The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-12-05

n bread and moldy beef Cap
tain J. Neyius Kay. his young
wife, nine seamen and "Whiskers,'
the cat. Of the British barkentine Flor
ence Il. Edgett. arrived at New York
recently from ST. George, Grenada, on
the steamship Grenada. The barken-
tine sailed for BuenOs Ayres from Bear
River, y. s., On August il, with 300
900 feet OF spruce deal. She ran into
a hurricane on September ~, and In
an hours time was dismasted and dis
mantled. The crew stuck 10 her until
October -, when they set sail In a life
boat Ten days later they arrived at
Grenada. having sighted not single
vessel until the night before they land
ed at Genada.
I'VE were in latitude 100 north
and 1890 west longitude when the hur-
ricane struck US" said Captain Kay.
"The winds. which were northeast, had
been increasing on September II, and
the next morning while ! was shorten
ing sail heavy squall struck us and
carried away n lot OF canvas started
the deckload and carried away the port
bulwarks. The gale increased, and In
half an hour we were flooded fore and
aft the skylights were broken and the
deckhouses stove in. Then the mizzen
mast snapped of at the hounds, and
il wasn't long before the mainmast
and foremast followed suit. carrying
away the starboard lifeboat, the head
gear and jibboom and splitting the
forecastle. The after cabin was full
Of water, and il was impossible TO get
about the deck. Two men were sta
toned at the wheel. The mems chests
were broken open and foated about
the cabin, the chrOnOmcters were
smashed and the provisions were
soaked. All the ships papers and
what money had were lost
"When the hurricane had spent its
force we fixed up jury rig with the
aid OF the stumps Of the main and the
mizzcn, and we made a little headway
until October IA, when the rudder was
carried away, leaving us helpless. The
next day, the remaining 'lifeboat hav-
Ing been repaired in the meantime we
boat
"Thc boat had n twenty-foot keel ana
two masts. We carried n fOrestaysail,
foresail and sprtsail for main
sail-iust like n Chinese junk. Nobody
had any belongings to take away from
the ship. and our only cargo was fifty
pounds of bread, fifty pounds of salt
beef ana about thrty-hvo gallons of
water. fixed up n cabin for my wife,
so we were all fairly comfortable, al
though, on account Of being so close to
the wafer II was very hot.
1--WE made good headway, having the
advantage Of the trades, and logged as
much as 40 knots n day. For our
daily ratiOns we had two quarts of
water and two pounds Of bread. Some
Of the men were sick, but nobody
grumbled. Ny wife stood the hardship
better than any of us. The watches
were divided as on shipboard, and we
were constantly on the lookout foi
; some vessel. | have been sailing IN
those ATTITUDES for twenty years, hui
that is the first trip ever made with
out sighting something,
! Il had compass on board, and
/ verified my bearings by the North Star
! When the compass had deviatcd hal
! point | Judged that | had made abou
! half the distance TO the mainland, so
! stcercd straight course for the Coas
| of South America. The night befOr'
we made ST. George we saw thre,
! steamers some distance Off, hut coulC
not attract their attention. The mex
day we made the harbor, and whei
our little boat was rowod in n hi:
crowd of Africans was lined up on tn
shore. We got dry clothes, somebod,
photographed us i'm group. and five o
six churches took up n collect~S 70
us that amounted to $40 or more
Those natives never saw ship
wrecked crew before, and whcneve
any of us went out on the street hi,
crowd would collect and follow u
around"
The Florence +. Edgett was built n
Digby. y. s. twelve years ago. Sh
Is of 49l tons register. and is owne
by Troop X Son. of st. John, \. II. TIL
men were sent back by their differen
Consuls, and Captain Kay has put tn
case before the British Consul Som
of the men are at the Sailors Home
in Cherry street. and others scattere
around with friends in the city. Car
tain Kay and his wife will stop i
Brooklyn.-Ncw York Times.