The sun., 1910-01-31
YARN OF THE M'FADDEN SPUN
STOUT OLD SCHOONER DIDN'T
FOUNDER AFTER ALL.

saw Ii LOst-but the Men Are safe.
The four masted Yankee schooner
George 4. McFAdden did not vanish
permanently in the suds OF Diamond
Shoals o0 Hatteras. when her skipper
and kzs eight men were swept from her
cNnging to the top OF her deckhouse on
. - thursday morning. She was a stout
Old Maine built oaken clipper and she
resisted the hammering OF the engulfinR
breakers so well, although she did dis
ppear momentarily beneath them, that
sbe was able. with the help OF an offshore
gale, to work herself into the steamship
track, where she was passed on Thursday
evening. fifteen miles north by east OF the
spot where her skipper supposed she had
j ad her bones. ..
The steamship Cienfuegos, in yester-
day from Tampa, saw her Capt. Cam
pion OF the Clenfuegos says that the dere-
hct was only partly submerged. Her
stem was well out of water and part of
her nameboard was visible. Parts of
her masts. booms and gaffs were floating
above her. She Is a menace 10 naviga-
tors, particularly at night. D.
With the arrival OF the news of the
masterless schooner's cruise supported
b. her cargo came Capt. Meader, her
former skipper and part owner, and his
men by the Savannah liner City Of Atlanta
Allnarvelled at the luck of the stanch old
ship in getting of the shoals and the
skipper himself said he believed she had
left part OF her keelson in the embrace
| Of the sand.
Able Seaman Edmond Roscoe of Tor
rington. Conn. who shipped at Jackson
vile, and who takes happy view OF
accidents by food. spun the yarn of the
McFadden as il he had prepared it for
print. When she was two days out she
ran into heavy southeaster which ripped
several sails from the bolt ropes. She
vent in and anchored under Point Look
out, south Of Hatteras, and bent new sails
and fshed the fore gar, which had been
split.
On Tuesday morning she stood out to |
sea-. On Wednesday night it set in thick |
and the wind came bowling out Of the |
southeast. Second Mate August John |
son was at the wheel steering the course !
set by the skipper before he turned in |
The schooner was under reefed fore, main, |
mizzen and jieger sails and carried three
headsails. The lookout forward shouted /
Breakers ahead" at about 2 o'clock on /
thursday morning and before the man at /
the wheel could put his helm over the l
ship hit the shoal
S.'The skipper rolled out of his berth. |
boots and all, and went out on deck He
saw the hopelessness of the situation and |
set the ensign in the miZzen rigging union
down. Before he could get at his night
signal the breakers were piling aboard
and al hands made for the jigger rigging.
The schooner pounded across the first
shoal onto another. The boom and gan
e Of the reefed sail on the jigger mast
: t'hreshing wildly athwartships threatened
disaster or death 10 the men in the shrouds
Ihey could not get on deck to let tue
hai!lards go, so they hacked at them
alott with sheath knives until they
parted. The headsails were torn to rib
oons by the gale and the fore, main and
nlzzen booms were smashing things
iorward OF the perch Of the sailors. IL
second Mate johnson, who is elderly,
to ok what Roscoe called a hell of a
dance dodging the seas that came o q
aboard lnterInittently and made his way 6
forward, cutting away the halliards Of
the fore. main and niizzen sails and bring I
ng tattered canvas and spars on deck. +
~ got rack TO the jigger rigging unhurt !
TO the wonder OF bis shipnpates.
At dawn the masts began TO 60 The {
only visible part of the ship below the v
men on the ratlines that gave them hope :
was the top Of the after deckhouse. abaft r
70 fall. II toppled gradually and rested a
tor time on the top Of the deckhouse. [
All hands had slid down the shrouds and 2
boarded the top Of the deckhouse. There
vere Iingbolts on the roof, and through
iaese the men passed lines, lashing thcm-
selves. Those who had no lashinge
clung TO those who had. One seaman .
was swept off by a sea before he had made
last - a shipmate. but friendly breaker
carried him back within reach Of the =,
slippers hand and he was dragged to y
ss.ssty G
Nobody said anything while they were Ia
Waiting for a sea TO launch their life "
raft. The sea was a big one and in carry :.
i4g away the deckhouse top nearly cap a
slned Il, standing IL on edge a second or o.
50 and submergin3 half OF the castaways O.
Inc question now was how long would
the deckhouse hold outl new peril Ia
came in the planks and joists that had -
been deck cargo. They drifted with -
The wlrd. now driving seaward faster "a
than the raft, and began to ram it, The -
men who were l1shed stretched out their d
ieet and showed the lumber of at first, l.,
but II came from so many points and "a
there was so large a tumble Of IL that "
hnally the men used driftwood that ~
they could manage handily and poled the ~
tGeir coats by kneeling and stretching "a
them like wings across the raft and,
as Roscoe said. put two seas between r,
themselves and the threatening lumber.
ne wreck had been SO swift that the men
could save nothing to eat or drink AS
tE' day wore on they began to feel hun ca
CRY. \ small bucket Of pickles and a Al
urLlp drlfted within reach Of them and T.,
Were hauled aboard. There was a pickle ~ II;
tor each man and the turnip was divided II
INTO nine parts Most Of the crew was for "
eating everything right away The skip u
sNr said NO, save something for to- "a "a
morrow" at
Roscoe. A. g.. remarked: Captain. we OF
may not be here tomorrow"
think that's damned true" said the
skDper, and all hands fell to.
The seas had gone down somewhat. =.
nut they were still strong enough to rip ~ ~
oh the edges Of the raft. school Of a,
sharks surrounded the raft and looked ~
ln as If they thought that sailornen ~ ~
night be good eating. Some of the -,
men did not like the sharks expressions y,
ana put few dents in them with the ,,@
sherp ends Of planks W ''
IN the afternoon one OF the men sighted a.
a iarge onion TO leeward and an effort w w
" as made 10 reach il with the planks. ~s
! ms failed. Fear OF the sharks alone W.
prevented several Of the men making 'ei