THE BURNING OF THE J. T. BERRY.

Evening Star, Issue 7432, 30 January 1888, Page 4

THE BURNING OF THE J. T. BERRY.

DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.

STATEMENT BY THE CAPTAIN

The captain, chief officer, passenger, carpenter, cook, and steward, and eight able seamen, survivors of the ill-fated ship John T. Berry, which was burnt at sea whilst on a voyage from Philadelphia to Japan, landed in Sydney yesterday by the s.s. Woodburn. The John T. Berry, it will be remembered, took fire on the evening of the 9th inst., and the crew abandoned her in two boats, one of which, containing eleven men, is still missing. The boat containing the captain, passenger, chief officer, and ten others reached the Nambuccra River on Monday, after a journey of something like 500 miles. Their sufferings during the time they were in the boat were terrible in the extreme. In the first place they were poorly clad, having in their hurry to abandon the ship to leave their effects behind. Then the supply of fresh water ran short, and they were on an allowance for three days. To add to this they had a hard battle with the elements in trying to make the shore, and were seven days exposed to the broiling hot sun. At the Nambuccra River the unfortunate people were shown every kindness, and as soon as they regained strength were placed on board the Woodburn and sent on to Sydney. To the reporter of the ‘ Daily Telegraph ’ Captain Watts said “ As you arc perhaps aware, the John T. Berry was a wooden ship of 1,349 tons. She was laden with paraffin oil—a most combustible cargo—from Philadelphia for Hiogo, Japan. She was ninety-seven days out when the fire broke out, and we had every prospect of making a quick passage. I intended taking the eastern route to Japan. The first intimation I got of the fire was at 10 p.m. on the 9th inst. It was the secoud officer’s watch, and the ship was in latitude 33deg S,, longitude lC4dcg E., with the wind fresh at N.E. and a nasty irregular sea running. My attention was first of all directed to getting the boats out, knowing well that with such a combustible cargo under hatches the ship could not last long. All hands were called on deck immediately after the outbreak, and went to work merrily, and in less than fifteen minutes two boats—the port and starboard—were out and in the water, towing astern. The boats were hurriedly provisioned with tinned meat and biscuits, and some fresh water was passed over the stern in a kerosene barrel, both boats taking about an equal supply. The work had hardly been finished when a terrible explosion was heard forward, and on looking in the direction I was surprised to see the decks burst and a huge volume of flames shoot up the fore-rigging. This, to use the captain’s words, “ put tire under our feet,” and we at once made preparations to abandon the ship. This was twenty minutes after the fire was discovered, and, as you can see, we had no time to gather our effects, and so had to leave with what we stood in. To get clear of the ship was no easy task, for we expected every moment that she would be blown to pieces. We one by one slid down a rope over the stern into the boats, and I, of course, was the last to leave the ship. The second mate (Mr Anderson), with nine seamen, took to the one boat on the starboard quarter ; and I, with the mate (Mr G. H. Matthews), a passenger named J. B. Beam, the carpenter (John Johnston), the cook, the steward, and eight able seamen, got into the other boat on the port quarter. I should have mentioned that when the fire broke out I kept the ship before the wind to prevent its spreading ait, and to keep the dense clouds of smoke which were ascending from suffocating my men. After the crew loft, the ship, of course, rapidly came to the wind, and we had to cut adrift our boat to ears her from being

swamped. Then I saw nothing more of the boat with the second mate and nine hands. I gave the second mate orders to make for this coast, adding that if he fell in with head winds he was to use his own judgment. He had a compass in the boat, and being a good navigator, and having a good boat under him, should, I think, reach land safely. As I stated, there was an irregular sea running when the fire broke out, and in this the boat when cut adrift tossed about pretty freely and shipped some water. With the aid of the oars, however, the men kept her head to the wind at a safe distance—say seven miles —from the ship, and I determined to stand by until daylight and see the burning of the vessel. No sooner had she come to the wind than the fire increased, and in an hour or so she was one mass of flames, the ocean being brilliantly illuminated for miles around. The sight was a brilliant one, but seemed awful to us, as we were fully 500 miles from the shore, with the weather pretty rough. The boat we were in was, however, a good one, and we one and a'l determined to make the best of our lot, trusting in Providence to reach the shore safely. It was not until 4 a.m. on January 10 that my boat was kept away for the shore. The ship by this time was nearly burnt to the water’s edge, but strange to say there was only the one explosion, and that occurred while we were on board. The fire at first seemed to be confined to the forward part of the ship, and when the explosion occurred the flames ran up the foremast, consuming the sails, which were set, like so much paper. The foremast was the first to go. It came down with a terrific crash, and was followed by the mainmast, the falling spars sending forth thick clouds of sparks. The mizenmast went early in the morning of the 10th, and then I knew that it was all over with the ship, for her decks were gone. It was my intention to return to the vessel at daylight; but when the mizenmast was seen to go over the side I abandoned the idea and

