The Cordova daily times., 1922-05-05
WRECKED TANKS TWO WEEKS IN
 OPEN BOAT


 WASHINGTON, May 5-A tale of shipwreck and adventure in the South Seas such as Stevenson loved to tell is contained in a report just received from the American consul at Yelling ton, New Zealand, of the American schooner, Columbia River, which went ashore on Sunday Island recently.
 Aground on a barren, uninhabited island, the crew drew lots, and six sailors and the captain took an open boat and set out for the nearest port Suva, in the Fiiis, 75o miles away.
 "The schooner was bound from Auckland for Portland" the official report says. All went we'll, survivors say, till just before dawn on the third day out, when the watch suddenly reported, 'Island close to on port beam!"
 "The startled captain leaped from his berth and ran to the wheel-but too late to save the ship. In fact, so near was the beach that even before the anchor could be let go the schoon- CT piled up, her bosprit hard and fast on the beach of Sunday Island.
 gro WANDER FOR DAYS"
 "Shaker but safe, the officers and crew dropped over the bows and down on the beach-to wander for days over the barren rock. Empty of all life it was except for a few sad, ener- vated goats, too blue from their un- happy lot even to bleat a raucous wei come to the shipwrecked Americans.
 "A ship calls once year at Sun did not know the time of the year. Suva, in the Fijis, 750 miles away, was the nearest civilization! On the wreck of the schooner there was food for a month-what to do!
 Like nearly all American crowds in time of stress, they talked it over everybody from the captain to the cook And six sailors were selected to take an open lifeboat and strike across the stormy seas for Suva-750 miles away.
 Equipped with food, kerosene, dis tress signals, sea anchors, an oil-stove and an extra mast and sail, the little twenty-two-foot craft set boldly out with it's crew of six and the captain, leaving six men to wait on the barren island and pray for redemption.
 "Two sails were set, and the little company, dividing into tow watches, worked at the oars when the wind failed. Each watch comprised three men, one man relieving at the oars every half hour. The wind was not al ways kind; once for two long days they lay becalmed. Again, having rowed twenty-five miles in the teeth of gale, they were driven back ten miles. Rain added to their discomfort. When the sun shone the heat was pitt less; and they were glad to convert the sails, when not in use, into covers to protect them from the sun. At night the cold was intense.
 "FoURTEEN DREARY DAYS"
 Day after day they struggled on toward Suva, sighting no sail in that broad expanse of water. For fourteen dreary days the perilous trip lasted, and at last the adventurers arrived at thenr haven. The British warship Chatham, the first vessel encountered, responded to their hail. Few words were required in explanation to bring forth a hearty welcome. Weary and sore, they got aboard the warship only to fall to the deck exhausted when they reached safety.
 "The crew were made comfortable, every hospitality being shown by the Britishers, who promised to sail next day for Sunday Island to the rescue of the mariners still marooned there, while the seven men proceeded to Auckland on the U. S. s. Niagara, to report the disaster to the ships owners through Consul General Wilber.
 "In puritanical sense, the island was well named-as regards life for the six men left behind. There was little for them to do but live on board the vessel till southwest gale cap- sized the wreck and made it neces- sary for them to take off the remain