The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-01-17
PECULIAR VOYAGES.
Thrilling Experiences of VesseImen
ON the Ocean.

ON the Ocean.
Toledo Blade.
To voyage for twelve days and nights in
a capsized ship is an experience more
amazing than any fiction writer ever dared
10 publish. Yet a short time ago Captain
Engellandt, of the German-sailed ship
Erndte, spent nearly n fortnight imprisoned
inside the upturned hull of his ship, and
came through this terrible captivity very
little the worse.
The Erndte left Memel with a cargo of
timber on April 16. and at once ran into
rough weather Two days later, when the
captain had just retired to his cabin after
a long watch on deck, sudden squall cap
sized the vessel. The crew were swept
away, but the matches were closed tightly
by the sudden pressure Of the water. The
wreck drifted keel uppermost. All day
long Captain Engellandt spent in frantic
endeavors TO make his presence known.
But the hull, being of iron, resisted all
his efforts to pierce 1t. At last on April
80, the wreck was sighted by the Nor
wegian steamship Aurora. Her crew at
once proceeded 10 secure the wreck. Reach
ing II they were almost paralyzed with
amazement at hearing a pounding sound in
side the hull.
They drilled hole, and at once a human
announced his presence. Even then ii was
impossible TO make a hole large enough to
let the prisoner out, SO they had to tow
the wreck TO Dantzig where artifcers cut
away the iron and ended the captains long
captivity. He was just at the end of his
food and had been forced to drink salt
water to quench his thirst.
Sailors fear a cargo OF cotton. There is
always a danger OF fire, for cotton is liza
Bile to spontaneous combustion if any of
it is in the least degree tainted with oil.
-,,1N
stances as turpentine and resin are added
TO a shiplOad of cotton, the fear of fire
becomes ever present in the captains mind
Such was the cargo of the steamship
Manchester Merchant, bound hOmeWards
from New Orleans, and when nearing the
coast of England the shippers worst fears
were realized. Fire broke out, and, in spite
of desperate efforts. 1t burnt fiercely that
in a very short time the sides Of the ship
were red hot. The acrid fumes of the
burning turpentine half suffocated the crew.
and thick, black smoke penetrated to the
engine room and drove the stokers out.
Captain Croach ordered the water to be
let into the stern compartment But even
this desperate expedient failed TO eXtin-
guish the flames The decks were red hot
and the crew almost unconscious when the
Irish coast came in sight, and a little later
the ship entered Dingle bay. The officers
plunged through the flames and succeeded
in letting go the cable, and the Manchester
Merchant came TO anchor in six fathomS,
where shortly afterwards she sank.
Il. IL
). Calliope Is well remembered. In the
teeth of a hurricane which wrecked every
other ship In the harbOr, he steered out
of Apia roadstead and saved his ship from
the rocks. similar feat was performed
by Captain Boswell, of the Royal Indian
Marine steamer Elphinstone. when the
great cyclone of two years ago did such
fearful destruction in the Bay of Bengal.
So terrible was the tempest that it blew
every boat from the davits, and smashed
all the glass in the saloon ports. No man
oil VI OH I0atrr
sell nor his officers tasted food nor slept a
moment during the thirty hours the storm
lasted
On the Journey from Australia to Cal
cutta, the tail shaft OF the steamer Darius
broke, and the big ship was left helpless
and unmanageable. Her second officer, Mr.
lnstone, left with a crew OF seven in one
of the ships boats for the nearest port
Padang, in Sumatra, $50 miles away. Gales
swept down on them, and the first thing
that happened was the utter smashing OF
their rudder- They were forced TO steer
with an oar.
Then the boat started leaking, and their
| only material for patching il was soap
Soon afterward a Notwithstanding sea mon
| ster, twenty feet long, came dangerously
near them. At last they were rescued by
| the Dutch steamer Re6el and taken to Cal
cutta. They arrived there on the very day
| that the Darius herself was towed in.
| Even worse the experience of the
chief officer of the Athena, a fine ship
| which, in March two years ago. ran on
4
less than an hour. Two boats put off. The
| captains was swamped and all drowned, il
| spite of desperate efforts at rescue by the
| chief officer and his crew. In the effort al
| rescue the chief officers boat shipped
| huge sea. which smashed the compass anC
| the rudder, spoiled all the fresh water anC
/ swept the chief officer himself into the
water. II was with the greatest difficulty
| that he was rescued. The boat, too, began
| to leak.
coast, and after fifty-two hours struggle
| during which four Of them died of colo
| and exposure, they were picked up by tn,
steamer Eskside. There are few more ter
| rible tales of the sea than that of the Nor
wegian barque Aurora's voyage from Yucca
tan to Liverpool with a load of logwood
| When at last she reached Queenstown
| after being obliged at one part of her Voy
| age to take refuge at Newfoundland, ever,
| single one of her crew except the chic
| officer were down with beri-beri or sleep
ing sickness. 1t was he who had navigatet
the ship practically single-handed all tn
way from the American side of the At
lantic.
The Bothal, a vessel of 100 tons, lef
! Glasgow on Jan. p. 1901, with a cargo o
| coal for Savona, and in the bay of Bisca,
| ran into q hurricane. Her cargo shifted
| her deck was swept clean; her fresh waite
| tanks were torn away from their fasten
| ings her lifebOatS were blown away.
AS a last straw her engine broke dow
! and her hold began TO fill with water. The
| the Feleux, a Norwegian ship, hove il
| sight, and hope dawned in the souls of tn
unhappy crew. The Feleux launched tw
! boats. Both were smashed to pieces, an
she was forced TO give UP the attempt a
rescue The Bothal had but five hours I
float when the German ship Patagonia hov
! In sight, and by means OF a hawser rescue
the crew of a vessel which during the pas
twentyfour hours, had only been KEEP
| ailoat by pumping and sheer pluck.
To be forced TO sail a steamer withou
| coal was the extraordinary experience o
! Captain Pitts. Of the BuenOs Ayrean, whic
| reached Glasgow from PhiladelDhia a fte
| one of the most tempestuOus voyages o.
| record First the ship ran into thick &c
and fog. and was hung up for two DAYS
| Then she met storm after storm. He
| deckhOuse was smashed and boats carrie
| away. Eventually her coal gave out Carg
| had 10 be broken 10 keep the engines going