The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-24
ragc Tale of Columbias Long Sought Lifeboats Fur
nishes Evidence of the Perils That Still
Confront the Seafarer

r-HE story OF the loss OF the steam
ship Columbian is complete. The
tragic tale OF the last OF her long
sought lifeboats once more fur
risNcs evidence of the vastness OF the
open sea and the perils that still con-
front the seafarcr.
Tor fourteen days that little craft held
or own against the sweep of the North
Atlantic, but 1t could not save more than
q few OF tho fifteen men who hastily
embarked in it from the burning
steamer. At best the men had only a
united supply of fresh water and a
s.tuty allowance of sea biscuit. When
..r United States revenue cutter Seneca
found the boat drifting ut the end ~ a
llr'wght just four out OF the original
fifteen were alive. and hut for that re-
lief those poor fellows would have died
during the day.
The curious part of the story OF this
particular boat lies i'm the fact that II
auuil have wandered for fourteen days
IN The busy North Atlantic and yet es-
cape observation on the part OF the
many vessels that were looking for IL.
10 anything, this incident shows how
precise is modern navigation and how
narrow are the lanes that steamships
follow in threading their way east and
Yves, across this section of the Atlantic.
Had the Seneca not gone out OF her
prescribed zone there would be another
cllo tp tell.
Tho rescue Of the Columbian's boats
naturally recalls other wrecks and the
offerings experienced by their crews
There is the case uf the CricCieth Castle,
which sank in the South Atlantic in OC-
sober. 1912. AS the craft settled the life
boat and gig were got overheard. The
.g carrying seven persons, was never
heard from afterward. The lifeboat
ue,d the captain. his wife, son and four
.ceu others.
-Four died the first night and the sur
ylNors knew they had at least 200 miles
% row TO the nearest land. They sang
10 keep up their spirits and to make
hem less mindful Of their toll and dan
ger. The boat carried but two kegs OF
water, one bag of bread and half a
Iuz.n cans Of meat These were COM
5'cttIy exhausted week before the
Falkland Islands were sighted. Some
row those that remained managed dur
.nc the last seven days to keep body
and soul together. but they were so eN-
uaust,d when land was reached that
hey had 10 be carried ashore and all
our six died.
Again in october OF 1912. when a vio-
.ent storm in the Gulf OF Mexico sent
he steamship Nicaragua to the bottom
sor six days the captain and eleven of
MS crew survived against heavy seas
and a raging hurricane. For two days
hey were without food and water and
4 was little short of miracle that the
-. .
sighted by the life savers at Port
AranSas.
Possibly no occurrence IN the sea an
nails of 1912 was more curious than the
experience Of a Japanese junk which
vas caught in n typhoon off Japan in
May and swept upon the currents OF
he North Pacific for nearly three
months. The craft with It's crew of five
wandered 1000 miles before the junk
nit the rocks about thlrty-fve miles
north Of san Diego, Cal. where the half
famlshed Japanese managed to get
ashore IN small boat.
During the past March the four
rnasfed American schooner Hattie r
Simpson foundered OFF Cape Lookout
after several days OF battling with a
succession OF storms. When the ship
sank she carried down with her the
-ar'a,n and i've Of the crew. but tho
second mate and three others managed
q &c, away from the vesse! in the yawl
7, was impossible N the blackness o.
hat rl~ht to look for their shipmates
and AZ dawn the second mate pointed
he vawl toward the track Of steam
shlns bound up and down the coast, The
craft was not prov!s,oned and for five
DAYS the only nourishment of those on
board was the water they caught from
passing transforms. When rescued by
he Red D liner Caracas the little boat