Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-12
THE CASTAWAY DEPOTS.
Food and Other Provisions Cached
for Shipwrecked Sailors.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
The rescue Of the crew OF the British
freight steamship Parisiana by trans
port from the Island OF ST. Paul in the
Indian ocean calls attention to one of the
wise but little known provisions made
for the shipWrecked upon the less tray
eled portions Of the sea. st. Paul is one
Of the depots for castaways established
on the islets of southern waters, and from
the supplies that had been stored there
the thirty-two sailors subsisted with Aome
comfort for three weeks until the trans
port was sighted.
Upon this same little island thirty-one
of the crew of the Holt Hunt were cast
in the later sos Their suffering from
hunger and cold was intense. Their SUBJ
sistence for almost month was on pen
gums and Holsters that they caught
Several of the men died. and those that
were rescued were weak and emaclatec.
The sufferings of caStaways in such IN
stances as the loss of the Hunt and sew
eral other merchantmen at about the
same time led to the present international
system of refugees.
Special attention was at first paid to the
establishment of depots on the unlnhablt-
ed islets of the lone southern ocean be-
tween the meridians of the Cape OF Good
Hope and New Zealand. On Amsterdam
a cavern was utilized, on kergueien a
cave in the cliffs. and on st. Paul rough
stone hut was built. On Possession
Island of the CroZet group supplies were
stored by the British warship Comus for
fifty persons for fifty days, and on Hog
Island similar provision was made by
q French vessel. The cache consisted In ca IN
of these cases of about the same articles:
Preserved beef, biscuits, wooden shirts,
blankets, matches. dry wood. cooking
utensils and cots. Precautions We're taken
to preserve these things by packing them
in sealed tins The British examined their
stores on Possession Island seven years
after they had been planted ana lounu
them all in disable condition.
The refugees are not confined, however.
to this part of the globe. Several Islands
| off New Zealand have been made into
depots. These. on account OF their near
ness to supply stations. are visited Twice
| a wear At Slfeidara Sands. on the south
coast OF Iceland, d refuge is established
/ on conspicuous hill. Here are stored
provisions Ind clothing, and also direc'
] tons i'll five languages for reaching the
! nearest habitations of man. There are
| refugees at the entrance to the Strait OF
/ Magellan and depots with provisions al
| Cape Beale lighthouse and Carmanagf
4 lights on the coast of Vancouver Island.
/ The location of these depots is published
| at maritime centers. and list of them
with directions for finding the stores, j:
! furnished the masters of vessels. Besides
| there are signs placed on the ISLANDS az
guides to the caStaWayS. Inc nut at St
| Paul bears this legend, which was placed
| there by men of the Eure in 1898: ViVres
ct Vetements pour Marriages The de
struction of these guide posts by winds
| and rain has at times entaiied consider
| able hardships. The Norwegian sealing
schooner Catherine was cast ashore or
| one of the Crozet islands in December
i 1906, and the captain, believing that al
| would die of starvation unless he could
| reach port, set out with two of his mer
| in an open boat for Melbourne. Soon after
| his departure those remaining found sup
plies that had been left in 1880. They
were all taken off the island in gooo
! health before the captain had reached
| his destination. The crew of the Spirit
! of the Dawn, wrecked off the AntlpodeS
| Island, were found in a starving condi
| ton, and their reScuers uncovered on the
spot where they had been camping foi
/ three weeks stores that might have sus
| tanned them i'll comparative comfort fol
| two months
4 These castsway depots, which have
/ grown with the increase of commerce ane
/ with the desire to ameliorate the condition
| OF the sailors on the little travelled routes
/ of the sea, have in many more instances
4 than in the Wrecking of the Parisians
/ proved their usefulness. The plans FOL
4 the increase of the number of refuge:
seem only justice to a great body of mer
who imperil their lives for the business o.
/ the world.