Omaha daily bee., 1916-01-09
IT WAS A WHALE OF A YARN
Captain of the windJammer Tells
How shipwrecked sailors
Were saved.

Was 1t a nightmare of some Dutch
painter? Well. It looked like one, but
really was an old square rugged ship
blunt bows, and paint was only a MEM
DRY. 1t came 20 anchor in the bay some
days ago-the Lena Opfergeld, of Am
sterdam.
The captain. short. COOS nstured ana
brown as mahogany. spoke English well.
as most of the Dutch can when they come
In contact with the world. Nothing ever
gets by the Dutch. And the captain hove
his boarding irons onto tasty glass Of
schnapps.
well, you see, we were at Batavia,
Sumatra." unused the captain. taking on
cargo OF tabacco spice and miscel-
laneous stuff when we received orders
to go to Melbourne, Australia, then to
Honolulu and fill out our cargo and
round the Horn to New York,
I'VE started in good shape. and all
went well until we were about longitude
100 west, latitude 20 SOUTH when the
winds seemed to give out and we only
barely moved. Friday night the animals
got uneasy-we had a dog and cat for
auckland the barometer dropped like
lead. We made everything snug and
tight, soon we were running before the
wind under bare poles TO the southwest
There was a small coral island ahead,
surrounded by barrier reefs, and the
island itself an atoll, with water inside.
IAN we could do was TO run ahead of
the wind and by some chance We entered
the open roadway into the enclosed bay
and in a few minutes had an anchor out
and by good luck had a good hold.
'The next morning Is cleared up-no
breeze and a dead calm again. Early In
the day a boat made from the shore and
believe me, there was Robinson Crusoe
and three Fridsys-only they were
Portuguese-and all of them were good
pictures for circus. our cook could
speak Portuguese. and soon we had their
story,
Captain Friday. as we chose to call
him, related his story, which, shortened
up. was as follows:
1--WE left Honolulu said Captain Fri
day, in a two-masted schooner for
cruise among the islands to gather copra
and shells. II was the old story-a gale
and a wreck. out OF a crew OF seven
four succeeded in getting to the island,
and there was little there except brack-
| ,sh water and a few walms. Food was
scarce, except shellfish and fish.
Captain FRIDAY was a man Of educa-
tion and a botanist, so was able to use
quite a lot OF edible seaweeds for food.
we were fortunate I'm having saved
lot OF the wre,k OF the schooner
pumps, some barrels, hose, sails. ETC.
hut lost all our compasses, also our
thermometers and 90 try TO reach TN
known parts was foolhsrdy.
| LATTER some months had passed and
no sails in sight TO get away. fate blew
enc good thing our why-another big gale.
and TO our surprise next day we found
a big COW whale and a calf with her.
We knew we had meat for at least some
time. We decided TO kill tine calf and dry
the meat which Is very much like coarse
beef and very nourishing. The water in
'he lagoon was not more than seven faith
oms deep, and while the old cow could
swim around the island for some miles
she seemed TO miss the opening to the
sea. After lots OF work we managed 10
kill tho calf and get the meat dried for
future use.
| ." The old COW seemed very much Wor-
ried over the loss of the young one and
came each evening 10 the shallow cove.
with a good beach. where We had killed
the calf, and we noticed that she would
seak a lot OF good milk from her overful
udder.
The second day we succeeded In saw
ing a lot OF the milk by using a rubber
hose with one OF the pumps at the other
end, and would fill from two 70 five bar
rels each day. So we had plenty OF good
fresh milk and cream. and In a short
time We had butter in plenty. but could
not make cheese. lacking knowledge and
rennet 10 do so.
This milking OF the whale seemed 10
afford her great relief. and somehow 10
take the place OF the calf, as far as her
! feelings we're concerned. and soon she