Ripley County democrat., 1918-03-01
CREWS cRAzED
BY SUFFERING
u.Bcat Victims Lick Boats for
I! Moisture and Seek Death
!, In Sea.
Observation-Disclosures
hsrslsl Aets Of ofsesrs and Men D..
longing 10 Al Branches of Sea
Services, Naval and
Mercantile.

Londony--Much has been written
about the hardships endured BY the
crews II vessels sunk by German sub
marinsA Here are some particulars
dealing with the plucky deeds per
formed BY officers and men belonging
to all branches Of the sea services,
naval snd mercantile.
The nrst case is that Of a passenger
steamer which had been torpedoed on
q Monday. without warning. as usual.
In the Atlantic. 800 miles from land.
The chief officer took charge Of No.
2 lifeboat, which had On board 81 per-
sons, ihcluding two women and baby
four months old.
Bad weather prevailed all that day
and Throughout the night, increasing
the plisht Of the miserable people. Pro-
visions, too. were scarce, but what ex.
listed was tnken charge Of by the chief
officer. who doled out half q dipper
(hnlfpipt) Of water to each person
night and morning.
They had been barely twenty-four
hours In the boat when the horrors Of
the situation were added 10 by mad
ness. On the Tuesday tho cook lost
his reason. and on the Wednesday he
died. Tint night witnessed the insan-
ity Of the storekeeper. who had to be
lashed down. On Thursday he too
died. On Friday an A. b. expired.
Water BegIns to Get Low.
The Fatsr WINS now beginning to
give out ana the boats company suf-
fered from intense thirst. 9'
A fireman was found dead In the
bottom Of the boat on Saturday morn
ing. and the thlrd-class pantry boy
died during the day.
On Sunday the cattleman tried to
Jump overheard three times, and sue
ceeded at the fourth attempt The sur
vivors were In too feeble a state to
save him, although they turned the
boat round and searched for him. The
water gave out on Sunday,
There were occasional showers Of
rain. but everything was saturated
with salt, and the little water they got
was undrinkable. They licked the
woodwork, hoping to gather up the
raindrops
Then they broke up the water keg,
and licked the inside, which they found
saturated with moisture, and delicious,
At 8 p. m. on Monday land was sighted,
but It was long way of. and by the
time they drew near darkness and q
heavy northerly swell made landing
impossible. They lay to. and during
q sQusll their mast carried away at the
heel. but that did not matter much, for
It acted AZ a sea anchor.
At daylight on Tuesday they wers
sighted by Q couple of fishing boats
which towed them into port. The baby
lived for acme time after being landed
The linen keeper died as he was being
lifted from the boat. Two Of the crew
refused 10 leaye the boat, having gone
mad. A trimmer died from gangrens
two weeks later.
~ The chief officer remarked: " would
like to testify to the excellent behavioI
OF the BOATS crew throughout our pc
riod Of eight days hardship and ex
posurer
The second case deals with q Brit
ish oil ship which had been torpedoet
without warning. The torpedo strucl
Il between the two forward tanks, ant
Il wns burning furiously. Its engines
were still running, because II had beer
| impossible to reach the engine room
|; nfter the explosion on account OF thu
heat Visible for miles through tn,
,darkness. II looked like some dery pen
nant fiung across the fnce Of the night
All the holds had caught and q con
tinuous stream Of oil kept feeding ths
FIRE.
Crouched up in the peak. which wa,
the only part not yet alight were abou
thirty Chinese, all who remained o.
the crew. Death by IRE or BY waite
was only matter Of time; that seemet
to be q certainty.
Sighted BY Patrol Boat.
Tho lieutenant N command OF q pa
Iltroi vessel saw a rugged sheet Of fam,
and altered course forthwith. To ex
tinenish the flames was impossible
and tho rescue Of the survivors In tn
oilers peal, but there was no more life
! hes. 81
He ran his vessel close past the Oh
er's stem and as she paused RATS life
boats and lifebuoys were pitched over
board By the crew Of the patrol ship
! The Chinese were told 70 jump over
board This was repeated three times
i BY that time al honts had been low
ered 10 nick uD the man In the water