Survivors of the Puritan Shipwreck
An agonizing story comes from those who go down to the sea in ships. In June the British four-masted bark Puritan, in the midst of a fearful storm, foundered in the South Seas. Eleven of the survivors came into San Francisco the other day. When it was seen that the ship could not remain afloat, two boats were launched. These boats were on the ocean for twelve days, but at the end of six days the water ran out. Not a drop was left. The captain said: "With a hot tropical sun beating down mercilessly the suffering was terrible. Our tongues began to swell on the second day. No one was able to speak on the day before we reached the little island of refuge. The men had to scrape each other's tongues almost constantly to keep each other from suffocating." Yet notwithstanding these conditions, God in His goodness brought both boats to safety.