The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-23
FRAGMENT OF SEA TRAGEDY.
TWO CASTAWAYS on WRECKAGE
DROWN As RESCUE NEARS.
A Moment More and III Cid's Ready Lite
boat Would Have Deen Beside Them
Evidently Some Lumber Carrier Lost
Some OF the Crew Had Made a RAFT.

wv '"N WV hheu " T" 1850
Two sailors were swept TO death from
a bit OF wreckage in a frothing sea in the
gale of Sea Girt, N. j., yesterday morning
while the officers and crew Of the Morgan
liner FL Cid, bound in from New Orleans,
looked on. ready but unable TO help.
The identity Of the castaways and that
Of the craft 10 which they belonged was
not discoverable by FL Cid's men. II
Is likely that she was a lumber carrier,
probably from Virginia, and that she was
smashed by the angry seas.
The Morgan liners second officer. j. ID.
Sweetser, who had charge OF the bridge,
saw a lot of wreckage dead ahead at
1915 A. NJ, of Sea Grit. The steamship
wal heading north by east. and fearing
tina she might hit the wreckage Sweetser
ordered the quartermaster to change her
course.
just then he noticed on the most con-
s~picuous piece OF wreckage, apparently the
ton Of a ~deckhouse floating ceiling up W
moving objects.
Sweetser called 10 Capt. Boyd, who was
In the pilot house. and the ship was steered
for the wreckage. Mate Boyd n several
seamen had a lifeboat swung out on the
port quarter, ready to launch. All the
scamen wanted to volunteer, despite the
heavy sea running and the flfty-mile gale
that tore the crests into shreds.
When FL Cid was within three ship lengths
OF the overturned d~eckholse top 1t was
plainly seen that two men were on 1t. One,
dressed Ia dark clothes, was half sitting
and half lying on the wreckage; the othor,
In yellow oilskins ard sou'wester. was
kneeling and waving his arms.
He shouted something IN 30 feeble n
voice that il was uniutelligible to the men
on the steamship. Sweetser answered the
appeal Of the oilSkinned sailor with a re-
sponsive wave Of the arm.
The ship manoeuvred through a mass
Of drifting stuff, mostly lumber, passing
close 10 a made-up-raft of yellow pine
boards, and got TO windward OF the two
men, who a red to be utterly exhausted.
The effort Of the man in oilskins in ris-
ing TO his knees was too much for him ana
he fell back near his almost PROSTATE ship
mate, who apparently had not life enough
70 move.
II was the intention of Capt. Boyd to
make a lee with his ship to launch the
quarter boat in. As the volunteer crew
began to lower IL a white-fronted oomber
arose over the refuge OF the two men
smothering il in five or six feet OF water.
When Capt. Boyd and his anxious officers
and men saw the deckhouse top again
the men were not there. Sweetser says
| he saw for a second a dark object that
might have been a human body.
FL Cid steamed three times through
the wreckage every man aboardship ex-
cept those in the engine department. lean
Ing over rails and peering into the sea
Nothing more was seen Of the men. The
second officer said last night:
1T looked 10 me az If the men had been
a long time adrift. Others Of the vessels
crew doubtless persisted, probably by
being washed from the made-up RAFT that
they put together when they saw their craft
was going TO pieces. II she was a Virginia
lumber carrier she probably had five or
six mon aboard. We saw no spars among
the w~reokage; just parts Of decks and
deckhouses and lumber. II was blowing
fifty miles when we sighted the men and
there probably was worse weather before
we hove in sight"