Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-08-04
ADR|FT WITHOUT
FOOD OR COMPASS
Schooner's Crew of Five Lay
Senseless on Deck When
Rescued.

New York. July sI-Drifting aim
lessly through the sea. a tiny red flag,
a signal of distress. flying from her
masthead, and with her crew of five
senseless on her deck. the little sloop
sunlight was sighted 225 miles ont
OF Barbados on July 25 by the Brit
ish steamship Ikals, bound from
Buenos Ayres for this port. The crew
was rescued and brought to this port
last night For days they had lived
on sugar and vinegar. and when the
British Consul returns them to Bar
BADGES they Will be hailed as returned
from the dead.
The Sunlight is wandering cargo
ca rricr between small ports on the is
lands of Antigua and Barbados Her
captain and owner is James Frank.
He had as crew George BENJAMIN
Robert Zeabers. a l1-year-old lad, and
the shippers two nephews, George
Frank. nine. and Cameron Frank, Il
years old. The trip from Antigua for
Barbados ordinarily takes two days.
The halls sighted the Sunlight
about 100 o'clock in the morning.
Capt. William Turner. noticing the
signal of distress. ran down to her.
The sight which met the eyes Of those
who looked down from the deck upon
the sloop brought home the terror OF
the sea. The sloop lay HOPELESS her
canvas Tapping in the light pufs OF
wind. Her master and his crew lay
fiat on the decks. There was no
water or food in sight. A boat was
lowered from the Ikalis, and the Ave
were carried from their vessel to the
steamship without much trouble in
the smooth sea.
| They were laid out on the deck, and for
more than an hour Captain Turner and
| his men worked over them before they
were restored TO consciousness, Then
| Captain Frank told the story of their
| fight for life without food or water, with
no compass and adrift on an unknown
| sea A few hours out of Antigua this
Sunlight had run into dense fog. This
lasted hours and then it lifted leavlnl
them with a leaking vessel and without
| their bearings.
| 1t was while sailing through the foe
that the soop began to leak. Hardly hat
| the vessel cleared the fog than n storm
struck her. The water broke over them
faster to keep her clear. AS wave afte
wave pounded her the supplies began Il
wash overheard In vain they tried I,
prevent them going There no tim
for that-it was continual pumping Il
keep the deck under them without
chance to save the other means for pro
longing life, When the weather cleare
and the sloop ran freer It was foun
that all that remained was sugar satu
rated with vinegar from a barrel whc
lad stayed dashed fast.
With the clearing of the weather tn
crew found they We're without com
pass, 1t had been washed overheard. S
there was nothing else for the men to d
but keep pumping and sail about with
out knowing where In the hope that som
one would see them.
ALL FELL FROM EXHAUSTION.
How long they had been unconsciou
when the lkalis came along they do no
know The food made them sick an
they We're overcome by exhaustion an
starvation One by one they dropped an
stretched themselves out to die,
II was the last man to give up" sal
Capt Frank. without a compass "
/
he track Of some passing vessel. Ever
minute until We fell to the deck we wer
constantly watching for signs of steam
or ! was at the wheel. and the las
thing ! remember was that every one wa
f wing about me dying. | guess keele
r over, too. for the first | remember wa
when | was brought to on the lkalis,
George BENJAMIN was TO have bee
: married when we got to Barbados. u
sweetheart thinks he is dead but l CUES
, ii is only an interrupted romance. ! poi
= toned out the vinegar soaked sugar fC
: each meal 1t was worse than takin
, medicine and toward the end OF our thu
f, teen days drift we had to force 1t dow
, It was sickening. but il was life.
suffered terribly for water. Rescue mu
have come Just in time.
The Ikalis took the sloop In tow II
, day after their rescue the crew said the
folt able to navigate II II provisions Wal
given to them. The boat was provision,
and Capt Frank was provided with
compass. The mon. refreshed al
strengthened. climbed back into the
small craft and sailed away.
II The Ikalis had hardly got ten mill
away when the red signal or distre
blinked to tho mast head of the Sunlig'
- again Capt. Turner turned his vess
- about and ran down to her. The storm
= sti aimed sioop was sinking. so the ere
again abandoned her. They reached Il
y deck OF the Ikalis as their craft sank