHN MCDONALD.
Read Signals Which Said the Vessel
Was on rlre-Captain of Adderly Did
Not Offer Assistance.

If the advice of one man now in this
port had been followed the crew of the
lost American ship John Mcdonald
would have been saved. The famous
clipper ship might even have been res
cued from grave in DaVey Jones'
Locker which beyond any doubt, from
the statements of this man, she found
last January when within about five
days run of San Francisco.
George Burberry Cough is the man
whose counsel would have saved the
Mcdonald had the captain of Coughs
vessel seen fit to take the trouble to
offer aid to the other ship. Cough is
the last man, so far as is known, who
spoke and signaled the John Mcdonald.
At that time he was the second mate
on the British bark Adderly. I'VE were
bound from Seattle to Sydney" Cough
said, the first part of this year. We
were about a week or ten days out from
the former port and it was on or about
January q that we sighted the Amer-
can ship John Mcdonald We were
about that time just near the north
east trades and were in from % to q
degrees north latitude and about 145
west longitude. l was on watch when
the Mcdonald was sighted and when
the vessels came nearer l took the
glasses to read the signals.
I'VE were within a third of a mile
of each other when the Mcdonald be-
gan to fly her signals. He displayed
the regulation signals telling the name
of the vessel, that she was from Balti-
more, was out so many days and bound
for San Francisco. 1 read these signals
off to the Captain of the 44dderly, Cap
tain John August Berquist while he
translated them from the code book
The last signal the Mcdonald flew
was the first intimation she gave of
there being any trouble aboard her.
That signal was run up and lowered
about as rapidly as the others had been
l just caught the combination of the
flags as it was run down. called them
off to the captain and in a minute ne
exclaimed Why say that can hardly
be. That signal says THE ships on
fire. Read it again, you must have
made some mistake"
Il looked again but the signal was
down and although l looked for quite
a while at the other boat no other signal
was flown. Captain Berquist insisted
that | must have read that signal
wrong. He said that it stood to reason
If ship was on fire she would have
asked for some assistance. Besides the
boat looked, so it was argued, too clean
for any such trouble. I told him that
| was sure that l had read that signal
all right, but as he did not take steps
to investigate the matter any farther l
let the matter drop.
AT that time the Mcdonald if she
had caught fair breeze, ought to have
reached San Francisco in about five
days for the captain had signalled he
was bound for that port
Nothing more was said about the
Mcdonald and her signals, until after
we got to Australia. l left the ship
there and went aboard her one LAY to
bid goodbye to Captain Berquist and
he said Say Cough do you remember
about that John Mcdonald signalling
about her being on fire? Well | guess
you must have read that signal right
after all for she has never been heard
from since
That was all he said to me about
it. l think that the Mcdonald must
have blown up soon after we passed
her. She was then on fire and the cap
tain had probably battened down the
matches to try and smother the fire
ana 1t had spread too fast until il got
beyond control"
Cough is now second mate on the
American ship Fort George and arrived
here several weeks ago from Newcastle
where he held his rather odd conversa-
ton with Captain Berquist of the Ad-
derby.