The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-12-08
WAS IN DISTRESS
SCHOONER BESSIE PARKER WAS
AT MERCY OF SEA.
BUT SIGNAL WAS IGNORED.
PICKED UP by CAPT. BURG OF THE
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM.

Disabled Vessel Was Passed by I'm
known RriDsh Steamer, nut no As
sistanoe Was Onered-Parlser Lost
Mizzenmast and Mainmast and
Crew Was Facing Deafh-Experi-
enced six Gales and Ont Only
Twelve Dnys-WIthOut "A Piece of
Canvass FLYING She Made Nine
Knots an IIOur-City of BirnIinG-
hmm, Eight Hours Overdue;
Brought Schooner Into Tybee.
With her main mast and mizzenmast
gone, and at the mercy of an ill-tem-
pered sea. the schooner Bessie Parker
of st. John, n. b., fioundered off the
Carolina coast Saturday morning with
the Union Jack down while an un-
known British cargo steamer passed
her signal of distress unnoticed.
The helpless schooner was sighted
late Saturday afternoon near FRYING
Pan lightship by Capt. Berg of the
City of Birmingham of the Ocean
Steamship Company's line. Relief was
rendered the Parker and she was
brought into Tybee early yesterday af-
ternoon The City of Birmingham
reached her dock at $3.50 o'clock in the
afternoon about eight hours overdue.
She, too, had experienced severe
weather run into a hurricane blow
ing ninety miles an hour. and lost
some of her rigging.
The Bessie Parker and her crew were
towed to the Central wharves by
tug, and will remain here for repairs.
She was hard hit. and the crew of
the schooner had an awful experience.
The vessel left Bermuda light for
Jacksonville two weeks ago, and dur
ing twelve days six gales were encoun-
tered. No lives were lost, but Capt.
d. l.. Whitaker and his first officer de-
clared that they have no desire to eX-
perience a similar voyage again. AL
though the schooner was beaten and
buffeted by waves, and dashed 9<@Ind
in the sea as though she had been a
shell, no leak was sprung. The men,
however, faced death more than once,
and several times thought that they
were done for.
Benten by Heavy Wind.
The schooner carried a cargo of lum-
Der from Fernandina to Bermuda and
WdS nlnB " JdChSOIlNlllt IOI an
other cargo. 1t was a case Of bad
weather from the start, and nothing
but reef, reef. On Thursday night at
8 o'clock the Parker was thirty miles
off Tybee. 1t began to blow in earnest
and the schooner quivered as the
heavy wind and sea fell upon her. She
couldn't lay to in such a wind and kept
off to run out. At $3.50 o'clock Friday
morning 1t was blowing a hurricane,
and n 10 hn -
cut from the mainlSast and mizzen-
mast. The two heavy poles snapped
and rolled into the ocean and only the
foremost was left standing. Without
a piece of canvass in the wind the
schooner was pushed along at rate
of nine knots an hour, giving some idea
of the velocity of the wind
The distress signal had been put UP,
and at 9:45 o'clock Saturday morning
the unidentified British steamer was
sighted. Those on the Parker could see
persons on the deck of the steamship
mile away, but the signals of the
schooner were not even answered. The
mate of the Parker said yesterday that
he would know the boat again and
that his one wish is that he will some
day meet the captain who passed him
without a word. and l am an Eng
lishman, too" he said. The Parker was
putting III IOT II IylnS ran llgnUSnlp
when she was sighted by Capt Berg,
and a line was sent out This was
about o'clock Saturday afternoon.
About $3.50 o'clock yesterday morn
ing the line parted and the schooner
was lost from the City of Birmingham.
Another line was sent out by Can't.
Berg and the Parker was taken into
Tybee and turned over to a tug with
cut further incident. Capt. Berg him
self ran into a hurricane and a boom
on the Birmingham was snapped The
steamer struck the hurricane off Dele
ware and had hard time of 1t for
while. This was early Friday morn
ing and during the entire day the wind
blew from the southwest at the rate
of from so to 80 miles an hour Beyond
the losing of a few sails, however, the
Birmingham came out of the encounter
alright.