The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-11-03
THE STEAMSHIP HESTIA.
THRILLING STORY OF RESCUE
or IN AMERICAN CREW.

or IN AMERICAN CREW.
Big Steamship was Visited by Many
Hundred of People on sunday-cap-
tain Ferguson Tells of a Thrilling
Rescue Which Ills Crew Made on "a
Recent Trip From Baltimore to Glass
Cow.
The large Scotch steamship Hestia,
now unloading cargo of billets for the
National Wire company, was witnessed
by many hundreds of curious on-lookers
on Sunday, the most of whom had never
seen a vessel of the same dimensions as
the Hestia. They were content to look
at her from positions on the Ferry
street bridge, as the stringent rules of
the wire company did not permit of
them getting into closer proximity to
the dock. Cameras were also much in
evidence, and many pictures of the YES
sci were taken during the day. She be-
longs to the Donaldson line Of Glasgow,
and is one of very large fleet of
steamers trading between Glasgow and
Baltimore. Her present trip to New
Haven has been made during an inter-
val while she had to wait for cargo
back to Glasgow. She is commanded by
Captain Ferguson, who is assisted by
Robert Rankine, chief officer. Second
and third officers, chief engineer and
four assistants and her crew, number
forty men all told, all of whom are
Scotch. A Courier reporter visited the
Hester yesterday and was cordially re-
ceived and shown over the steamer by
the genial captain. During a converse
ton he was induced to tell some of the
dangers and experiences he had come
face to face with during his trips to va
rious parts Of the world. One Of these
and the most thrilling of them all was
the rescuing of the crew of an Ameri-
can schooner while on recent trip from
Baltimore to Glasgow. Captain Fergu-
son produced a cutting from Glasgow
paper, which he said could tell the story
better than he. AS the story is an in
teresting one, we herewith reprint it.
Captain Reed, Of the schooner Blen-
derinann, of Philadelphia, made the fol-
lowing report of the loss Of his vessel:
"On November IL we left Hillsboro, S.
b., with seven hundred and thirty tons
Of rock plaster for New York. The
wind was to the southwark and weather
clear. All went well until half-past
nine o'clock that night, when the wind
shifted to the eastward with a binding
snow-storm. The conditions Of the
weather had changed within thirty min
utes; something / have never seen at
sea. Several attempts were made to-
reach st. John, but we failed owing to
the weather and the heavy drifting
snow. The next thing was to run the
ship for the south channel and the Bay
of Fundy With handling cold sails and
in seas that were breaking over the ship
such an effort was very hard.
The gale lasted until 1 p. m. the next
day, when it shifted to the northwest,
!. butublowing from forty to fifty miles an
hour. This caused very high and irreg-
ular seas, so it was impossible to do
anything except keep the vessel before
the wind as best we could. 1t was
found necessary to keep one pump go
ing steady to keep the ship free from
water. At $50 p. m. we found the yes
sci to be leaking freely and then started
all pumps for the remainder Of the
might. AT 3 a. M, November u, the wa
ter had gained five feet in the hold and
was fast rising. Pumps were kept go
ing without cessation, one man leaving
them long enough to eat at a time. AT
three o'clock that afternoon we found
it useless to pump any linger as the
A1sI,i, 20 OF aya
manageable. gave orders to prepare
provisions for the boat, but at that
time it looked very gloomy for the
launching successfully of a boat, and
even then if she could live in such a sea.
ABANDONED SHIP.
We managed to get into the boat,
with plenty to eat, but no water, as all
had been spoiled i'm the gale before We
abandoned ship. .@
"Our thirst was quenched in the boat
with vinegar and a few juicy apples
that happened to be thrown aboard by
the steward. We left the ship at 4:30
o'clock that afternoon in latitude
forty-two degrees and nine minutes and
longitude sixty-four degrees and forty
nine minutes. when the Blendernann
was fast sinking We put in a very
rough might, it being very cold and we
were wet TO the skin and all worn out
with pumping.
ION November IL we had much bet
ter day than the preceding one, but we
suffered from cold and frost-bitten feet.
AT daybreak we made sail out of a
blanket on an oar and headed for the
track of European steamers. When
night came on we were very much dis
couraged. To keep from freezing we
roWed at intervals Of a very few mo-
ments each.
AT midnight white light hove in
sight. We made signals of distress,
which were answered. A steamer bore
down on us and she proved to be the
Donaldson Line steamer Hestia, bound
from Baltimore to Glasgow Within
one hour we were all ON board.
1T was not long before officers and
men were bringing dry clothes and
making us as comfortable as if our
mothers were looking after us. Warm
beds were next given us and we were
hidden to take a rest. We stretched
ourselves out for the first time since
November IL.
'.All went well until November "a,
~ - taz.4A IL