Evening journal., 1914-05-18
Rescued AFTER
TWO weeks DRIFT
')N SEA Of HORROR
'Qur OF Crew of Burned Co
lambian Survive TOrtureS
in Boat
Others Die,
consigned TO deep
3x The United Press.

By The United Press.
IlALIFAX. n. S, May 1S.-Snatch-
"a from the very jaws Of death after /
su teen days Of famine on an Arctic ,
~ four survivors of a crew of fif-
cen who escaped a fiery fate when
he freight steamer Columbian burned
May 3, arrived here today on the
jni ed States revenue cutter Seneca.
yhich picked them up after eleven of
heir number starved.
Officer Robert Tiera, sailors Oscar
Sendal and Peter Belanger and Fire
ncl Mitchell Ludwigsen, were the
luLrtet who arrived today aboard
he Seneca. Stripped of their cloth
rs by their famishing mates the bod
e. of the eleven other sailors, one
by ne. were consigned to the pitiless
ica Each went overheard after the
,n. rk of life had fled.
ord by word, after their rescue,
ie I, Ar starving men told IN gasps
1f neir awful experience. Water and
1iseuit gone, they said, the cagta-
3ars existed on scraps OF bareback,
catching IN tarpaulins and i'm the
Jackets of their dead fellows the rain
hlch fell from the limitless sky
bending above the great gray waste
of water on which their boat floated
when the Columbian. of the Ley
lGud iinc. burned at sea, $50 miles
ouih Of Sable Island, three boats full
of her crew left the flaming vessels
sidt. IN the wallow Of the waves,
hf-' separatcd Two days later, two
3f he boats, containing p of the
erev were picked up by the liners
Fraaconia and Manhattan. The third,
Da which the Seneca rescued, was
81 70 up as lost.
he revenue cutter was on duty as
's, ice patrol-boat. scanning the sea
ri icebergs, when on Sunday morn
the lookout shouted, Boat ahead
The starhoard bow" In an instant
aptain Johnston ordered full steam
ahead and eager eyes watched the
hitle derelict as the cutters PROV
1 fnt through the wavee MOI q sign
C.tfe Na5 10 be- aen from thc deck
s of the ship. but 10 make sure. the
\ rautaiu ordered the gig overheard for
. closer examination.
When their boathook gripped the
4 sunwale Of the drifting lifoboat, four
ncl huddled together Ia her bottom
f were found. All were in q state OF
absolute collapse They could not
. speak Their lack-lustre eyes and
S hollow cheeks. plainly told their story
f q, starvation The pile of clothing on
+ which thcy crouched was the first in
. dication that others who shared theii
/. fate had gone to the bottom of tho
4 sea. Spoonfuls of brandy and sips o.
water were given The rescued foul
4 lmlediately Then wrapped il
q brnkets. they were laid anew in th'
& bottom Of the boat and the gig wal
& pulled back to ,he Seneca with tn
ifeboat i'm tow. Ia slings the rescueI
men were hoisted up the cutters side
N Her physician ministered to them ant
IRON very exhaustion, they slept
rhen the cutters nose was turnel
& toward Halifax and all speed mad
n Tor this port
After several hours rest in Tia
sick bow Of the Seneca, and When tn
iudiciously administered food ha
stilled their hunger pangs the res
rued men told briefly the story q
their ordeal. Weakly they gasped on
how. when the Columbian burned
their boat was third to leave he
side. Pounding in heavy sea durin
the night, they said. the fifteen me
bv turns, held her head up to th
waves. When morning dawned, the
we're alone upon the heaying sea.
All that day and the next they eI
dured and hoped for srccor. With
the first forty eight hours, three steam
ers went by. With each sight of
vessel their hopes rose and fell agai
into duh despair. as liner after line
vanished hull down ON the horizon.
For seven days. the fifteen endure
The stronger aiding their weaker fe
lows. There was little food. Watt
was short. But they portioned OF
what they had. fairly. and kept up the
hearts. On the seventh day, Oil
George Hull passed away with groa
That was on May 10. That was Il
81 first death. 1ne stout hearted men
the sea wasted no time in vain regret
81 Hril's body was stripped and slid in
the sea and his clothing, still war
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