The Washington herald., 1914-05-19
FOUR STARVED
J SAILORS Land
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away as fast as we could, for at any
minute it seemed the ship would go
down. Some of the men just had on dun
garee pants and undershirts. and little
Dikeman. the cabin boy. wore only pair
of trousers.
There was a strong wind blowing
which drove us northward. There was no
time to put navigating instruments In the
boat and as we drove northward We soon
realized that We might have trouble, "
we did not meet any ship quickly.
Saw Steamers Lights.
Early in the morning we saw a steam
er's light looming UP. She came on
quickly and from the size of her We
Judged 1t was the olympic. Then We
found there were no dry matches In the
beat In the hurry of leaving the ship.
ses had swept into the lifeboat and
all the matches were dampened. There
we had to sit. helpless to signal the
oimmpic. as she swept by a blaze Of
light We ali stood up and shouted at
the tops of our voices, but she was three
quarters Of a mile away and we could not
make her hear at that distance.
Next day We saw a tramp steamer
which was about seven miles of. We
had hoisted my rain coat. on an oar. as
a signal, but 1t wasn't any use. About
O'Clock that afternoon we saw what
think was the Franconia. From what
have learned on the Seneca we must
have been witnesses to her rescuing our
first lifeboat. We saw her steam up.
step and judged at the time she was
taking boat aboard. Then she steamed
away in a circle, as we thought. looking
for us, but of course she could not tell
where we were. and instead of coming
to us she went away OF and that was
the last we saw of her.
THE weather by this time had FORUM
ateiy calmed down somewhat.
Boat Filled with Water.
TT was very rough the first few days
Two or three times was carried away
anchors to which We were riding and
the boat, sweeping around to the seas.
filled with water. The lifeboats having
air tanks, OF course, could not sink. but
there was the danger of her being over
turned. We bailed her out. 1 suppose
half dozen times. and rigged up sea an
chor after sea anchor with bits Of old
canvas. and managed to keep her head
onto the seas that way.
by this time ! had put the men on
rations. There was LOO gallon cash
of water in the boat and a tin tank full
of biscuits. j allowed each man a pint
of water a da- and biscuit for each
meal. Then after the first week the
water ran pretty short. We got a little
rain on Thursday. and some more on
Monday, but FridSy some of the men
started drinking salt water, and that was
the beginning Of the end.
Gradually I cut the mems rations
down, until Friday last there were but
five biscuits and less than a pint of water
for the five Tho survived then I-e cut
up some boots taken Cff dead men and
tried to mix up a sort of a paste with
the. broken biscuits, but 1t wasn't
pafatable. When the Seneca hove in
sight our last biscuit was gone. and We
we're painfully scraping the crumbs In
the tank together to mix with more shoe
leather.
First One tn Die.
Hull. the oiler. was the first man to
die. We tried to revive him with a little
wine. but II was too late, and after max
ing sure that he was beyond all hope We
put his body over the side. and / said
what 1 could remember Of the burial
service over him.
Then Richmer. fireman. died about
O'Clock in the morning Of the 18th An
derson. another, fireman, died on the
same morning, and SO did the cook,
Scrimberger. Gustaffsen was the next to
die. All these men went pretty much |
the same way. They began to drink sea
water. and their sufferings were, fright |
full The more they drank the more they
There was one tiny dipper in
the boat and I tried to keep this in my |
but II I was asleep they
would get Il away from me.
the time. I would get the dipper away
from men who were swilling salt water, i
but the next minute they would be lean
ing out over the gunwale of the boat |!
apping 1t up like cows at a brook Soon |
they would go crazy. All OF them died
singing, completely insane. 1 think II |
was that water more than anything else
that killed them.
''The men who kept to the scanty por-
ion Of fresh water stood the exposure |
,etter.
"Margetts, the chief engineer, was the
lext to die. He perisbed from exposure. |
Then one of the worst of all our trials !
happened. Jakob. big oiler, a Russian. 1
Who stood over six feet, started to drink \
'alt water. He went insane and tried 10 |
eill the whole boat crew. There wersi
,nly five Of US alive then, and moor
9rieve. the mess boy, was so weak he i
,ould not stand. This was about S |
o'clock on Friday night.
rRas.ian Went Insane.
Il was sleeping when Belanger woke
ne up and said that Jakob had gone
.razy. He was sitting In the bow with
IN ak and swearing he would 60 sshore
or drink. talked to him a bit.
oaxed the ak away from him and got
lin to lie down. took everything 4
hought he could use for a weapon, away
rom him but hardly got asleep when
he got a boat stretcher and came AFT
threatening to kill US all.
There was nothing for It but to tie
lin up. Jakob was ordinarily q very
'owerf,d man, about forty years OF age. |
nd Kendall, Balabger. Ludwigsen, and
myself had all we could do to handle
lin. He was screaming at the top Of
lis voice that we were trying to keev
lis money from him so he could not 60 /.
a n spree. He shouted out that hea