The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-17
PENNEY TELLS OF HIS RESCUE Master of Foundered Mobile Schooner. HE VISITS MONTGOMERY Emma B. Cottingham Lost in Gulf
 Partly Owned Here. Six Members of Crew Were Drowned and Captain Drifted on wreck
 age Until He was Picked
 Up.

I yesterday stopped in Montgomery on his way home to Mobile The vessel was partly owned by W. s. Mattel of Montgomery.
 Buffeted by wave and wind for more than eight hours after his ship went down. Captain Finney fought for his life Seated on one end of bit O, | wreckage, exposed to the fury of the clements. his support more than hali
 submerged. and himself forced to cling to the raft in the struggle for exis- tence, the brave man still hung on in the unequal contest. Above him was
 the anger of the tempest, about him l'the onslaught of the sea. and beneath
 the ocean, one thousand leagues deep. | Scarcely a ray of hope came to the
 sailor as he lay fighting for life on
 his frail support. His ship had gone
 down. Of the crew of seven men all | had sunk with the vessel save two, ynd
 the waves had separated these two
 from each other. The only possibility | of escape lay in a chance vessel pass ing that way.
 | And yet, under all these adverse conditions, the man kept up brave heart. Thought of the ones at home,
 left without support If he should die
 nerved him. Faith in an Almighty presence gave nim courage. The one ship in a thousand for which he prayed passed. It left him behind. too far
 away to hail, too far away for him
 to be seen. Tn his extremity, Captain
 Finney prayed for help His prayer
 was heard. and rescue came.
 Six Men Lost Lives. The Emma Cottingham, at the time of the disaster was laden with sup | : nf from Miami to Key West, and was
 bound from Mobile to the Florida Keys. On the morning of Sunday. June 10. the vessel went down in the Gulf of Mex | leo Of the seven men on board, Cap | tain Finney was the only one saved One of the crew was seen by him in a boat for several hours after the | wreck, but he has not been heard from since. and probably went down in the gale.
 The captain of the Emma Cotting- ham managed to find refuge on piece of wreckage. Here he hung until talk en off some hours alter by the crew of the four-masted- schooner Thomas B. Dennison, of Mobile, bound for Tampa | Arriving in that port, he at once sent l word to his family, and to w s. Naftel. of Montgomery, who, with Dr. Cobo, or | CTS of the lost vessel.
 | Yesterday Captain Finney stopped in | Montgomery. on his way from Tampa | to Mobile He spent the day here, In conference with MT. Naftel, leaving last | night for the Gulf City. Notwithstand- | ing the trying experience of the strom
 he looked little the worse for the ter ribIe ordeal through which he had pass | ed. That he lived through 1t at all he ascribes to the kindness of Divine
 Providence which guarded him through | the storm.
 In an interview yesterday Captain Finney gave a graphic account Of his fight while on the raft, after the sink
 ing of his vessel.
 A Fight With the Sea. l "I was utterly alone he said, "so
 far as physical companionship goes, on
 a bit of wreekage, resting partially on a submerged skiff all but one end or which was eight inches under water The rails of the boat were under wa ter, and as we drifted hundreds of fish | swan constantly about me, and between
 my legs, while tho rolling and tumbling
 breakers pelted me in the breast every few minutes.
 Tt was only after hard and careful effort that I had been able to secure my position, and make the condition of my skiff reasonably safe from be- ing rolled over by the break and tum- ble of the sea. After awhile became used to it, and by keeping motion with my body was able to koep my refuge steady and to sit up with little ease. Until I could do this, I was too busy
 with my struggle for existence to take more than a casual glance at my sur roundings.
 You must remember that much of | the time the waves were washing over me and filling my mouth and eyes In spite of my efforts to prevent 1t. | had come to realize before this. how ever, that there was only one survivor besides myself. A sailor got a good position on a yawl boat. and 1t looked possible at that time that he would drift as long as hunger and thirst
 would permit. As there were a thous-
 and fs thoms of water whore the vessel
 went down, and she was sure to col lapse when she reached a sufficient
 depth, he was in some danger from the
 rapid rise of the fragments to the sur face. If any of these should collide
 with his refuge, he would surely be
 sunk, for his support did not drift away
 from the spot as did mine.
 In the Fncc of Death,
 Tn some way l seemed to feel the hand of Divine Providence in moulding the conditions and progress of my It,
 tie raft, and I never felt more cool and
 resigned Tn my lire than l did when
 unde- those trying circumstances. Of course none but person who believed
 in God could have felt the faith which animated me at that time. fully realized that vessel might pass with in half a mile of me and never sec me
 and that probably no vessel would come within even that distance of where I was floating. Even If seen, indeed. the chances of rescue in such a sea vvero very slim
 T finally lost sight of the other sur- vivor. and it was not until about four hours later that l saw a sail in the dis. tance. It was approaching me. four
 or five miles to windward and I had
 small hope or being seen. She came
 on, and although I still did not feeI hopeful. it was good just to see inc
 sail My only hope at that time was
 in their seeing the other man. and of
 his telling them of me The ship final ly passed by. I uttered a prayer. Father. I said, Make that vessel turn to leeward.' Not five minutes la
 ter she turned. and then I felt hone rise in me, as felt sure they would
 see the other man. They were stiIl
 two miles to windward of me, and passed on about three miles And
 then I prayed again.
 Father, make that vessel turn again. Trouble 1t so that 1t must turn again Shortly atterward she com
 menced to turn. and to come toward me straight as a bullet.