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JOE B. PATTON, President. HARRY E. PATTON, Supt. CHAS. E. PATTON, Sec’y & Treas.
ESTABLISHED 1881.-INCORPORATED 1892*
PATTON SASH. DOOR A BUILDING ft
Manufacturers and Dealers in
la&fly and
Flooring, Ceiling, Rough and Dressed Lumber.
«(;i:XI:R.\I. CONTRACTORS. 1 ?
CONTRACTS FOR BUILDING ANYWHERE IN THE SOUTH.
TELEPHONE NO. 41 ■■ FACTORY OPPOSITE NEW COURT HOUSE.
PATTON SASH, DOOR / BUILDING COMPANY, ROME, GA.
ON CRUSOE’S ISLAND
Terrible Suffering of Crew of the Burned
Ship Parthia.
DIES FROM DRINKING SALT WATER
One Steals Fresh Water—Saved by Governor
de Bod —Strange Coincidence
of Fate.
The three masted ship Parthia of
Bath, Me., sailed from Liverpool for
San Francisco with a cargo of 3,400
tons of coal on June 25.
On her last trip Captain Charles G.
Carter, a down east shipmaster, took
charge of the Parthia, sailing with a
cargo of American wheat for Liverpool.
When the ship was about 1,000 miles
out on the north Atlantic on the voyage
to San Francisco, a carrier pigeon, hun
gry and nearly exhausted, flew into the
rigging. The bird was caught and fed
by the sailors. The pigeon bore no mes
sage, but around one leg was a silver
ring.
It was thought by the seamen that
the pigeon would bring good luck to
the Parthia. The crew christened the
bird Mike, and it became a favorite,
i The coming of the pigeon was the
only incident to break the monotony of
the long voyage around the Horn until
the noon of Sept. 27, when a sailor dis
covered smoke coming out of the after
hold, near the mizzenmast. The ship
was then 450 miles west of Chile.
Captain Carter said at once it must
be a case of spontaneous combustion in
the coal, the beginning of so many fires
that have destroyed great ships. The
crew couldn’t get at the blaze, for if
they opened the hatches, the flames
would burst forth and every opening
would be a volcano.
Captain Carter called all hands aft
There were 37 men. He told them their
only hope lay in taking to the boats.
Three were at once provisioned and
equipped with sails and nautical instru
ments. Plenty of fresh water was stow
ed aboard. It was determined to stand
by the ship as long as possible, and she
was steered toward the land.
The next day the smoke, heat and gas
had become almost overpowering. The
cabins were too hot to stay in. Nothing
could be done inside the ship, and the
water in the butts was so hot that it
had to be cooled before drinking.
A strong gale had sprung out of the
gortfawest qpd blew wilt fury for two
TRADE EDITION—ROME TRIBUNE, DECEMBER, 10, 1895.-FORTY PAGES.
days. On the second day of lire Bwx-iA.
the whole ship became so uncomforta
ble and unsafe that Captain Carter gave
the command for all hands to take to
the boats at 6p. m. The doomed Par
thia was then 400 miles from the Chil
ean coast. ■
Captain Carter and eight men took
the longboat. Chief Mate Nicolson
and eight men had the second, and Sec
ond Mate R. A. Crocker and eight sail
ors the third.
All night the crew, loyal to their
ship, stood by to see the last incident
in her brief, awful history. One hour
after quitting the Parthia flames burst
through the decks, the force of expand
ing gas hurling the hatches skyward
with a succession of booms.
The pine spars and hempen lines were
food for the flames, which crackled
from shrouds to yards. The ocean was
lighted up for miles about, and the heat
was so intense that the three boat crews
had to pull far away.
Circling round and round the blazing
ship all night was Mike. The pigeon
appeared fascinated by the fire, and
tried repeatedly to light on the spars.
Captain Carter believes Mike finally
became a victim to the flames. With a
splurge and a prolonged hiss the Parthia
sank into the Pacific, leaving only a few
sputtering, charred embers tossing on
the waves.
On account of the direction of the
wind Captain Carter deemed it best to
sail with it for Juan Fernandez, Robin
son Crusoe’s island, 400 miles to the
northward. The gale blew worse than
ever, and the sky was black. Captain
Carter lost sight of the other two boats
between 2 and 3 p. m. next day, and
did not sight them again.
The sailors had constantly to bail the
longboat, and their belongings, except
food, water, clothing and instruments,
were thrown into the sea.
After a lull of days and another storm
of 24 hours, the captain’s longboat
landed at Juan Fernandez Oct. 9, after
eight days of exposure. The boat with
the first mate and eight more sailors ar
rived at the island the day after.
Alfred de Rod, a man of German par
entage, represents the Chilean govern
ment on Robinson Crusoe’s island. He
has the title of governor, and lords over
the 40 or 45 persons now on the island.
