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Show SEE GOD'S HAND IN RESCUE Natives of Rlmnt.irii Ascribe Their Escape Es-cape From Pcitli to Miraculous I nterpositlo". "Savod hy the hand of God," Is the vny the nlno natives coiuihisIiih the crew of the 80-ton schooner Orotiiiiim cliariu'terl'.e their escape from dentil, lifter' hiivliiK drifted helplessly fill days on ono of the loneliest hits of ocean In the seven seas. When the wreek of the Orotnanii ivas towed Into Papeete harhor, Tahiti, one of the most remarkahle voyages known In these waters was completed. The vessel, a tvo-ninsted schooner, owned hy natives of Hlmatnrn, an Island ahout ,'!0O miles southwest of Tahiti, left her homo port, without . cargo, hound for the Island of Kurutu, in the same group, where she was to undergo repairs and take cargo of copra for Tahiti. Two days out, she was struck hy n storm, which carried away both her masts and later her rudder, leaving lier n helpless derelict. With never n glimpse of land or sail to give a ray of hope, the Oromana drifted for 50 days. After 15 days the supply of food was gone. The natives managed to catch a shark with hook and line. This lasted them five days. The rest of the time they had no food. An occasional shower prevented death from thirst. Then the "miracle" happened. The mountains of Tahiti rose slowly over the horizon. The shifting sea current brought them nearer and nearer until they were family sighted from snore and a powerboat sent to tow them In. They were too weak to rise to their feet, but, -after a few days ashore all appeared to bo rapidly recovering from their experience. The natives say the hand of God guided their craft, for the prevailing winds in these latitudes are from the northwest, n direction which would never have brought them to Tahiti. |