Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1924-03-13
Two Months On Island; Rescued By
Trading Vessel; Faced Robinson
Crusoe Experience
albany Herald)

Judge William +. Smltn, Dough
erty county Ordinary, was back in
his office Monday, after an absence
of five months and four days, during
which he was shipwrecked and spent
two months on an almost desolate
island in the West Indies, according
to story he told to Herald re-
porter.
Judge Smith left Albany October
9th and only one accurate report of him
reached Albany until last Wednes-
ihy, when his wife and Judge J.R
de Graffenried, local justice of the
peace and close friend of the Or
binary, received kilograms sent from
Tampa, Fla. These messages stated
that he had been shipwrecked, and
asked that $50 be wired him. Al
though he acknowledged receipt OF
the money and stated that he would
be home Saturday, many Albanians
were inclined to believe the messages
were faxed and that someone had
used his name to secure $50 through
fraud. When none of Saturdays
trains brought him back to Albany
and he failed to show up Sunday, the
impression became quite general that
Mrs. Smith and Judge de Graffenried
had been defrauded.
When the Southland, through
tran from Jacksonville, arrived al
12:45 a. m. Monday, however, Judge
Smith was a passenger on it. News
quickly spread Monday morning that
he had returned and the rumor that
the kilograms asking for money
s(Iy ~ ~ he
heard. All the morning there was
almost a constant stream of callers
at his office, welcoming him back to
Albany and asking details of his
shipwreck experience.
Judge Smiths Story
Judge Smith told the following
story of his experiences since leav
ing Albany:
Several years ago Judge Smith me-
man by the name OF Frank Ritten
house, of Baltimore, at Miami, Fla.
ard their mutual fondness for the
sea and Rittenhouse's possession o
d IS foot, sloop-rigged power cruiser
caused a warm friendship to sprins
UP between them. They have takel
many trips along the coast of Florids
and to nearby islands. Early il
| October, shortly after Judge Smith
left Albany, they made one cruise tc
the Bahama islands and spent severa
days there.
November "a, Rittenhouse, Smith
and a man named Charles M Allen
also of Baltimore and a negro known
only as Joe, left Miami, Fla, expect
ing to go to Buenos Aires, Argen-
tina. Judge Smith stated that he
saw Samuel Weldon, formerly of Al
bany in Miami that day. Mr.. Wei
don brought report to Albany OF
having seen the then missing county
officer.
1t was the plan of the party leav-
ing Miami, November oath to make
about three stops enroute to the
South American metropolis. The
cruiser was elegantly appointed, and
provisioned sufficiently to carry the
party for months, but it did not car
ry enough fuel to make the trip to
Buenos Aires without stops
Shipwrecked on an Island
Three weeks later or December
Is, the cruiser was wrecked in {
tropical storm and the three white
men and the negro were all. washed
onto an island. The island, as rear
ly as they could figure is about rs
miles northeast of Santo Domingo
and if it has any name, the ship
wrecked party did not lear nit Il
was about four hours before daylight
when they were washed ashore
and, even though they were in the
ii opics, they almost froze in theil
wet clothes, and from the effects o
the tropical wind, before daylight
came and enabled them to locat,
some small houses further up TIL
beach.
All that they had aboard excep
the clothes on their backs was los
when. the cruiser was wrecked on
coral reef. Judge Smith alone los
more than $500 in money and a cam
era for which he paid $500
With the daylight coming they 10
Gated house and applied for shelter
They found that the families abou
five in number, spoke either Spanisl
or French and lived largely by fish
ing. One Of the Frenchmen spol,
enough English to make communica
ton pcssible, and he took them into
| his cottage.
Two Months On Island
While they had no calendars anc
made no effort to keep definite track
Of time, they spent about two months
ON the island, as nearly as Judge
Smith could estimate. They spent
their time in idleness, doing a little
fishing with the natives as they felt
Ike it, and subsisting on the crude
fare of the islanders.
While the rest of you at home
weer eating turkey and other good
things Christmas day, | was living
on dried herring and the like" said
Judge Smith. "In fact, | do not know
definitely when Christmas came If
the islanders knew anything about it
they didn't mention it in our pres
cnce or IN a language we could UNI
derstand"
F naly small steamer came to the
Island from seme South Ameri-
cap port to buy what the islanders
had 10 sell and to leave provisions
The shipwrecked party learned that
this steamer made calls there about
every two months. They made ar
ranGsments to embark on the steam
er, and in TWO weeks, after stops at
several other small islands, they
reached Santo Domingo, where they
spent Two weeks.
Securing passage on sailing
vessel the shipwrecked party came