The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-31
10 ROW 1000 MILES;
U-BOAT SINKS SHIP.
Survivors Of Attack Battle
With Sea for Is Days in
q. CockIeshell.
PICKED UP OFF JERSEY
Submarine Takes Oil Before
Destroying Bark-~Captain
Drifts Away in Storm.

$, a submarine chaser on duty of the
Jersey coast about eight miles east OF
Darncgat on Monday afternoon noted
IN open boat showing a shirt fiuttering
from an oar. She bore down on the lit
tie craft and took aboard ten weary.
hungry and weather-beaten men who had
been fifteen days navigating the cookie
snail through many sorts Of weather over
thousand miles OF sea. mostly lumpy
and occasionally turbulent.
;, After eating and resting they spun
their yarn. They were Mate j.
Fretu and nine seamen OF the Nor
vegian bark Stifnder, sunk by Ger
man submarine about 1000 miles east OF
Sandy Hook October Is. while bound
from this port with 67,s57 cases OF oil
for Freemantle. Australia. Their skip
per, Captain Gustav Bjorklund, the Sec
ond mate and six men. who abandoned
the bark in another boat, are missing.
The Stiflnder. which originally was
British, had many vicissitudes before
the Germans got her. having sailed for
q quarter Of century to many out OF the
way ports under three other names, the
last Of which was the Pass Of Killie-
crankie. She had trouble getting q crew
10 take her to far OF Freemantle and
sailed shorthanded-
At first the Stifinder ran into adverse
winds and Gains; then when fourteen
days out she was dashed by a mighty
gale that ripped most of the sails from
~ txNfk hay ~
On, and the ship made an effort to get
back on her course, which was then miles
away from her position. On this day.
October IS. the submarine came along
and fired two shots across her bow.
U-Boat Sinks Ship.
Captain Bjorklund hove the ship to in
q hurry and the submarine set signals
of the international code telling the
crew to abandon ship. The U-boat came
alongside and her commander gave the
Norwegians time to provision their boats.
The Stifinder's mate handed the ships
papers over to the Germans and they
told all hands to depart. The crew OF the
chip said they were a thousand miles
from anywhere, but that made no i'm
preston on the submarine pirates. who
boarded the Stifnder, spent two hours
transferring cases OF oil to the U-boat
and then sunk the bark with bombs.
The castaways declared they never
had realized what lonesome place the
Atlantic was in war time in an open
boat and how hungry one may become
on sparse diet limited to canned stun
and sea biscuit They had a leg o
mutton sail to help ,hem at the oars
when they rowed, but their progress
was slow and often In a direction they
I'D not want to take.
" In rough weather on the second night
out they parted company with their
skipper's boat and the mate laid the
course. 1t was largely a question Of
drifting with the wind, and when that
was unfavorable the mate shifted his
course. At first he decided to make
Bermuda. A change of wind caused
him to head In the general direction OF
Nova Scotia. Finally he guessed tina,
the Atlantic coast of the United States
was about the biggest mark he could
MIN for with a chance OF making q hit
Rain Adds to sunerinEs.
After the second day on their erratic
. course a rain set in that lasted inter.
mittently ten days and chilled all hands
There were several rough days in which
no effort was made to steer any sort
Of course. everybody devoting his whole
soul to holding on as the little boat
clipped down into the hollows or rose or
the crests. The sea biscuit and the
canned meat were taken sparingly under
orders from the mate, who is square
3awed and heavy and looks as II h,
might be able TO enforce rules.
Eleven days passed without sign o.
sail or smoke on any horizon. On the
twelfth they saw a steamship man,
miles away and vainly tried by waving
coats on oars to attract her attention
hut she kept right on. Salt water boil
we're botherirg some OF the men ant
the hands of those who had done mos
OF the rowing were blistered badly. The!
had been put on shorter rations ant
were getting thin; also they suffered
from lack OF sleep. The breeze wa
blowing toward the United States, how
ever, and they knew they were prett!
close to some part of the coast. o.
Monday afternoon they saw pencil
pointing toward the sky and the mat
recognized 1t as the Barnegat light
house.
II is not permissible to tell what Yam
kee submarine chaser picked up TIN
boats crew, who united in declaring
that they never beheld so generous ant
fne a lot of bluejackets. The cast
Always were all in good shape yesterday
except as to hands. and each had So
contributed by the sympathetic men o
the chaser.
The ships agerNs have heard nothing
from the skipper's boat. but they hop
that he may have landed elsewhere o
been picked up at sea.
UUTTr DOM IT'D AnE WITTY cpATI