THE WRECK OF THE AJACE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 119, 20 May 1881, Page 4

THE WRECK OF THE AJACE.

A TERRIBLE SCENE OF SHIPWRECK DESPAIR, AND SUICIDE.

(New Yotk Herald.) The'following ia the story of Salo, the only survivor of the crew of the Aiace, a vessel wrecked off the coast of New York :— Sals, the only survivor of the crew of fourteen, is a hardy honest faced sailor who has followed the sea Bince his tenth year, and been wrecked four times. He is a native of Trieste, forty-six years of age, The Ajace — a barque of 556 tons register, built at Valti, Italy, in 1872, and owned in Genoa— sailed from Antwerp on the 17th of December last, and was laden with empty kerosene barrels and Ballasted with iron. The voyage was uneventful ontil she was within about two hundred miles of the American coast, and then the wind freshened up, and there were portents of a storm. Yet with ordinary seamanship the vessel was carried along safely until Monday last, when she was grazed by another vessel. This craft, by the report of her captain, was the John ioyd from Dunkirk, France, It appears that tne collision occured cffFire Island. There was a little fog on Wednesday night last, but not enough to alarm Captain Morice, of the Ajace, for he said to his men, " To-morrow we shall see the lights of Sandy Hook and Never?ink." On Thursday morning tltey did sco the light?. Then a denee fog fell over the waters and a storm pwepfc down upon tbe vessel. Captain Morice, having seen no pilot, and knowing, his peril in tbe rising tempest, bade all hands stay on deck that night and close reefed his sails, and the entire crew were on deck when his vessel struck at eight o'clock on Friday morning. Sala was at the helm. Immediately after the barque went on the shoalsithe captain ordered all the stajs to be cut away and thrown overboard, find this was promptly done. This was followed by the falling of the topmasts. There was a gale, and ss there was nothing else to be done the men hud died behind the captain's bouße on deck to escape the fury of the blast. Heavy seas broke over the barque and something was* carried away at every lurch... Captain Morice , went below with one of the sailors, a Greek known as George who had had a leg broken by the wreckage, and on his return to the men the captain hail a bottle of brandy for them. .He surveyed the aceini for a moment, and then said,, "Here, boys, probably we must die j let us all die well. There's plenty or brandy on board ; join me." But the terrified eeamen declined the proffered chjjterU-all but Salft, and he drank, copiously, saying, "I'll join you : captain." All the men, but the: captain and S»la, and four who had gorle ' below, stood appalled. These four—two Italians, known as Giovanni, arid" David, and the carpenter and the BteWard~-soon reappeared on the deck with: razors, which they had taken from their berths, and when they were agMn assured that there was no hope the carpenter begged one of his companions to cut his throat, as he choße to die that way rather than by drowning. His request; was not' complied with, but soon an agreement was effected under which the four were to cut; each other's throats. This they did simultaneously^ the vessel gave a lurch that seemed to be her last, but ahe/did not go down, and the four men stood with blood flowing from, their wounds, still able, to walk and speaki Suddenly the steward bethought him of a picture* of the Madonna in the captain's cabin, and he hurried 1 down and gotfit, and, returning with ifc to the des, knelt .with ifc up in his: hands,; and began to pray fervently, the blood flowing copiously from the wound n his- throat meanwhile/ The other three ■whose, throats were, cut Btood around the .'picture, , praying devoutly, and; awaited death. Meantime Sala ; crawled down the companion ladder to assist the Greek sailor whose leg, had been broken. : He shouted, " GeOrgio, Giorgio, where are you "?" But tb.ere, was^ no answer. The. hold was filling wi^water, andi it is not doubted ; that the man had already been drowned Sala hastened to, the deck and found the four men who had cut each other's throatß Btauding by the captain's houße, holding the picture of the "Virgin above their heads, and still praying. But for only a moment dul he see thejs \ Tfor as beVe^ped, towards them ! a great wave swept with tremendous ; momentum across tbe deck, and Salaknew nothing more until he found himself struggling among spars and barrels, and pieces of the wreck in the waves* He clutched aat piece of the mizerfmast, and gained, a hold. He saw : . nothing but wreck around him. Soon/ however, two heads rose near him, and two of bis fellows struggled toward the masfc that .' was; supporting him. One, a sailor? > whom Salft > did not recognise, caught the mast, but a wave swept him off, and he sank. The other, the carpenter, with" blood still flowing from his throat, was too weak to grasp the -mast, arid^ Sala, working himself over to a place oh which he could stand — it was. a part of the poop .deck, om whicfrne stood' 'wHen the Ajace went down — held to the mast by one hand and /With the other drew the wimrfdett carpenjter up to. the mast. He asked, " Why did you'cut jrour throat? " The. dying skilpr answered^ "What! should J, do ? '/."I might as well die one way as anojiier. Sala threw, one of the carpenter's arms around the mast.and, trjecT to hold it there, but the heavy seas forV bade, and the man, pale to ghastiihess with tlie loss of" blood, fell back into the waters and sank. Then SalafwaX alone in the fog and rain. He waved his and shouted,, for he knew by sounds that he had heard that ho was floating .towards, the shore. He was benumbed, and but for a pair of heavy gloyes his hands, he says, must have frozen. He was not conscious 6f thjs until 1 after ;his. rescue. He shouted until a. quarter to .eleven,; and . ;then he heard the thrice grateful dip of the oars of the life-saving crew. No language can voice his gratitude to Captain Bevensee and the life saving, crew. Sala describes -the men who were lbfet 'as follows : — The captain, the mate, the carpenter (throat ciit}^ tEe steward (throat cut), the jboatswain, five Italian seamen— namel^" Miguel, $irty-five

years of age ; Giovanni, twenty-five (throat cut) ; Carly, fifteen j Luigi, fifteen ; and David, twenty (throat cut) ; two Austrians— -namely, Giovanni, thirty years, and George, thirty, and a Greek, fifty years old, known as ! George, who bad a leg broken, and was probably the first that perished. Sala's only relatives, a cousin and an aunt, dwell in Trieste. He was wrecked when he was sixteen years old in the Black Sea, and later off the Irish coast, and a third time in the Mediterranean.