The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-01-31

| NNoAN " Scntts
From the time that the mates boa
cspsised, however, they were compellc,
to 20 on short rations, When II cam,
to food, there was not much trouble
In the first place the men did moi
feel much like eating, They were moi
hungry, il was more than. food they
wanted. Ii was relief of mind. But
when il came to water, that was an
other matter, That they must have
The following ration was allowed each
man per day; one-half pint of water,
one quarter of tin of salmon, two
biscuit, and ne-quarter of a tin of to-
matoes, OF bread there was plenty,
far more than was needed for the water
on hand, but when it came to water it
was different matter. Picture men
in the midst OF the ocean. the sun
beating down on them and allowed
only half pint, which was doled out
to them in portions three times each
| day.
Here came the rub, and from the
first four or five days on, there were
only two men who did not drink salt
water. From this the trouble arose,
which resulted in three men driving
themselves insane. AS one of the men
said; why, 1 drank bucketfuls oil
salt water. couldn't help it.
must have something. and that was
all that l could get.'
After the second day, when the
mates boat was capsized, there was
fine weather. but with sixteen men in
the little lifeboat, all were cramped
together and they suffered from lack
of exercise. All endured the hardship
well, taking what they had and max
ing the most of it. One man was de-
tailed to sleep on top of the water
keg all the time, with others to watch
him and see that he played fair. 1t
was a matter of life and death and no
one would be allowed to take advan-
tage of an opportunity to Stake his
thirst at the expense of his comrades.
Perhaps no such suggestion offered it
self TO the minds of the men, even if
it did, it was given no opportunity.
SO the days passed, each like the
other, and with the wind, aided by the
oars, bringing the raen in the boat
nearer and nearer to safety. Then
came the greatest strain of all. About
five days before the coast of Maui was
sighted a French sailor named Madec
Ysidore went insane. He had been
drinking salt water continually, and
it had proved too much for him.
Shortly afterward an American boy,
named Stanley Ennis, hailing from
New Bedford, also lost his mind, and
he was followed by Norwegian named
Pete Oleson.
All three were more or less violent
and seemed happy in their frenzy. The
Frenchman insisted on dancing,
though there was hardly room to turn
around, in the boat. This continued
till about eight o'clock last Saturday
morning. when the ship mentioned be-
fore was sighted. Ysidore was lying
beneath the thwarts of the boat at
the time, and when his companions an
nounced that there was vessel in
sight. he raised himself on his knees
and leaned over one Of the seats. No
particular attention was paid to him,
till the fact was apparent that the
small boat had not been seen. Then
it was discovered that he was dead.
Shortly after Ennis lapsed into a state
of coma. He died at about four O'Clock
that afternoon. At daybreak it was
noticed that Oleson was lying in a
strained position, and investigation
proved that he, too. had passed away.
The bodies of the dead men were
thrown overheard by their companions
and all waited for what might happen
next
Land was first sighted on Friday
evening by Andrew Holland, and was
a welcome sight, though 1t appeared
to be very far off, and was probably
the coast of Hawaii. The intention of
Captain Larsen was to Rake Kahului
or ,Hilo, but he was driven out of his
course by currents which were stronger
than he thought, and did not land
within many miles of the point for
which he started.
After the failure to attract the at
tention of the ship which was passed
on Saturday morning. the men once |
more started in with their work |
Though disheartened, and with a very
light breeze, which carried the vessel |
through the water at about three knots, |
they still had hopes and kept up their
courage.
Hama was finally reached early Mon
day morning, and the survivors of the
crew roUad the haaf cloudy mn ~ fhe