CARDS AND BANJOS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 23

CARDS AND BANJOS.

ROBINSON CRUSOE LIFE. WRECKED ON DESERT ISLAND.

A fpell of Robinson Crusoe life on an uninhabited island was the.experience of the survivors of the Hudson Bay Company's steamer Bay Rupert, 4000 tons, which struck a rock off the Labrador coast. Fifty members of the crew of the vessel were landed at Liverpool by the Nova Scotian. j Carrying 30 passengers and a crew of 92, the Bay Rupert left Ardrosean for Montreal and visited various trading stations. On July 22 she struck a rock and was badly holed. The boats were got away, the three women, and six children on board being placed in the first, and all passengers and crew were transported six miles to Farmyard Island, which is uninhabited. In the meantime the SOS message had been sent out from the wrecked vessel and was answered by the passenger steamer Kyle, belonging to Newfoundland Government. It was,' afternoon when; the. survivors reached the island. Tents were improvised by means of boat tarpaulin - covers and poles, and with wood left behind by. fishermen fires were lighted. Provisions were brought from the Bay Rupert, together with live stock, comprising pigs, sheep and poultryThe shipwrecked people spent three clays on the island, beguiling time by playing cards and banjos until the Kyle arrived i and took them to St. John's.