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White Wings Vol I. Fifty Years Of Sail In The New Zealand Trade, 1850 TO 1900

An Awful Death

An Awful Death.

The fate of a sailor named Fleming was not so merciful. He was caught under the debris, and nothing could extricate him. As soon as possible Mr. Aitken (who was Fleming's particular chum, having known him on a previous ship) made his way through the ice and found the unfortunate man in an awful plight; in fact he was so terribly injured that it was a marvel that he lived. "For Heaven's sake, Andy, get a gun and put me out of my agony," shrieked the injured sailor. It would have been a kindness to accede to his prayer, butpage 49that was impossible. Mercifully he soon afterwards lost consciousness, but he lingered until about eight o'clock that morning.

Upon going down into the forehatch where the coal for the refrigerator was carried it was found that two of the plates had been wrenched apart, letting daylight through, but fortunately the ship was not damaged below the waterline. It was a miracle that with all that crushing weight forward—ice from the berg and the wrecked spars and rigging—no more serious damage was done to the hull.

For three days the crew were up cutting the wreckage away and clearing the awful confusion made by the fall of the
the Wellington After Her Terrible Experience Among The Ice.

the Wellington After Her Terrible Experience Among The Ice.

top hamper. "I was five days before I got to the wheel," says Mr. Aitken, "and while we were getting things as shipshape as was possible there was no question of steering the old ship; we were just drifting about."