The Elbert County tribune., 1915-02-19
Two Women Among Castaways
From Barkentine Wrecked Off
Georgia Coast.
SHIP HIT BY TIDAL WAVE
Women Act as II shipwrecks Were
Natural Part of Sea Voyase-Hope
Almost Abandoned When Steam
ship Manzanillo Comes
to Rescue.


Boynton. bronze six-footer of Vik-
ing aspect and ancestry, recently ar
rived from Cuba with a vivid yarn of
the wreck of his ship in hurricane
blasts and ponderous seas off the Geor-
gia coast.
The wife of the skipper, Capt. G. w.
Waldemar. and his niece, Gladys Lar
rock OF Boston. were in ships com
pany of 13 all told that drifted six
days lashed or grasping life lines on
a raft and the detached deck house
of the barkentine. Sharks swarmed
around them at times and the more
vigorous of the castaways, for diver
sion batted the big fellows over the
snout whenever they came near
enough to disturb the serenity of the
women.
The staiwart mate says the shippers
niece and his wife acted as If ship
wrecks were a natural part of sea
voyage and did not do any praying, as
shipwrecked women are supposed to
do in moments of unusual stress Per
haps one thing that interfered with
prayer, except of a mental sort. was
the unremitting exertion of holding on
and lodging wreckage and the crests
of combers.
Girl Almost Loses Hope.
On the morning of Monday. January
is, few hours before succor came
with the steamship Manzanillo, Miss
Gladys had almost abandoned hope,
and said to the mate: I'VE never shall
see Boston" He laughed and, patting
her on the shoulder, remarked: Don't
give up" She answered his laugh
with smile. and said: I'VE will die
with stout hearts" She went to
hospital at Santiago with the rest,
badly bruised and suffering from salt
water boiis. but she did not die.
The Boynton sailed from Mobile for
Genoa on December 26 with a full
cargo of lumber. large part lashed
on deck. OF the Florida coast on
January II a heavy southeasterly gale
lashed up tall seas and forced the lum-
ber ship to heave to under storm try
sail. The gale increased to hurri-
cane, and fearing she might pound out
her bow in the crushing combers. the
ran miles to the northwest under bare
poles.
The deck load shifted in the flight
down the wind and the old ship began
to leak. All hands were on deck, the
starboard watch at the pumps and the
port watch trying to jettison the
deck load, which imperiled the lives
of all hands. The women were safe
from the tumult in the after deck
house.
The deck cargo relieved of its lash
ings. went by the board on the morn
ing of January 12 The Boynton was
then waterlogged, her main deck al
most awash. and ioundering in tho
trough of the waves.
Hit by Huge Wave.
A monster sea, which the mate
called a tidal wave" but which
doubtless was a cumulative wave, or
two or more waves rolled into one,
rose 40 feet above the vessel and de-
scended on the deck thunderously. 1t
arched over some of the seamen. None
was In its almost resistless course 1t
tore of 40 feet of the quarter deck
AT 2:30 O'Clock the next morning a
wave almost as big as the giant board
ed the wreck and swept the forward
house into the tumult The men cut
away the main and mizzen masts at
daylight. The foremast later jammed
itself through the bottom of the ship.
The yawi had escaped the smash
ing seas and an effort was made to
launch it. The drifting lumber stove
it in and finally 1t was broken to
matchwood. The cargo below the
main deck. forced up by the water,
lifted the deck from the after house
to the place where the forward house
had been and the big section went
sailing of by itself and wa: soon out
of view to ieeward The released
beams and boards leaped and rolled
out of the barkentine from both sides.
The skipper and the lusty mate.
with the crew. attacked the after deck
house and with axes and naked hands
got of the top to use as raft All
hands got aboard and the seas
launched it,
The next morning. the mate says.
he did something that no castaway in
his memory of wrecks ever did: that
is, as he said smilingly. I'VE sighted
the main deck" which had drifted
back in shift of the gale.
Rats Lashed Together.
Tire smaller raft felt as If 1t might
soon go to pieces and it was decided
to board the main deck. Two hours
of hard padding with broken cars
brought the little raft to the hig one.
and after iashing the two. the sea
having gone down somewhat, all hands
made the transfer. the men assisting