Metropolis weekly gazette. (Metropolis, Ill.) 1???-19??, 1914-08-28
FOR THE CAsTAWAYs
Stations With Provisions Estab-
Ilshed on Lonely islands.
Most Extensive Of These Supplies Arc
Those Existing South Of the Liner
Track to Australia Via
the Cape.

That all expeditions whether arctic
or otherwise. place food depots with
In reach in case OF need Is of course
well known, but few people are aware
that there are certain rarely visited
islands and desolate coasts where
depots OF provisions and necessities
have been placed for the use of ship
wrecked crews. The most extensive
supplies of this sort are those exist
Ing on some OF the lonely islands in
the South Indian ocean. South of the
liner track TO Australia via the Cape
lie Crozet and Kerguelen islands.
In the jubilee year OF Queen VIC
torta a French warshIp placed In hut
on one OF the Crozets q good stock
of food and necessities. including two
spears and two hatchets. II is high
~ probably. says Pearson's Weekly.
that the bulk. IL not all OF these stores.
are still there for tho warship In
question found the provisions left by
British warship eight years before
absolutely intact
The landlords furnished TO all Brit
ish shipmasters Indicate exactly tho
whereabouts of these cached stores
A seal hunter. who sought 10 find the
depot on Kerguelen island. wrote: 1t
was as easy as II we had a signpost."
The Kerguelen depot was fitted out
By the French ship Eure which In 1893
left ''2.2s0 pounds OF preserved beef In
boxes OF . pounds. i,f25 pounds OF
biscuits. 20 sxanskin shirts. 20 pairs
of wooden drawers, 20 wooden blankets
and packets OF matches" Further
more great trouble WAS taken TO pro-
tect the stores from the weather.
The beef boxes were coated with
tar. as were the Iron hooped barrels
containing the biscuits and clothes
aud the matches were In boxes paint
ed over with red lead
dn Baty. who spent many months seai-
Ing on the island. examined the depot
Even though the goods had been
buried beneath a cairn OF stones the
casks had rotted away and the cloth
ing fell 10 pieces when opened out
The biscuits had been turned TO
sour pulp and long green strands OF
moss we're growing on the barrels. Tho
timed beef was perfectly good and
was agreeable 10 the taste. He failed
70 fnd the matches. but left some OF
his own. together with needles and
twine
On Amsterdam island. further north.
the board OF Trade handbook noti-
fies the fact that the French supplies
are In a cavern where also have been
left a cookingpot. cots and dry wood
On this island the stranded Crasoe
VIII find. too. abundance OF Wild cab
bage and celery growing. and Holsters
and fish are plentiful
On the west coast OF Tasmania there
are some very lonely districts. Al
Rocky Point shipwrecked mariners
may find relief stores. and In order
TO aid them TO regain civilization.
tracks have been made for their bene-
III. with Iron index fingers every
quarter mile pointing ia the direction
10 the relief station" And on a river
where fording IL necessary raft has
been left in readiness.
Similar provisions exist on some
OF the outlying islands Of New zea-
land and these are visited by gov
eminent steamer once or twice year
IN case castaways are needing rescue
In Vancouver shelter sheds ars erect
ed on some lonely shores and thence
shipwrecked sailor can ring up n
central station on the telephone.
Refugees In TERRA del Fusgo learn
from the same source about quoting
that they can trust the faghana TO
conduct them to mission settlements"
but the "Alacalufs are aggressive and
treacherous. though. however great
their number. they win not attack
combination OF three or four persons,
especially II they are aware that these
persons possess firearms or imple-
Mir than 80