GAMBLED FOR LIFE
BUT DEATH WON THICK. VANCOUVER, November 4. The Ryoyei Marufi a handsome Japanese fishing smack, of 70 ions, and apparently valued at £5,000, was found drifting in the open Pacific 100 miles off Vancouver Island, on Monday, with two dead men aboard, but it was not until to-day that documents aboard were translated, and showed what had happened on the fateful voyage across the Pacific. Dn December 5 of last year the vessel left Mizaki, Japan, with a crew of 12. Early in January the crankshaft broke. “The eight bushels of rice we had aboard were exhausted,” stated Cpptain Miki’s painfully-written record. “No ships have passed us. all .hope is gone, and death -only is .awaited. This is written on March <5. Wo have decided to die.” In a corner of the cabin a neat pile of human bones is evidence that they drew lots, and one after another were killed by the survivors, .who still hoped for rescue. Finally, drifting,clear across the Pacific, the remaining two themselves died of starvation, probably two mouths ago.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Star, Issue 19712, 12 November 1927, Page 24
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178GAMBLED FOR LIFE Evening Star, Issue 19712, 12 November 1927, Page 24
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