ADRIFT IN A LEAKY BOAT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3657, 19 October 1912, Page 15

ADRIFT IN A LEAKY BOAT.

SIX SAILORS DIE FROM ENDURING AWFUL PRIVATIONS.

On the Pacific liner Oropesa, which arrived at Liverpool last month there came Captain Robert Thomas,'nis wife, and child, and three sailors of the sailing ship Criccieth Castle, of London, which was abandoned off Capo/Horn on July 15. When it was decided to abandon the vessel • which was hopelessly waterlogged, the captain, his wife, and their four-year-old son, the second officer, and thirten of the crew left the ship in the large lifeboat,' while the first and third officers and five of the crew left in a smaller boat.

The experience of the former party during the first night in the open boat, says the “South Wales Argus,” was terrible, the captain describing it as the worst lie had known during the twenty-two years of his seafaring life. That night, the captain thinks, the second boat must have been swamped, as nothing was seen of it afterwards.

Captain Thomas was himself washed out of the lifeboat, but was saved by his wife, who caught him by r his clothing, enabling two of the men to pull him aboard again. Three of the men died during the night, and they were followed by three others before the survivors reached land seven days later.

Those who know anything of the icy region round Cape Horn in winter can imagine the sufferings of the unfortunate people who were for seven days in an open boat, which moreover, . was leaking badly as the result of striking the ship’s side while it was being lowered. There was never less than eighteen inches of water in it. although some of the men. were continuallv baling it out. UNABLE TO HELP THEM SELVES. About four o’clock oh the afternoon of July 22 the lifeboat was seen try Assistant-Keeper Sully of Cape Pembroke Lighthouse, Falkland Islands. Ho hoisted the British ensign to let those on board know that "they Jiad been seen, and afted a desperate effort the exhausted men managed to reach some outlying rocks, where the keepers were waiting for them with ropes ready to throw to them. The eleven survivors in the boat were in a state of exhaustion, and suffering terribly from_ frost-bite. Some of the men were quite helpless, and had to be dragged out of the boat. AYith great difficulty they were carried to the lighthouse. A doctor was sent for, and food was given to the sufferers, Airs Thompson and her little hoy being wrapped in blankets and put to bed. In most oases the clothing had to he cut off the men. especially their boots and oilskins, their feet and hands being frostbitten. Later the patients were taken back to the boat on stretchers, and conveyed in the Government launch to tne Victoria Cottage Home, where the second officer died. It was at first feared that some of the survivors would lose both feet, but it is expected this will not be the case. Several of them, however, are in a critical condition.

Relating the experiences of those in the captain’s boat one of the crew who reached Liverpool said that on taking to the boat they were 1-50 miles from the Falkland Islands. They had some tinned food, biscuits, and a little water. A terrific sea was running.

DEAD MEN’S CLOTHES

On the second day a Finn, a French rook, and a Japanese died: on the third day a German and an Englishman died; on the morning of the fourth day those who remained were horrified to find that during the night another man, a Welshman, had died. Before the dead men were tjirown overboard their clothes were taken to provide more protection for the others. By the fourth day nearly all who remained were frost-bitten. All suffered agonies. Then the water supply gave out. Tlie biscuits were wet and were scarcely touched. So exhausted were they that no one seemed to care what happened. A large sailing ship was sighted about two miles off, and the survivors hoisted a shawl at the end of a spar in an endeavor to attract attention, but the sailing ship passed out of sight without seeing them. All hope of rescue seemed to vanish, huo on the seventh day an outlying island in the Falklands was sighted. A fire was lighted as soon as they landed, and the survivors were able to enjoy a drink of melted snow. Butthe relief afforded by the islet was only short-lived, and the partv put out to sea again in the hope of finding an inhabited island. This quest was attended by misfortunes. and the boat was blown out to sea and beyond sight of land. ultimately Port Stanley was reached. Altogether seventeen men have perisiied.