Norwich bulletin., 1918-08-03

without mast or means of steering CT rowing-and the captain and six others helped one another to get On it. The other two members of the crew jumped overheard and we picked them up. The raft was not mu.h bigger than this bed about Tit. by 5ft)- only just big enough to hold the nine of us, huddled up together. We had not much clothing on, and the only food we had was a tin of biscuits and a barrel of fresh water.
 An hour and a half later the ship went down We were drifting near her all the time. and we had a good view of the submarine, for she came quite close to the raft. She was a big craft, at least as long as the Eglinton, and she carried two gufls-one, fairly large, mounted for'ard and the other, a smaller gun, mounted aft. We could see the officer on her coming tower giving his directions and watch the 1 gunners swing the gun round. l could 1 have thrown a stone on her. The of 1 ficer and his men must have been able
 to see that some of us were seriously
 wounded, but they said nothing and offered no help, and as soon as our
 ship sank they circled around us and
 went off.
 There was a brisk north westerly wind bringing occasional squalls and hailstorms and the sea was choppy. 1 Our raft. lying low in the water. was i continually awash. As time went by 1 the barrels at one end began to- leak and the raft dipped on that side. The | salt water got into the tin of biscuits, and spoiled them before the end of the first day, and somebody left the
 water barrel unstoppered too long so that the salt got into that as well.
 Not many words passed between us. It took all our time to keep on the raft. If we tried to move, too much
 weight would be put on one end of the raft and it would dip. Several times one or another of us was swept
 off by wave, and had to climb or be lifted back. During the first day one of the seamen died. and we put his body overheard. None of us slept that night In the morning the steward
 died He had lain desperately injured on the raft for A hours. A little while
 afterwards the second fficer, who had also been wounded, died. Early the
 next morning the captain went. He said to me, q am going out of this
 I shall not go to sea any more"
 cannot remember the deaths of the others but l know that in the after
 noon of that third day the chief mate said There are only two Of us left
 now We must keep it going. and not
 give in.'' It was fine afternoon, but
 blowing very hard. The mate and
 were talking. a little later. when he
 suddenly said T am going down tc the cabin to fill my pipe" I begged
 him not to do that, telling him there was no cabin on the raft, and that ii
 he tried to go below he would go over
 board. But he tried, and I had to stor , him. He lay down presently on the blanks, and an hour or two after wards found he was dead. I myself !, pushed his body into the sea.
 What happened during the four ol five days when I was alone l cannot
 tell. I remember just sitting up anc , lying down, having a few hours sleeI and getting up again, and sometime; moving backward and forward on thu raft, looking. for help. From the time 7 when the submarine went to the nintf day, when heia came, I saw no shiI of any kind.
 , On the morning of the ninth day woke up and heard the sound of fir
 ing 1 got to my knees and had { ! look round. I could see nobody. so r lay down ageSn. After while 1 go ? up on my knees once more and Sav motor boat not far from me. 5 jumped up and shouted. The answe came. You are all right. You are al . right" Then the boat came alongsid 2 the raft and someone asked. Gan yol l help yourself up?" I caught hold 0 the stem of the boat, climbed aboard !. and was helped amidships. The boa l took me to British warship, and her t am. I shall go to sea again.
 5 Two things only need be added t 9 this statement. One is Ohlson's com , ment on the conduct of the submarin 9 conmander:-"He wsa trying to xii r us on the deck. He gave us n : chance" The other is that durin 3 nine days in the Hehgoland Eight Ohl s son saw no sign of that German Flee 1 which, according to German wireless a messages, is daily searching for tn
 British Fleet, and that it was Britis naval craft which rescued him.-Lon 0 don Times.