Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-04-14
SEARCH FOR JEFFs
Details OF Uncle Sans Attempt
to Find Missing Ameri-
can Sailor.
ONLY A FEW TRACES FOUND
Yankton's Men Believe Galapagos
castaway Perished Miserably on
interchangeable Island.

The United States gunboat Yankton,
tender to the Atlantic battleship feet,
was sent from Caliao to the Galapagos
islands to search for missing Amer
lean sailor, one Fred Jeffs. The infor-
,, nation furnished was of the most mea.
ger description, only that Jeffs was
member of the crew of the Norwegian
bark Alexandra, wrecked in the Gala
pages in May. 1907, that he separated
from his companions on Indefatigable
island and that when they were res
cued in October of the same year at a
place called Puerto Aguado, given as
| in latitude 46 minutes south, longitude
| 80 degrees 20 minutes 80 seconds west.
Jeffs was not with them. He had
| therefore been nearly year on indie
fatigable island If alive.
The distance to the Galapagos was
| covered in four days, and Hood island,
| the most southern of the group, sight
ed at noon on March 3, says a special
| correspondent of the New York Her
aid on board the Yankton, writing
from Acapulco, Mexico. Previous to-
sighting land great quantities of sea
| life, for which the vicinity of these
islands is noted, and numerous birds
testified to its nearness.
| In order if possible to gain informa
| ton about the wreck. Chatham island.
where there is settlement, was first
visited Anchoring in Wreck bay,
| messenger on horseback was found
waiting on the beach with the COM
plirnents of the local authority, the
administrators" and a polite inquiry
! if any assistance could be furnished.
The inhabitants of this island num-
Der about $50, all dependents of sin
gle estate and mostly engaged in the
cultivation of sugar. cotton and tobac
co. The estate lies in the hills and
valleys on the southern slope of the
island in the only place where water
is obtainable Water is the need of
all this group of islands. and the lack
of it is the keynote of their barren
wastes and cactus covered slopes. The
shores of all consist of black volcanic
rocks and cliffs, with here and there
in sheltered spot sandy beach The
Islands. rising In most cases to 5000
or 1000 feet. have their slopes covered
with a giant growth of cactus min
Cling with thorn, which made prog
ress back from the shore impossible
without cutting a way.
Two guides sent by the administra-
dor arrived on board the Yankton at
daylight, and the course was shaped for
lndefatigable island, thirty-five miles
distant. The story of the wreck as
told by the guides was interesting.
Their Information was from a part of
the crew which had landed on Chat
ham island and from the captain of
the island schooner, who had heard the
wrecked captains story OF Guayaquil.
The bark was becalmed near Able
marie island and swept by the strong
current found in these islands ashore
under a cliff. where she soon went to
pieces. The crew escaped In two boats,
one with ten men, the other with the
captain and seven men. During the
night the boats became separated, the
boat with the ten men reaching Hood
island. and then, seeing Chatham island
in the distance, they reached 1t. found
1t inhabited and told their story The
administrator forwarded them by the
islands schooner to Guayaquil with q
/, letter to the consul