Three Days Adrift: A Ferryman's Rescue Off Point Wilson
A German sailor in an open skiff, barely able to speak or move, is pulled from the water by Mr. Benson and brought to Port Townsend.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. Benson, the ferryman at this place and Whidby Island, while on a trip to Smith's Island on Monday in the sloop Twilight, picked up a man about half a mile off Point Wilson, in a fearful condition. He had been out three days and two nights in an open boat, without provisions, and was so far gone as hardly able to speak or move. He had worked in vain in the effort to reach a vessel or a tug, and from sheer exhaustion was about to give up, and had it not been for timely aid rendered by Mr. Benson, he must have met a violent death or suffered a lingering death by drowning. He was kindly cared for and brought to Port Townsend, and subsequently sent to Port Gamble. The name of the unfortunate individual has escaped our recollection, but he was a German by nationality.
“He had been out three days and two nights in an open boat, without provisions, and was so far gone as hardly able to speak or move.”
Point Wilson remains a landmark at the entrance to Port Townsend Bay, now marked by a lighthouse and Fort Worden. The episode recalls the dangerous waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the local mariners who have long acted as an informal rescue service.
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