The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-11-09
CAPT. HERMAN WOOD,
PRINCIPAL IN MANY SEA
TRAGEDIES, REACHES TAMPA

Capt. Herman R. Wood If tho
Lazy shea, wrecked in the West In.
dian hurricane which swept over tho
caribbean sea in September arrived
at his home, 7l2 Bungalow Terrace
sunday night The captain will be
fememD Dered as the hero of a thrill
ing adventure in the Gulf in Nav
'ast When his vessel was wrecked nv
a tropical strom, and turned bottom
upwards. The crew of ten men man
aged somehow to Chamber on the m
turned hulk, and for the time were
SAFE. They clung to their perilous
refuge for five days. without food
until they managed to cut away the
dragging masts and the hulk nartly
righted herself. They gained a foot
mold on the sloping deck and man
asec to salvage from the ships SUP.
pies u cans of timed goods, and
UPON this scanty provender supnle-
n'ented by a little sharks meat
when they managed to catch the
ten men We're obliged to subsist for
ten days. Not all of them, however
LOT TWO perished. The remaining
elght were finally picked up by d
Spanish vessel, the Francis. and TAX
en- INTO Havana, where they went in
tc hospital. They were too weak
to walk when they reached Hayan-
ma. and had to be assisted into the
hospital.
Nothlng daunted by this expert
ence Captain Wood, as soon as he re
gained his health and strength
MADE his plans for further life or
the sea. He became interested in !;
vessel, now building by the Gul,
Sh'poullding Co. at their docks or
the river, and chartered the Lad,
Shea from the Fred L. Myers & Son,
Co. OF Kingston, to load with cord
age, spars and timbers for the new
vessel he was building. He had pur
chased his cargo, when he was in
formed by the Jamaican governmen
that the stuff could not be exported
There was then nothing to do but I,
Rreturn to Tampa in ballast, and h
set out from Kingston on the llth o
September for Tampa, via the Gran
Cayman, arriving there on the 10th
III intended to stay two days an
leave on the list. The storm lndica
tions were so threatening that n
did not leave Georgetown until tn
l3rd, and the storm broke on tn
9Th. He beat back to Grand Sounc
where the storm struck him wit
full force. The tide rose Ia feet abov
normal, and all the vessels in tn
harbor were washed ashore. TIL
Lady Shea was careened in soft mu
amid the palm trees. But two live
were lost at this point, as the sal
ors, after making everything az sal
as possible, went ashore and save
themselves.
he describes the destruction thu
was wrought by the storm as som,
thing pitiful. Homes, stock, croI
were all swept away by the fury
1.-THE storm The inhabitants wei
compietely discouraged and many
them were leaving. For several da,
after the storm there was no con
munication with the outside worl
which accounts for his inability
send tidings of his safety to his an
ious friends in Tampa At last
had an opportunity to reach Mo-
tcgO Bay, whence he cabled to b
wife the single word, Safe" II W
the first word received from hi
since the storm, and relieved the an
iety which had been felt for h
safety.
Captain Wood has not lost his 10
for the sea, and is interested in {
Vessel now building on the Gil
Shipbuilding Co s ways She will
known as the Florence Harvey,
l3C feet long. with 80 feet bea
and tonnage of about 900. She
building for the lumber and fr,
trade with Cuba and Central Ams
lea, and will be commanded by Cap
Wood Tampa Times.