A TALE OF THE SEA.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6706, 20 November 1889, Page 4

A TALE OF THE SEA.

« THE SOLE SUFwVIVOE. A MARVELLOUS ESCAPE. The Daily News of Sept. 24 says :— The fate of Rice, the seaman who perished in the wreck off the Isle of Man, forms a terrible tale- of tho sea as it was told at the inquest. Eice waa one of the two poor fellows picked up in tho boat- off the Calf of Man by the steamer King Orry, of Liverpool. They were found on Friday last — they were wrecked on the Tuesday before; and in all the interval they had been beating about between shore and shore, as completely bereft of aid and comfort as though they had been in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They had nothing to eat all that time, and the man who perished had almost nothing to wear. He had jumped for his life in undershirt and drawers when the ship went down. Above all, they had nothing to drink. O'Neil, the survivor, waa found sucking a piece of the cloth of his trousers for the moisture which the rain had left in it. Over forty vessels had passed them a3 they lay tossing about in their small boat — some so near as almost to run them down — but not one saw their signals for help, and the wind waa too high to give the slightest chance to their feeble cries. They were the sole survivors of a complement oE eleven, all told, who embarked at Liverpool for Belfast in the steamer Florence, of 207 tons, on Tuesday afternoon. The Florence was laden with coal, and, according to one report, though thi3 was afterwards denied, too deeply laden. It was said that an extra waggon load of coals brought down to the wharf at tho eleventh hour proved the hist Btraw. The hatches were closed, but not securely, and the Bea found its way in. At any rate, when the ship got fairly oub to sea a storm broke over her, and at about midnight on Tuesday, she becamo a perfect plaything of the wave 3. They were within ten miles of the Isle of Mau, and they could see the lighthouse, but they could not make for port. The lighthouse was about all they could see, and they were quite unaware that the sea had washed one of the hatchways clear, and that tho vessel wa3 filling and sinking under their feet. The captain came on deck, and had just time to say there wa3 really nothing the matter when she went down — cargo, crew, and one solitary passenger, name unknown, and perhapß never to be known. j Nob a vestige of her remained but one I small boat, floating bottom upwards and badly damaged, in a fearful sea. O'Neil, a powerful rjan of fifty, and Eice, who waa in tho prime of life, were able to swim, and thoy kept themselves afloat for a quarter of an hour before they saw the boat. They managed to get astride of her, and held on hour after hour until a heavy see struck her and washed them off. It was, however, a merciful stroke for thorn, for ifc righted the boat, and when they caught hold once more she was right side up, and , her oars had not been lost. All this time Bice had been exposed to the full fury of wind, rain, and sea, . with no better protection than hia underclothing, and the older man, though more warmly clad, waa of course wet through and through. Wednesday came, but it brought no relief. They pulled about all day, but no one saw or heard them ; and hungering, thirsting, and nearly dead with exhaustion, they had to face the prospect of another night. The boat had two or three holes in her ; she was fast breaking to pieces, and only a watertight compartment, which might give way at any moment, kept her afloat. By nightfall on Wednesday Kice gave up pulling, and quietly lay himself down in the water which covered all the bottom of the boat. Thursday morning broke, and they were still in the same situation, O'Neil with his oilskins vainly trying to signal Bhip aftor ship, It ice incapable of word or deed. So passed Thursday, minute by minute, and Thursday night, and Friday morning. At length, on Friday afternoon, the look-out on tho King Orry made out something dancing on the waves, boro down upon it, and the two men were hauled on board, one terribly bruised and all but speechless, the other quite dead, tho boat finally breaking up and vanishing just a3 they wero taken out of her. Tho dead man was almost black with exposure. Ho had roused himself once or twice to ask if there was any hope of rescue; at last ho said, "If I die, send my wife word ; " and O'Neil never heard his voice again. His wifo will have to break the news to three children. O'Neil was Boon revived with food and sleep, and all he had to Bay when he could speak again waa that he had been in two or three shipwrecks, but he thought Ihia was tho worst. The Bea was running bo high when they wero found that it was impossible to lower a boat to them, but a Beatnan of the King Orry settled that difficulty by swinging himeelf into their craft afc the peril of hi 3 life. A small subscription was raised on board for the benefit of the Biirvhror, and part of it waa offered to his rescuer. The man refused to touch a penny of it; and so, with a suitable touch of heroism ends this latest etory of the sea.