Captain Carter speaks gratefully of
the governor’s treatment of the Parthia’s
distressed seamen. Governor de Rod,
Captain Carter says, has for years be
friended from 30 to 35 shipwrecked
American seamen a season, and has nev
er received the slightest recognition
from the government of the United
States. On Oct. 19 a Chilean man-of
war put in from Valparaiso to inquire
after Captain Carter and the men. The
commander brought a tale of suffering
from Second Mate Crocker’s boatload
oi atuirwa motfl thrilling than that of
the others. Mate Crocker had become
scared during the first blow after leav
ing the Parthia, and had steered due
east for the Chilean coast. The water
in the cask got low, and his men were
put on short allowance. There was
plenty of salt pork, but they could not
eat it without drink. On the sixth day
out David Jones, a Welsh seaman, who
could not speak English, thinking no
body was looking, stole a long drink
out of the cask. He forgot to put back
the plug, and all the water ran out of
the cask. Next day the nine men had
not a drop of water to drink.
The lad confessed, and the sailors
were for cutting his throat and throw
ing him overboard, but Mate Crocker
told them Jones should stay in the boat
as long as he did.
For seven days the boat went with
out water, and the sufferings of the
men were frightful. Again and again
they attempted to take up the salt wa
ter, but Mate Crocker restrained them.
On the sixth day after the water was'
exhausted Jones leaned over the side
and took a long, deep draft of sea
water. He fell into the bottom of the
boat in a terrible paroxysm and died
after five hours of suffering. They
threw him overboard then, fate having
worked the punishment they had in
mind to inflict.
That same day, 60 miles from Val
paraiso, the boat encountered the steel
hull of the burned coal ship Garfield.
They recognized her, for the Garfield
had loaded with coal for Valparaiso at
the next pier in Liverpool and had
sailed at the same time.
It was a coincidence of fate. The Gar
field had been deserted for the same
reason as the Parthia on Oct. 9.
Mate Crocker boarded the hull in
search of water, but the buttshad burn
ed out of the steel shell Next day the
boas reached Valparaiso, and a war ves
sel was sent after the other boats.
The American consul sent the men
north, and they have just landed in
New York and related the above story
of their adventures.—New York World.
Cable Fourteen Hundred Miles f.eng.
Brazilian advices state that the steam
er Faraday will shortly leave England
with the cable which is to be laid in the
Amazon river from Para to Manaoe.
This enterprise is being carried out by
an English company under an exclusive
contract with the Brazilian government.
The line will be 1,400 miles long and
will have 16 intermediate stations.
Football In Africa.
Englishmen have introduced football
into the Lake Nyassa region. At Kota
kota, a few years ago the greatest slave
depot on the west shore of the lake,
mixed teams of blacks and whites meet
every Saturday. The negroes, however,
refuse to wear shoes, playing in their
bare feet.
’ UNITED SENTINELS.
Novel Secret Organization Incorporated ct
Washington.
The United Sentinels of America is
the name of an association for which
articles of incorporation have been ap
plied at Washington. The charter sought
is for 100 years. The incorporators are
the Rev. Thomas Chalmers Easton, pas
tor of the Eastern Presbyterian church;
Messrs. Gorham P. Hopkins, Wray Bal
tic and George McDonald. The society
is to be a secret order, and hence the in
terest that has been taken in its object
and scope. Interest is further taken in
the design of the association from the
fact of Rev. Dr. Easton’s membership
and his recent utterances with reference
to the A. P. A. to the effect that it
should be run on different lines. It was
supposed that the new lines might be
followed in the organization, of which
he is a charter member, and will no
doubt become a leader.
Mr. Hopkins said there was nothing
in the organization except what was
declared to be its purposes.
“It is,” he said, “an association of
persons who desire to come together for
literary, educational and charitable pur
poses for mutual benefit and improve
ment. Knowledge, as against error, is
to be disseminated Hy means of public
lectures, private instruction and printed
matter.”
The Barber’s Question.
Old Mack is a messenger in one of
the departments, has a good record as a
soldier and for several years has been a
faithful employee of the government.
Like many of the war veterans, he can
draw the long bow when occasion re
quires. He was out in a terrible North
Dakota blizzard once on a time, and
when he recovered from the effects of
the severe freeze, he was minus a small
portion of each ear, and sometimes he
gets very tired of the question his “ear
marks” bring out. Not long ago he was
in a barber shop down town having his
hair cut, and the tonsorial artist had his
curiosity aroused. “How did you lose
part of your ear?” questioned the bar
ber, as he was working the shears along
carefully on the starboard side of Mack’s
head.
“Lost that under Grant in the Wil
derness,” Mack said, with a sober face.
Pretty soon the shears were snipping
on the other side, and another section of
ear was disclosed missing.
