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ADRIFT IN AN OPEN BOAT
The New York Times, May 8, 1892, Wednesday
ADRIFT IN AN OPEN BOAT.;
TWO MEN RESCUED BY THE STEAMSHIP LA HESBAYE.
Two waifs from the ocean were yesterday brought into port by the Dutch tank steamship La Hesbaye, which arrived from Antwerp. They were two Gloucester fishermen, who were picked up at sea after an exposure of eightyfour tours in an open boat. Their names are Harris Atwood and John Hodstat.
Atwood is forty-seven years of age and Hodstat twenty-eight. They, formed part of the crew of the fishing schooner Orients and while trawling for cod lost the position of their vessel.
This was on the morning of May 10. A thick fog obscured the schooner and a fresh westerly wind soon drifted the little dory far out to sea.
The men^s experiences during the ensuing four days can be better imagined than described. The boat was a mere cockleshell. which every wave was likely to swamp. It required constant attention to avert such a catastrophe and to bail out the water which occasionally dashed over the sides.
They had no provisions nor water and death from starvation seemed likely to be their fate, even if they were spared by the elements. Having no compass, and the sun being obscured most of the time by fog, they were wholly ignorant as to what direction the land lay, and knew not which course to steer.
When night closed in on the second day after their separation from the schooner both men wore well-nigh exhausted by their long vigil and want of food. Another day and night went by, and still no hope of rescue.
On the afternoon of the fourth day the glazing eyes of the watchers saw the outlines of a vessel on the horizon. The look-out of the Hesbaye sighted them, and after a brief inspection with tils glass, Capt. N.W. Ninnes, who command-ed the steamship, decided that he had two castaways on hand.
The steamship was run close to the boat and the occupants were taken on board. They were so utterly exhausted by their long exposure that they had to be hoisted on board by means of a boatswain's chair,
Once on board they received every care. They were given a warm bath and put to bed. Nourishment was given them in small quantities, and after they had sufficiently recovered they told their rescuers how they had been separated from the schooner and drifted to sea.
They were found in latitude 42° 28' north, longitude 64° 38' west, which is a locality nearly 500 miles east of New-York. They could hardly believe that they had drifted so far out.
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Catain N.W. Ninnes, received for this action the U.S. Presidential Life Saving Medal in Gold, on 13 May 1892.
 Description:
The Congressional Life Saving Medal (in gold and silver) was authorized by an Act of Congress on June 20, 1874 to be bestowed to a U.S. Citizen who rescues or attempts the rescue of any person from drowning, shipwreck or other peril of the water, or to the rescuer of a U.S. citizen.
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