The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-10-17

from skyscraper window upon the
rushing commerce of the harbor. and
while the orderly drone of hug busi
ness office sounded in tho background
he told me a tale that smacked Of
primal savagery.
One roaring day. ms his ship was tear.
ing through the drift ice off Cape
NavariiH-a breathlcss day, when there
were two ice pilots IN the crow 'snest.
third on the bowsprit and the entire
crew on deck ready 10 wear or tack
ship at moments warning-the cap
tain mado out a thin column of smoke
ut point on the barren Siberian shore,
and the binoculars revealed waving
signal and, perhaps, Il man. who ran
frantically back and forth, and waved
his arms.
"Castaway. said the captain. la
conically, and turned his attention 20
tho ship There was no possible way
Of reaching the shore, and with that
point settled their minds returned TO
their own imminent danger-all save
the mind of the young passenger 20
whom the strange sights OF the Arctic
were new. He could not blot from his
memory the picture Of that helpless
human on the bleak shore Of 4 desert
land
Some months later, while at anchor
in the Behriug sea, the ship was visited
by natives, who came ont in their kyaks
90 trade. One Of them, an old deer
man. rendered skin-covered packet
with much ceremony and demanded to-
bacco in Immediate exchange.
Upon opening the packet thev found
inside q square Willow board with let
tcrs rudelv carved on each side. and af-
ter some study, they made out the fol:
lowing:
!" 1857. J. B. V. Bk. Nap. Tobac-
CO give.
5. W. @. Nap. NJ 10. Help come.
~ figured, - said my narrator. Mr.
II. s. AIdrich. "thst the letters of the
lower line meant 'Tcn miles southwest
Of Cape Navarin. and since this was
the point at which we had sighted the
castaway il was ndoubtcdly d call for
help from the poor fellow. He had
given il to the native TO deliver to the
first ship that could he reached. prom
ising. rs tho words IN the first line in.
dicated, that the bearer would receive
tobacco in exchange.
"Thc letters Bk. Nap. ! could not
understand, until suddenly the skipper
called out: 'Jehosophat' That must
mean the Ozark Napoleon. Captain
Sam Smith. wrecked in 1887. two yeaIs
ago! They took 10 the boats and only
fourteen were rescued, Captain Sam
among en-. Two boats werc never
heard from This fellow must be the
| only survivor
Their Terrible Experience.
''This explanation Of tho skipper S
! left only the initials =. B. " unac,
counted for. This evidently was the
castaway's s name aud so We afterwards
learned il was-.James B. Vincent, OF
Edgartown, Mass. the boat steerer, or
! ice pilot, ot the Inflated bark
''We lost no time in imparting the
news 20 every ship in the whaling fleet,
with instructions 10 get in touch. if
possible. with the revenue cutter Bear
under Captain Ticaly. then patrolling
! the Behring sen,
| "Captaiu lIcaly finally got the mes.
/ sage and rcsnccd Vincent. Later ] met
him and also Captain Smith aud got
their stories from their own lips Both
are chiefly remarkable for their brcv
! ity. But The imagination can partly
! picture their terrible experiences. and
! could YOU have met Vincent YOU would
realizo easily what n horrible expert
cuce he had undergone,
Said Captain Sam: 'Thcrc was ;
terrible blow on Nav > and we hovr
TO the ship, being unable TO keep :
! stitch Of canvas on her. Two day,
later we stove on a sharp foe auo
the men came ont of the foe sic, say
ing tho ship was full of water anC
sinking fast,
"'I kept her near the edge Of thc
ice so that we could clear away ia,
boats. Ten minutes after we got then