Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-03-07
Ten Men -Four Days with
Little Food or Water.
Adrift on Afterhouse Of Their
Waterlogged Vessel.
Captain and Crew Of Ahhie and Eva Hooper
Badly frost-biiien.

| Boston, March Ga narrative of eX-
| trenHe hardship at sea which included
| exposure for four days with little food
I or water as they chung to the after
house of their water-logged vessel, was
! given today by the captain and crew Of
| the schooner Mary Manning, who were
brought TO this port by the British
| steamer CaSilda. When rescued Sun
| day evening the 10 seamen were in
| state of exhaustion from their terrible
I; experience. For four days they had
| been crOuching upon the after house OF
the vessel, struck by powerful seas and
| living only on canned corn and a small
| quantity of water which had been res
| cued from the store room before that
| part vi the vessel became filled with
| water.
! The Casilda picked up the crew of the
| Mary Manning 1G0 miles south by east
| OF the Nantucket south shoals light
ship. The Manning then was helpless
| derclict, with her crew huddled upon
| the Spanker boom, upon which they
| had taken refuge when the after house
| had been crushed away several hours
before.
| The Mary Manning was Z fOur-mast-
| ed schooner and was bound from Fer
Aandina, Fla, for New York, with
| cargo of yellow pine railroad ties. She
sailed from Fernandina, Feb. II and
| six days later ran into such a strong
| northwest gale that it caused the lee
| section of the decklOad of ties to be
| cast adrift. In the height of the cleo
trical storm which accompanied the
| 10Th tnin CT a hOOm
and snapped it into the sea, together
| with the 1nainsail and the forestry sail.
| The two small boats We're reduced to
| splinters by the powerful seas and by
Wednesday practically all the Mary
| Manling'S sails were in tatterS II not
entirely blown away.
| Although the greatest force of the
storm had been spent the sea became
more dangerous. The forward house
was stove in and great volume of wa
ter flooded the fire room. With the fires
extinguished the crew could no longer
overcome the inrushing water which
steadily flowed into the vessel until she
became water logged. On the same day.
the galley was crushed and all the
stores with the exception of some cam
ned corn. lost. A barrel of beef and
pork was in the hold, but although
some of the seamen tried to locate this
by diving into the hold they were I'M
successful.
Gradually the Mary Manning settled
: in the sea. Unable to seek shelter I'M
der the deck the lives of the crew were
constantly imperilled by the deck load
of floating ties. Exhausted and des-
| perate the ten sailors were slowly
driven to the roof of the after house,
taking with them their small amount
of provisions and water
From early Thursday morning until
Sunday the exposed after house was
the only shelter the crew had until
Sunday noon, after the men had under
gone long days of suffering from hung
err and exposure the already deck house
broke into pieces and the seamen made
their way to the spanker boom where
when they We're rescued by the Casilda.
The last seen of the Mary Manning she
was drifting with every probability
that she would soon sink.
Captain Elias Burr was in command
Of the vessel. His home is in SilvertOn,
N J. When the crew of the schooner
were taken on board the Casilda careful
treatment was administered and when
the steamer arrived in port today the
wrecked sailors. though still weak from
their experience, were greatly improved
in condition.
| Captain Burr places the value of the
, Mary Manning at $4,000 with partial in
| surance. The schooner was owned in
Perth Amboy, N. J., and was built at
Camden, Me- in 1894 Her gross tonnage
was 1893 and her net 1880 Her length
, was 30 feet, breadth Al feet and depth of
, hold 1877 feet. Tho Caslda was bound
, from South American ports for Boston
| with a cargo of hides and wool.
After the crew Of the Mary Manning
had been landed here it was learned that
one of the 10 men on board was a passen-
ger This was Joseph Roony of 637 West
2Gth street, New York City, who had been
| employed at Fernandina and who was on
his way to New York to see his parents
who had been taken ill.
| 1t appears also that n striking act OF
heroism had been performed by one Of
the crew before the rescue by the Casilda
Driven to delirium by suffering. Joseph
Arle of Waretown, N. j., the mate of the
Manning. jumped into the sea from the
spanker boom Sunday afternoon. A Nor
wegian sailor, Ingrebred Gjerteen, who
had received a broken rib and severe
! bruises by the shifting cargo. at once
dived for the mate and succeeded in
bringing him to the stern of the schooner
from which place the sailors dragged
them aboard. The engineer and steward
of the schooner were John Clayton and
M. ]. Murphy, both of New York City.