The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1911-12-07
TERRIBLE SUFFERING.
stowaway Spent Twelve Days Of Tor
ture in Ships Hold. ::

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ture in Ships Hold. =.
To have lived 12 days in the icy,
inky blackness of a ships hold with
| nothing to eat save raw potatoes,
with only rats for companions, and
to have been rescued only because
the foremost light of the ship on
which he was a stoWaway, refused
to work, was the soul-racking expe-
rience of Walter Purding, an Amer1-
| can, who reached Baltimore on the
Johnston Line steamer Ulstermore,
| Capt. Gowan, says the Baltimore
Sun.
| According to his story, when the
| Ulstermore was about to leave Liver
pool on November he gained the
consent of stevedore to stow away
in hatch No. 3. He said he chose the
hatch because it contained potatoes,
and he believed the ships cook would
release him the first day or two at
sea. But Capt. Gowan procured his
"spuds'' somewhere else, and the
cook came not. Hour by hour, Purd-
ing said, his hunger and thirst be-
came greater. He began to eat po-
tatoes, but in two days these pa1led
on him and he could eat no more.
Thirst then attacked him. Seeking
to relieve his agony he sucked the
steel sides of the ship, which reeked
with moisture, but with the drops OF
filthy water came the lead paint and
added to his sufferings.
Rats Nestled on His Breast.
When hunger began to weaken
him the weater became rough. Purd-
| ing says he was tossed about the
hold like the potatoes until every
fiber ached. The ship ran into the
vicinity of icebergs. Hail fell on the
sides of the ship and converted the
stowaway's quarters into a veritable
refrigerator. The prisoner said that
the rats in the hold nestled on his
breast and he did not fight them be-
cause they kept him warm. They
sought no blood or bone, but only the
warmth of his body. The stricken
ann said he petted them and beg
ged them to put an end to his misery,
but they sought only their own
comfort and semed to know that II
the purnace went out in the object
on which they were perched they
would have to seek comfort else
where.
Tried to Jump Into Ocean.
It was on November 6, the ship
being IL days out, when the fore
most light refused to work and it
was necessary to open hatch No. 8
to follow the wiring. Third Engln-
eer Potter entered the hatchway to
be surprised by figures hurling by
him toward the side of the ship.
Dropping his lantern he wrapped
both arms around the man and
brought him up. After he was re-
leased it was with difficulty that he
was kept from jumping into the sea
to slake his fiery thirst. Purding
was given a bath and food.
He related that he had gone on
the Vedamore from Baltimore as
cattleman to Liverpool. After knock
ing around that city, he was left
without food or friends. It was then
he sought the Ulstermore and found
experiences that have only parallel
in the noter maritiem tale "The
voyage III IQe DdTh.
Recalls Case of Eighteen Years Ago.
Purding's experiences recall the
case of man who got into the hold
of the British steamer William c.
Mitchell, which left Baltimore about
1S years ago for French port. The
man was found the 18th day out,
because the crew had said the ship
was haunted. The hatch was opened
and he made an almost superhuman
effort to reach the air. He received
medical treatment and recovered.
Like Purding, he thought that he
would be rescued, when several days
at sea. His reason for the trip was
the same as Purding s-homesick-
ness. His home was in Denmark.
When he reached France, the cap
tain of the Mitchell asked him how
he expected to get there. The man
replied that he was going to walk.
"Well,' replied the master, ANY
son-of-a-seacock that can live in the
hold of ship for II days and does
not die can do anything"
The man started to walk to Den
mark.
The New York Times says that the
holders of the repudiated bonds of
the Southern States issued during
carpet bag times have made arrange
ments with a South American Repub-
lie to sue the separate States for the
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