The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-11-06
AN UNLUcKY FRIDAY.

Having taken on board the working
party and their materials on Friday,
additionally unlucky day for sailors.
the Saginaw left Midway Island for
San Francisco. 1t was determined,
however, to visit Ocean Island, about
forty-eight miles to the west, as It was
possible that some vessel might have
been wrecked there. It was upon this
island that the British ship Gledstanes
was wrecked in 1887, land that the Amer
lean ship Parker was wrecked In 1912.
Whalers brought the crew of the latter
vessel to Honolulu. But the Saginaw
on her humane mission to the island be-
came a wreck herself The steamer
piled herself on the rocky reef of the
island and during the night the crew
got ashore. Some provisions were saw
ed and some sheep. turkeys, and chick
ems that had been taken from the wreck
were turned loose on the island.
VOLUNTEERS SAIL FOR HELP.
the executive officer of the Saginaw,
and four aof the crew, Francis, Muir,
Andrews and Halford, left Ocean Island
in the captains gig. This was volun-
teer expedition which headed for Ho-
nolulu in the hope of obtaining assist
ance. After almost incredible suffer
ing the crew in the boat sighted Kauai
On the 18th of December, having been
at sea in a small boat for thirty days.
and all of them being quite exhausted
from long exposure and hardships of
the thousand mile trip. After sighting
the land, the wind shifted to N. W..
with heavy rain squalls during which
h I,,.E H., \
With great effort she beat up again on
the night of the nineteenth.
BRAVERY OF HALFORD.
The gig, in which Lieutenant Talbot
and his men took passage for these ISL
ands, had been raised few inches and
decked over preparatory to making
the passage. She was provisioned for
thirty-five days at half rations when
she started from Ocean Island but dur
ing heavy gales a large portion of the
food was spoiled by the salt water and
had to be thrown overheard. At the
time of the arrival of the boat off Kauai
there were no provisions left except a
few spoonsful of a preparation of pota-
toes which was mixed with water and
readily eaten by the nearly starved
bluejackets. They still had about six
teen gallons of water. Under these
conditions 1t can be easily understood
that the sailors were in frightful
condition when the boat struck the
breakers. In the big breakers Lieut..
Talbot, Francis and Andrews, slipped
over the side and drowned. Halford
was swept overheard as the boat cap
sized but when it righted again he still
chung to it for some time. His return
ing senses told him that there was an
other man in the boat. This was Muir.
who was in state of stupor. Halford
managed to get the gig into shoal wa
ter. He then dashed Muir to the deck
and taking a tin box, containing papers
and dispatches, he went on shore. He
deposited the box on the beach and re-
turned to the gig. He took the chono-
meter ashore and then carried Muir
there, making a bed for him on the
beach from old clothes he had carried
away from the gig: Halford then found
people, but Muir died before anything
, could be done for him.
The old steamer Kilauea was imme-
diately fitted out in Honolulu to go to
the rescue, arriving at Ocean Island on
| January 8, 1871. All of the shipwrecked
mariners We're taken aboard and the
steamer returned to Honolulu.