SIXTEEN DAYS IN AN OPEN BOAT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4, 31 July 1918, Page 8

SIXTEEN DAYS IN AN OPEN BOAT.

LOS 3 OF THE SCHOONER | CRESCENT. I A perilous trip of sixteen days in an open boat was the thrilling ox periencc of trie castaways of the' American schooner. Crescent, which was destroyed by fire "while! on a voyage from Sydney to San Francisco. Details of the disar.ter show that the sclioonI or cleared Sydney Heads on March J '2?> for the United States. Siie caught I fira at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of June 1, when 4.00 miles south-west of San Francisco, the origin of the outbreak being unknown. Captain. T Olson, master of the Crescent, his wife, and twelve members of the crew put off from the burning vessel in the ship's lifeboat, whjph was only 21 ft long, and with a high sea running, and' without a sail, and no land in sight, they watched the Crescent burn to the water's edge .Members of the party left the ship with "Only the clothes they wore, and, owing to the smallness of the boat, only a small amount of provisions could be carried. The captain acted as navigator; his wife sat in the stern of the boat, and divided the small portions of the scanty stock of provisions, while the crew took turns at the oars'. Day after' day passed, without a vessel being sighted, and the 14 persons suffered • terrible hardships, owing to their being cramped in such a restricted space, and their clothes having been soaked with salt water. Mrs Olson displayed the highest courage, and, when on many "occasions, it appeared as if the small boat would be overwhelmed by seas, and that succour was beyond reach, she encouraged' the members of the crew to renewed efforts. The boat eventually reached San Francisco on June 17, the whole of the members of the party being in / a state of exhaustion. t