Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-14
PHOSPHATE KING
ON LONELY ISLE
John ARUNDEL SUFFERS WILD
LIFE HARDSHlPS
MAGNIFICENT YACHT GOES ON
ROCKS
MuItimillionaire, After Robinson
crusoe Experience in South
Seas, Is Rescued by
Wireless
Especial to The Herald.l

PASADENA, Jan. 13.-In spite OF
his millions, John Arundel, phosphate
king and multimillionaire, suffered
all the hardships of wild life with na-
tfves on a rockbound isle Of the Pa
cific a few weeks ago when his million
dollar yacht went down. All the facts
concerning the remarkable adventure
Of the man who controls the phosphate
beds of the world have been concealed
until today, when. after the departure
Of the Arundel party from the Hotel
Green. a friend told Of the exciting
episode. an episode which rivals any
thing from the pen of Robert Louis
Stevenson.
John Arundel of London, New York,
Paris and the world in general has
vast phosphate beds in all parts OF
the world His life is mostly spent on
the sea, where until his terrible ad-
venture he has sailed in his mag
uificent yacht, boat with every COM
fort and luxury and almost as large
as a great transatlantic liner. Some
months ago he purchased from the
French government some small ISLANDS
southeast of Tahiti, and then decided
that he would take a trip in ms ne"
yacht to inspect his possessions. Nheh
The Yacht, upon which we're Mr.. Arun-
deTs two daughters, themselves born
on one Of his islands, and his sister.
reached the larger of the group OF
islands it was discovered that the
coast was uninviting, great clins e1-
tending far down into the sea- pre-
venting a landing in the darkness. In
water half a mile deep the anchor was
dropped. and there. almost in the
shadow of the cliffs, the great yacht
lay for the night.
Vessel Swept on Rocks
shortly after darkness came, up
sDrang a heavy wind. The machinery
was started to keep the boat head on,
when something went wrong Thrown
hack upon her cable. this only means
Of safety gave way. and the costly
vessel was swept against the inhos-
uIta ble rocks. Shortly after she struck
ii was seen she could not be saved,
and so, without even the necessities
Of life. the Arundels and the members
of the crew put off from the yacht IN
the small boats and succeeded in fore
ing a landing through creyice in the
rocks.
on the following day while explor-
ing the island the party encountered
some friendly natives. With them they
made arrangements to share the huts
on the island and the crude food which
the spot provided. In a few days one
of the small boats was QUILTED for a
desperate attempt to bring help from
some passing ship.
Wireless Message Sent
In this frail craft five members OF
the crew put to sea. and after week
we're fortunate enough to fall in with
a large steamer with wireless tele-
graph equipment. With the wireless
apparatus a message was dispatched
TO San Francisco. from which port one
of the Arundel steamers was sent to
rescue the marooned party. and so help
finally arrived, after the Arundels had
spent several weeks in the native huts
and eating the native food
The phosphate king from the start
exerted every effort to keep the story
secret, and so far as is known has
succeeded in so doing, until today,
when a friend to whom Arundel had
told the story repeated It. The phos-
phate king feared that IL the story
were, to become public before his
safety was assured it might affect the
financial world, ana after he had kept
it secret so long he decided to continue
Ia do so.