determined to lose no time in pushing on for the shore. There were no signs of the other boat at daylight. The wind favoring, sail was made in the boat and a watch was set for passing vessels. The chief officer and I took turns at the rudder; and the boat being heavily laden, more than ordinary care had to be exercised in keeping her afloat. During the first four days the occupants endured great sufferings, the heavy confused sea running threatening momentarily to engulf the craft and all hands. On two occasions the boat was nearly swamped, and it was only by the strenuous efforts of the men with their balers that she was kept afloat. The occupants of the boat during this rough weather took little or no sleep, and as they had not seen a sail since leaving the ill-fated ship on the fourth day, they were beginning to lose heart, being still many hundreds of miles from the shore. Cheered by me they soon brightened up again, but soon after another trouble occurred. The wind, which had favored the boat for making the Australian coast, fell away to a calm, and the boat was left rolling about in a rough sea. A lot of water then found its way on board, and the balers had to be kept constantly going to keep the craft afloat. Fortunately the calm did not last long, and when again the wind favored the boat the men became themselves again and resumed baling with renewed vigor, notwithstanding that the allowance of water to each man had been reduced to two mouthfuls per day. As luck would have it the boat contained an ample supply of tinned meat and biscuits, but the men suffered greatly from thirst. No rain fell, and the heat was intense, raising large blisters on the hands and faces, and causing the skin to peel off in other places. On the fifth or sixth day out, when nearing the shore, the wind came out from the southwest and north-west and retarded the progress of the boat. Fortunately this was for a short period, and the wind once again came away from the north-east and favored the boat for making the coast. The course was west by north, and on the night of the sixth day out the Solitary Island was sighted and made out. I did not deem it prudent to land at the island, but kept away for the shore and made the laud next day about the Dellinger River. The sea was exceedingly rough on approaching the coast, and it was only by carefully watching the waves and keeping the balers going that the boat lived. After making the coast a distress signal—an old shirt—was hoisted on the mast, and the boat was run down to off the Nambuccra River. Here it was observed by the pilot, and the tug Pelican promptly crossed out with the ebb tide, picked up the shipwrecked crew and towed the boat, which was standing off and on, into the river. The Pelican was the first vessel I saw since leaving the burning ship. On crossing the bar on the return with the crew the boat from the J. T. Berry swamped and ‘ turned turtle,’ and the Pelican was assailed by several heavy seas, but she got in without grounding, and we landed safely.” The cargo of the ship consisted of 50,000 cases, of oil, shipped by the China and Japan Trading Company and consigned to Mr W. H. Jacobs, of Hiogo, Japan. The cargo is believed to be insured. The ship, however, is uninsured, and the captain, who is part owner, will lose something like 12,000d0l by the disaster.

Strange to relate, the captain of the Patrician, the only American ship in port, was rescued at sea from a wreck by Captain Watts, of the J. T. Berry, several years ago. Captain Watts is quite a young man, being only twenty-four years of age. He has been eight years in the ship, five years as commander. The John T. Berry was an American-built vessel, twelve years old, and she was one of the finest of the fleet owned by Messrs Watts and Co., of Thomaston, Maine. The following are the names of those saved in the captain’s boat:—Captain James Watts ; chief officer, Mr G. H. Matthews ; J. B. Beam, passenger; John Johnston, carpenter; Wong Ah Ming, steward ; Ah Wah, cook; Walter Neilsou, Richard Spour, Tom Christianson, Julius Poison, John Hansen, Hans Knoll, S. Lass, and William Fenton, able seamen.

The missing boat contained—Anderson, second officer; Peter Anderson, Jacob Baker, John Smith, W. H. Myers, Charles King, Frederick Holmgrem, Tom Tulpeson, Charles Newholm, Charles ,and Andrew