THE PARISIANA DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 221, 24 January 1911, Page 5

THE PARISIANA DISASTER

THE CAUSE UNKNOWN. THE CASTAWAYS' LIFE ON ST. PAUL ISLAND. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Perth, January 23. The sufferings during the time the captain's boat was battling with the sea, and subsequent hardships on the island, caused the deaths of the fourth engineer, Bannon, and a fireman named Heine. Their remains were buried on the islands. The castaways found the cache kept by the French Government on the island, which contained three barrels of biscuits and five barrels of preserved meat and vegetables, but half the biscuits, which were eighteen years old, were rotten, and a large proportion of the meat decayed and uneatable. The store containing the provisions had broken down. During their month's stay at the island a French fishing schooner called and gave the castaways a quantity of fishing tackle. This helped to give variety to the diet. Fish, birds an.l seals were captured.

After the death of Bannon and Heine the thirty-two men on the island maintained a daily routine, and kept strict watch. On Christmas Day and New Year's Hay the captain treated ail hands to brandy and punch, and on the latter occasion all made themselves sick by indulgence in seal steak. A seaman named Anderson received a chance shot in the leg from a gun fired by the mate of the French fishing schooner while hunting rabbits. It was a nasty wound, and the pellets were not extracted till lie reached Fremantle Hospital. The chief officer estimates the value of the cargo at £2,0.00,000.