Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1911-06-26
Local Fishermen Are Swept
To Sea And Driven
By Winds
HAD ONLY 26 Fl. LAUNCH
H. 0. Ellison and E. B. Eric
son Have Thrilling Battle
With Waves

Saturdays Seattle papers contain
long story of dangerous trip that
befell H. o. Ellison and E. B. Erickson
OF Aberdeen. They were on a fishing
expedition at the mouth of Grays Har-
Dor and were swept to sea in their
little fishing launch. After being beat
en- about for several weeks they fin
ally landed at Hadley. The names do
not appear in the local directory, but
the 1910 directory includes one E. d.
Erickson, who was employed at the
Slade mills. He has not, however, been
| working for the past six months. The
story as it appeared in the Post-In-
| telligencer was as follows;
Blown QUITO to sea almost 500 miles
in 26-foot gasoline sloop, with death
from starvation and the angry sea
ever threatening them, beating for al
ost five weeks against living gales.
with almost nothing to eat, H. O. Eli
son and E. B. Erickson. two Grays
Harbor, Wash fishermen are here to
tell in explanation of their presence
in Alaska.
at appears that shortly after the
first of May the two men left Aber-
deem to 60 halibut fishing on the
banks off the mouth of Grays Har-
Dor in the little fishing launch North
land. They made a setting of their
gear, and the wind freshing. they
started to pull it again. Before they
had finished, however, the wind had
abandon their gear, and run for
shelter.
when this occurred they were
about 20 miles from land, and try as
they could for 4S hours, they could
make no headway against the gale,
but were driven steadily out to sea,
until they were probably a hundred
miles off shore.
! "By this time their supply of gaso-
line began to run low, and the wind
continuing to hold steadily in the
southeast, Ellison, who owned the boat
and had been to Western Alaska, de-
cided that they had better get their
sail up and see what they could do
toward striking the Alaskan course at
some point.
Turn To North.
with less than weeks full ra-
tions of grub on board the men raised
their mainsail, the bow of the boat
was turned northward and the voy-
age of whose ending neither man
could form any idea, was begun. For
two weeks they struggled onward,
fighting the huge seas steadily to keep
the little boat afIoat, until fate swung
them into the course of a Victoria
sealing schooner, the Thomas F. Bay
ard, which they boarded.
They related their story to the
men on the Bayard, and the latter
supplied them with food for couple
of weeks or so, gave them their posi-
with a chart of the lower Alaskan
coast, but so old was the latter docu-
ment that it gave but a vague idea of
the harbors, entirely emitting any
mention Of Ketchikan.
Wind Swings Around.
1T was an American chart, but had
been transferred with the vessel when
she went under the British flag, and
bore the name of Capt. Blackstead,
1850 Fernwood Road, Victoria. At the
time the men came up with the schoon-
er, she was about 500 miles north
west of the lower end of Vancouver
island. BY this time the wind had
swung around more to the south and
Ellison was of the opinion that with
the aid Of the information he had
gotten from the Bayard he could make
the Alaskan coast, so they struck out
again.
For several days the wind hung in
the south, and the Northland made
fine progress before it, but when her
crew were beginning to figure out
when they could expect to raise land,
their old enemy, the southeaster,
sprung up again, and their struggle
was renewed, so far out to sea they
We're swept again.
Nerve Racking at Night.
1