The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-11-08
IASTAWAYS LEAP TO DEATH
I've Only Could Stand Privations Of
Five PeriIous Days.
FIVE PERISH ON RAFT AT SEA

The Schooner Van Name s. King Was
Beaten to Pieces by q Gale and Six
Mcn Lost Thoir L~ives-Plunge Into
Sen in Their Madness-TerribIe Suf.
fering OF Cape Lookout.
Boston, Mass.-A typical North At
lantic shipwreck tale, in which eight
seamen suffered s fearfully from e1-
posure, hunger and thirst that six
Of them either died outright, were
washed away, or, crazed by their fear
full experience, hurled themselves into
the sea, was brought out by the two
survivors of the we'll known coasting
schooner Van Name & King, of New
Haven, which vas beaten to pieces by
a gale of the South Carolina coast
October 6.
The two men who lived through the
FIVE days and were rescued by the
schooner Stillman T. Kelly, which ar
rived here, are William Thomas and
William G.. Warner, both about TWEEN
ty-nine years old, six feet three inches
tall, hailing from Antigua, British West
Indies. The six who, one by one, sue
cumbed were: Captain William A.
Maxwell, Of New Jersey; E. A. Chase,
mate, home unknown; q German engi-
neer, name unknown; negro steward,
name unknown; William Grizell and
Alfred Arthur, negro seamen, both Of
Jamaica.
The Van Name G. King. which. has
been plying up and down the coast
since 1886, left Charleston. s. c., for
New York, on October 8 with a cargo
Of hard pine. Two days later she ran
into a heavy gale, and, after wallowing
about in the great seas for several
hours, sprang a leak. The pumps were
started, but within a short time the
engine room was flooded, and the
pumps choked.
At 8 o'clock on the morning of Octo-
Der @, with her hold nearly full Of
water, the little schooner was thrown
on her beam ends. The crew clam
bered up on the weather side and
dashed themselves to the bulwarks.
There they remained soaked to the skin
by every sea that broke mercilessly
over them all day, constantly on the
watch for some passing vessel.
That night the storm increased in
fury, and one great wave crashed
aboard, breaking Arthur's legs and
sweeping Grizell into the sea. Arthur's
companions could do nothing to ease
his sufferings, but when, on October
6, the schooner turned. completely over.
they managed to cut his lashings and
drag him on to a piece Of the after
house. It was several hours before
they were all huddled together on
their little raft. That night Arthur
died in the arms of Captain Maxwell,
and to relieve the overloaded raft his
body was dropped into the sea.
Sunday, October 8, a craft was sight
ed. but she passed by without needing
the little group of seamen. That night
the waves subsidized and a little rain
fell, which was caught in q tarpauli1
and brought slight relief. 1t was only
temporary, and not long after Chase's
mind gave way entirely and the craft
vas again 1lghteRed when be threw
himself into the sea. sc-s@.
Iuf next Vlctlm OIL Tue terrlnc Strdlu.
was Captain Maxwell, who on the fore
noon Of October 8 became violently In
sane, and followed his mates example.
The spectacle of two men voluntarily
throwing themselves into the sea
proved too much for the German en-
gineer, and a few hours after Captain
Maxwelrs. death the craft was light
ened for the fourth time, when the
crazed seaman jumped into the waves:
The last victim was the colored stew
ard, who died on the raft late Monday
night. His body was dropped over
board by the two remaining seamen.
Relief came twelve hours later, when
the schooner StilIman F. Kelly, bound
up the coast from Ceylon, Ga, to this
port, sighted the little raft and hove to.
Thomas and Warner had to be taken
off in sings, and for two days were un-
able to nov
The rescue took place off Cape Look
out, in latitude 1910 and longitude
1880. Each Of the rescued men lost
thirty or forty pounds in weight in
their five days exposure.