“Hello I How did you lose this one?”
the hairdresser asked, standing off and
viewing his workmanship.
“Lost that one under Napoleon at
Marengo,” was the imperturbable re
sponse.
The barber was silenced for awhile,
but when he had received his fee, and
;was shaking out his cloth, he startled
the old gentleman, who had put on his
hat and had his hand on the doorknob,
with:
“Did you lose anything l when you
were under Noah in the ark?.”- —Wash-
ington Star.
When Birds Are Frightened.
As the balloon neared Petersfield we
entered a dense bank of clouds and ran
in them for some three miles, emerging
over the chalk downs and skimming
about 150 feet over a windmill. Pass
ing over a large rabbit warren, it was
amusing to witness the alarm of the
bunnies as they dived into their bur
rows, which from above presented the
appearance of hundreds of circular black
spots.
Balloons have a terrifying effect on all
birds. As one passes over a farmyard
there is always a regular stampede of the
fowls under cover, while ducks dash
into the ponds and dive frantically to
, avoid the supposed danger. The effect
of the diving is most absurd, as seen,
from above, for often, owing to the
transparency of the water, the violent
efforts of th a ducks to hide themselves
are plainly visible. Wild birds, espe
cially game, are also much perturbed at
the sight of the balloon, pheasants crow
ing loudly and running off, while par
tridges which have been flushed drop
like stones into a neighboring hedge
row. Sheep also seem much alarmed,
but cattle and horses appear to take no
interest in the matter.—Macmillan’s
Drydocked on an Iceberg.
The strange experience of being dry
docked on an iceberg is told of by Cap
tain Chester of a Pacific coast fishing
schooner. He says that he made fast to
a big berg which was stranded off the
coast of Alaska for the purpose of re
plenishing cis stock of ice, and after
getting some 80 tons of it on board, the
berg suddenly careened over to the side
opposite that on which the schooner was
made fast, and lifted her high and dry
out of water, held fast in a groove. The
men took the boats and went to a safe
distance to watch the proceedings. The
berg gradually settled more and more,
lifting the schooner higher and higher,
until her anchor cable caught the strain.
Then, as the end of the berg went up,
the anchor held and pulled the schooner
off, bows first and unharmed. The rest
of the ice was loaded by boats, and the
schooner kept clear of the berg.
The Beetle.
In most European countries the tap
ping of the beetle known as the death
watch is regarded as an omen of ap
proaching death. Naturalists say that
the curious habit this insect has of tap
ping the wall is a means of signaling to
its mate, and that two deathwatches
have been known to come together, each
attracted by the other’s tapping.
AFTER MANY YEARS.
MinnictL Returns to Be Tried For an Old
CritoMk
Quite- a stir was created at Salyers
ville, Ky., by the appearanceof William
Minnich, who killed a man named Wil
liam Ward in the year 1866, by striking
him in the head with an old fashioned
skillet handle. Minnich, fearing the
I law, went to Missouri, where he changed
his name to Burns, and where he has
since resided.
He is now a lawyer of some note and
a minister of the M. E. church, and has
caused considerable excitement since he
returned by his eloquent sermons. His
wife did not know his real name until
they reached his former home. Min
nich’s case has long since been filed
away, but he says he will have it re
docketed at the next term of the Magof
fin circuit court, and that he does not
fear a trial, as he acted in self defense.
—Cincinnati Enquirer.
Can't Fse Preservntlnea.
The Pennsylvania department of ag
riculture has devoted considerable at
tention to the so called “preservatines, ”
now commonly advertised for the pres
ervation of cider, milk and other arti
cles of food. In every case it is found
that they are composed of some form of
boracic acid, and in some cases salicylic
acid. When added to milk according to
directions, one pint of milk contains
from nine to ten grains of the drug.
The medicinal dose is from 5 grains
to 30 grains. The department of agri
culture has decided that the use of the
“preservatines” is injurious to public
health and that they come under the
provisions of the pure food act. Persons
using or selling them are liable to con
viction and fine.
New York Swelldom Distarbed.
A department store at Fifth avenue
and Fifty-sixth street—next block but
one to William C. Whitney’s and Cor
nelius Vanderbilt’s palaces, and across
the way from Dr. John Hall’s church I
What next?
Trade walks hand to hand with so
ciety nowadays.
We build our palaces with care, but
who khows that a hatcher shop may not
come next door?
I did think, however, that upper
Fifth avenue was safe from trade for
some years to come.
Now I don’t think.—Cholly Knicker
bocker in New York Recorder.
A Jewel of a Bird.
While Mrs. James Williams of Jeffer
sonville, Ind., was dressing a turkey
for dinner she found in the bird’s craw a
diamond solitaire the size of a pea. The
fowl came from a farm close to a picnic
ground, and it is thought that it picked
up the jewel near there.