The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-05-14
MAN AND WIFE
 LOSE WANICAN
 IN HEAVY BLOW
MT. and Mrs. Me a dow Cling to Tractor On
 Raft for Hours

After escaping from their found- ering wanigan home in a violent storm Wednesday night in Stevens Passage, and leaping to a log raft to cling for three hours to the cold metal cf a washed tractor, MT. and Mrs L. L. Meadows were thank full to be alive today.
 Meadows is a contractor in the firm of Meadows, Custard and Oja, which firm is to construct two bridges on the Eagle River Highway this summer.
 With the cannery tender Betty B. towing the raft of machinery and wanigan, which was the Meadows home, they were proceeding from Wrangell to Juneau.
 At five o'clock Wednesday even ing, the Betty B was making fair time off Port Snettisham when suddenly the wind swept down with unbelievable force.
 Mrs. Meadows and I were on board the wanigan behind the raft, Meadows said today. T was working out on deck and paused to light a cigarette. Suddenly the wind hit use like someone had turned on a powerful fan The home started to Nf hn holding us to the raft broke.
 T told the wife to jump for the raft, and if we did not get there to- gether, to make for the Caterpillar and hang on. About that time, the second line broke and left us about ten feet from the raft on the end of the emergency line. Of course, the way the sea was running, we were at times very close to the raft, so we jumped and made it."
 Meadows shook his head as he re- membered how hard it was ordinar- fly for him to negotiate the slippery logs of the machinery raft.
 Junnp-LGfld
 When we jumped, we landed to- gether, and I picked up my wife tshe only weighs 105 pounds) and hopped over the logs better than I ever could before. I put her up on the tool box behind the Cat and then started to try to save some of the tools that were shooting off into the water, but I couldn't save much, because I had to hang on most of the time, with water washing up around my waist
 For the next three hours, MT. and Mrs. Meadows hung on while the Betty B. battered it's way into Lime stone Inlet where the crew could put a boat over and take the water soaked couple safely off.
 Arriving in Juneau last night, the Meadows estimated their loss at everything personal they had In dollars and cents, the loss would approximate 5000 which included the 40 foot three room Wanigan it. self clothes, rifles, $50 camera, all the company's papers and books. and $500 in cash on the bedroom dresser.
 Search For SaIDage
 Making search for salvage early this morning, Meadows and the crew of the Betty B. found only scattered bits of wreckage on the beach at Grand Island, several miles north of where the wanigan broke loose.
 Among the articles recovered, ir- onically, were one unbroken radio tube, a storage battery, few pairs of scissors, the kitchen walls, and a dress hangar which had held some of Mrs. Meadows evening dresses which were then reduced to ribbons by the pounding of the waves on the beach.
 How hard the wind blew, none of the crew of the Betty B. or the escorting Peewee nearby could est1- mate, but it did blow hard enough to rip asunder the half open oil- skins of one of the men on the deck of the Betty B.
 Buying new clothes today because they saved from the wreck only the few clothes they were wearing, MT. and Mrs. Meadows are determined they will take no more wanigan rides. They are staying at the Cas- tineau Hotel