The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-30
UECAS7ING LOTS FOR LIFE
rurX the MIRACLE or 4 SAIL
riuE TO TWELVE ChSTAUiYS.
-. n,,s the American Captain OF the
prcdscr Texas Had Prevented 'he
popglot Crow of Ills Lifeboat From
Nurdcr and Cannibalsm-Three OF
,hc survivors Have Reached rhis Port

Three SURVIVORS OF Tue gam sVoi'
l.ajge- Texas. which foundered on Christ
,,, about $50 miles northeast of tho
I ,,,es while on voyage from Dantzig
Galveston. arrived riav rom
,i,ornool aboard the tuu.u" 4nar Etruria.
Tso mai. and nineteen Of the crew of the
i,odger were lost by the swapping Of the
o..rhoord lfeboat, and one Of thirteen
man who left the sinking craft in the port
u,.t,,at died insane from exposure and
''o-yo,io, Tie experience of the thir-
,.a, VA. Of the old fashioned. narrowing
lind. not uncommon before the waste OF
soas was divided into thoroughfares for
tho great Noet5 OF the world.
can't i. A Mnot was the only native
american aboard the Texas. The rest
a the crew we're picked mp at Dantzig
.nd rsprcsented almost every nationality
=, Europe. There was also n Maori among
hon, The three men who got here yes
,oriay ale Olaf Haga Norwegian. Peter
c,r,.,l, Italian. and Hans Petersen,
name ail able seamen Haga, who speak KS
ro,lisb better than the others. told the
story Of the wreck.
The Texas sailed from Dantzig on Now
%. She had all sorts of trouble and was
full Of water
IN Christmas eve Il was decided to aban-
don hcr ~ 10 o'clock that night the
,tirrer vino is CO years old, took the lee or
oo-t Nfchoat with twelve men. and the
mate who was young and vigorous, with
nineteen Of the crew. including two boys,
launched the weather lifeboat The skip
psr's boat cleared the side of tho wreck
without mshap. but the other boat was
smashed or upset Immediately.
The skipper had thrown small cask of
water ana a bag OF biscuit into his boat.
INIT he had no compass, and was forced to
steer in the primitive way by the stars.
The boat had small mast and he set II up.
.nread a blanket for a sail, and started
Town the wind toward the coast of Portugal,
hoping 10 fail in with some vessel when
daylight came. The seas were heavy
and all h, lis Crouched in the boat.
No smoke nor sail was seen when the sun
rose and after night set in the ewes of the
watchers could detect no moving lights.
II looked as II the commerce Of the world
had gone out Of business. The sea went
Gown next day, but there were still no signs
al ships Then the sky clouded and the
wind came bowling out of the east The
skipper unrhipped his mast and, making
using i az a drag TO keep the boats head
M TO the sea. Water came aboard con-
stantlv. Tho gale continued three days
and all hand except one, who did the bail
Ing. Law low in the boat TO keep her from
capsiz!ng,
soon be exhausted II he did not use II spar
ngly and after the second day he allowed
each man one biscuit and one pony of
water dav No two men were permitted
10 stand III the boat at one time. Each
took his turn by order Of the skipper in
getting M and stretching himself The
hands and feet Of every man We're swollen
and sore with salt water boils. There
we're always three men on lookout night
and day for signs Of smp.
On the fifth day the Maori went crazy
and the lookouts AT night began To see
phantom ships. The last drop of water and
tho last biscuit were consumed on the sixth
DAY.
That day the Maori died. Hansen
Norwegian seaman. went mad and pro-
posed that the Maori should be eaten. He
had a sheath knife and d condensed milk
can ana declared that he would draw on
the dead seanan's blood
The skipper who was 50 crippled with
hois that he could hardly stir. but retained
his mental vig0T ordered Hansen's mates
n oyerpower him and tie him to a thwart.
The easierly wind had gone down, the sea
had fallen to gentle swell and the weather
had become warm. 10 that the men could
move about the boat wlthC$t endangering
their lives. Hansen was overcome quickly,
as he was too feeble to make much resist-
snce and the Maorl's body was thrown
overheard.
The thirst NJ the men had grown intense,
and they began to drink salt water, against
the advice OF the skipper Before the
eleventh day, Haga says, every. man m
the boat except the skipper and himself
vas crazy. Even the skipper was mprose
and sometimes SwOre at the men. A Ger
man proposed that Hansen should he killed
end eaten to save the lives of the rest Of the
boat crew The skipper said.
Le' the man die first When he is dead
rol may ca, what YOU please Of him, but
there must be- no murder
Why didn't YOU keep the dead one.
them demanded the German Of the skip
Der He got no answer
There were four oars in the boat. and
he men took turns AZ them, the skipper
steering. All who We're not rowing fell TO
curSng those who were. asking why in
hell they did not row faster Most Of the
swearing was in broken English, but some
Nasin the particular language Of the swearer,
and Haga recognized little Of IL Nobody
prayed or thought ~ praying They just
looSed hangriy at one another and argued
rIlh the SKIPPER urging him 70 give the
9tier n hill the crazy Norwegian and eat
mn. But the skipper was obduTate.
AZ last, on the thirteenth day. the men
dedoed that they would draw lots to decide
Vho should die 10 save his fellows. The
eNppsr did not consent 10 the proposition
olt ne ~as power.ess % prevent il.
just then came the miracle Of n sail.
vfasoia. the Italian who was standing in
we bow scanning the horizon, saw it. At
m't NE skipper thou .ht Il might be another
.. the many mirages Of craAed fancy.
tef
The sailors at the oars rowed as hard as
they could toward the little white
epeck OF canvas. The speck grew larger
ena hnaily hloomed into a hrigantine under
az san. The castaway- grew hysteriCal
them
ohe was tie Mercedes. Italian, Of Lvomo
~ she came 50 close alongside the boat
liA' Glras0.a feebly hailed the captain in
~ own tongue The men in the boat who
NY NY able TO sit up Rugged one another
~ cred Not ono was able 10 climb
o-4'u the In gantine without help, and
sone, who were unconscious were lifted
over her nail
:. ne captain If he Mercedes first gave
~ lalnl7hed men water. After an interval
10y got soup made Of canned beef. Sew
10 ,Iours later the steamship Zeno, bound
~ waterford came along, and the Mer-
,uss transferred the shipwrecked men
- yer They were landed at Waterford
a. AZ van II and sent 10 the hospital there.
g., covered their mental balance quickly.
vIug SKIPPER was still IN the hospital