The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-11-09
CASTAWAY DRIFTS
50 DAYS IN BOAT
IN CARIBBEAN SEA
Spaniard Rescued After Expert
ence That Reads Like Vel
low Back Novel.

New York. Nov. IA man sun
scorched Spaniard cloaked in q heavy
blanket sat In the forecastle OF the
British frelghtship Ikaria and told
shiveringiy how he had been saved BY
the freighter from the blistering Carib-
bean after drifting 80 days In an ID
foot raCsShac.r,e fat bottomed boat.
The castaway is Juan Rodrigues. orig
inally Of Almeria. but until recsntly q
laborer on the Panama canal.
After giving up his job on the canal.
he went to Caracas. Venesuela. and
bought the fiat bottomed boat equipped
with q spritsai and one oar. and de-
cided to fish for a living. He had luck
In fishing and headed back for Caracas.
but an offshore wind that finally be-
came q gale drove him In northeaster =
ly direction ana his sail was carried
away.
Seas filled the boat. but he cleared
her somewhat by baiiing with his hat.
He had q carboy Of water and food
enough to last five days. When morn
Ing came he found no land In sight and
no sun. and. having no compass. did
not know which way to steer. He took
OF his shirt and made sail Of 1t and
placed his oar Just to keep himself
busy.
How He Kept Tins.
At the end OF the first day he cut q
notch In the gunwale of the boat with
his tackknife, SO he might not lose
track Of the time. This meant that IT
was September ~. as he had set out
pleasant weather the next day and
a school OF sharks paid him visit
romping around the boat and occasion
ally coming up under 1t with VOL
ence that nearly capsized 1t and sent
the Spaniard to his knees petitioning
the favorite saint of Almeria.
On the day Of the third notch. in the
gunwale, Rodriguez decided that he
would have to help providence bit by
putting himself on a diet.
He figured that he might be three
weeks adrift, and cut down his daily
bread allowance to mere mouthfu
and drank only a few mouthfuls OF
water. When the sharks and other big
sea creatures that frolicked too close to
the crazy little ship for his comfort
were out of the way he fished, having
saved his tackle, and landed some good
ones, which he ate raw. He added tC
his supply of water when 1t rained.
He wondered why In so small and
navigated sea as the Caribbean there
seemed to be SO few vessels afioat. Aft
err he had made the 10th notch he PAID
more attention than ever to his cruel.
TX, but also stuck steadily to his die
schedule. He slept at night and lin
tied himself to about three hours. HI
believes, so that he might have more
time to look out for ships.
Sits in Water logged Boat.
After a little blow the seams OF hi!
boat opened permanently, and no sa
| I'm water up to within nine inches o
the gunwale." On the days when tn,
! tropical sun was blazing, and that wa.
most Of the time. the upper part Of hi.
4 10 t~al
soaked In salt water. He exercised b!
using his paddle until salt water boil
made 1t painful for him to move at all
He said he prayed God to keep storms
away. and take care OF him.
He was feeling somewhat blue whel
he cut the 9th notch in the gunwal
calendar, as all his bread was gone ant
| day, and he caught and ate some fish
He began to suspect that navigation
In the Caribbean had ceased altogethe
when on October 26 at q. m, just af
ter he had cut the 30th notch, he saw
the smoke from the funnel of the Ikaria
The karia was In command at thi
time of Chief Officer j. T. Meethan, ant
he saw the fisherman five miles off tn
port bow, and headed for him. He wa
only a speck at first. and II he had no
swung his trousers he might have beef
passed. The chief officer later got hi
binoculars on Rodriguez. and that wa
when he changed his course. He mott
fed Captain Matthew Robertson. VIII
came out and saw the Spaniard haule
aboard.
He was helpless, having exhauste
himself completely In his effort to sig
nal for help. He was unable to tel
much about himself until severa, day
later. He said he did not know wher
he was or how far he had drifted. blu
was sure he was In the Caribbean
Chief Officer Meethan said Rodrigue
had covered probably 400 miles.