Friday, September 12, 1914
Fishermen Given Up As Lost Return
Two of Crew of N. F. Craft Picked Up After
Being Adrift
for Three Days Without Food or Water
Two Newfoundland fishermen for whom memorial services were
held last Sunday in Grand Bank, N. F., in the belief that they had been lost at sea, were
brought to Boston yesterday aboard the British steamer Davisian,
which made port form Liverpool.
Instead of having been adrift in a dory for eighteen days,
as a wireless message from the Davisian indicated, the men on
arrival were happy to relate that their drift in the dory was limited to three days. They
were taken aboard the Davisian from the Portuguese fishing
schooner Senhora Du Gui, which had picked them up 12 days
previously.
The fishermen John Tibo, 42 years old, and
Dennis Drake, 41, were members of the crew of the schooner Winifred
Lee, which sailed from Grand Bank, N. F., late in August for Qureo fishing
bank. The third day on the grounds Drake and Tibo set
out to haul trawls, both in one dory. Fog shut in and they were unable to locate their
schooner. The fog continued for practically the three days they were adrift, clearing on
the night of the third day. About 11 o’clock that night they sighted a vessel’s
lights at some distance. Being without means of signaling at night, the men rowed as hard
as their exhausted condition would permit, and after an hour’s hard pull drew
alongside the vessel. Which turned out to be the Senhora Du Gui.
Fortunately for the fishermen, the schooner was practically becalmed; had there been any
wind to speak of they would not have been able to overtake her.
After going astray from their own schooner in the fog, Tibo
and Drake rigged a small leg-o-mutton sail and took turns rowing in the
hope of finding the Winifred Lee. With the passage of time,
however, they hoped only for rescue by any vessel, and conserved their strength as much as
possible. The dory carried a small quantity of drinking water and a small tin of food.
During their first day adrift the men concluded to use the water very sparingly and not to
touch the food in the tin for as long a time as possible, not knowing how long they might
be adrift. The tin of food was still unopened when they were picked up, but their supply
of water was practically exhausted.
Aboard the Portuguese schooner, hailing from Oporto, the
fishermen were made as comfortable as possible. The schooner was on a salt fishing trip,
and her skipper told them in broken English that unless it was possible to transfer them
to a passing vessel, they would have to remain with the schooner until she made her home
port, as he could not interrupt the trip to put them ashore. During the 12 days aboard the
Senhora Du Gui no vessel was sighted until the Davisian
hove into view last Sunday. And the Davisian was sighted only
because the schooner happened to be on the extreme southerly end of the Grand Banks.
Signals were set in the schooner’s rigging and in
response to these the Davisian, in command of Capt.
James Trickey, ran alongside and took Tibo and Drake
aboard. Soon afterwards a wireless message carried news of their safety ashore. Officers
and crew of the Davisian contributed to a fund for the two
fishermen, and this was swelled by additional donations after the steamer docked at East
Boston.
Arrangements were made by the British consul for the
transportation of Tibo and Drake to Grand Bank, N. F.,
where Tibo’s wife and three children and Drake’s
wife and four children await their return. |
