The Welcome
The WelcomeNo man would ever want to experience Israel Splinder’s nightmare which he lived through on that dark August night. Splinder watched as many of his friends were snatched from his grasp and swept away by the cruel sea. None of the crew of the Welcome could ever imagine what was about to unfold as they left Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, on August 10, 1883, to fish mackerel off Prince Edward Island’s north shore.
The trip was going to be a splendid one on board the two-masted schooner, the Welcome. The vessel was well equipped with plenty of it, a lot of provisions and good friends, for on board were the relatives of Benjamin Himmelman, the owner of the vessel. ’On board were his three sons—Albert (the skipper), Eli, and young George—and two of his nephews: Henry Himmelman, a son of his brother Henry, and James Stannage Himmelman, son of his brother Jacob” (Island Magazine Fall/Winter 1996: 21). Also a part of the 10-member crew were five other good seamen, Israel Splinder being one of them.
The Welcome left the port of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and found its way to Souris Harbour a week later. There the crew shared good times before they would come face-to-face with death and destruction. The ship left Souris and headed out to fish around the East Point area. On Wednesday, August 29, 1883, the Welcome was about four miles off St. Margaret's Chapel fishing mackerel. At dusk, along with two other schooners the Welcome hove up anchors and beat up the coast to double East Point, intending to run for Souris.
A strong wind was blowing from east-southeast, then at 10 p.m. the wind hauled around to the northeast and began to blow harder. The wind picked up and began to howl its mysterious songs as the rain came pouring down.
At 11 p.m. the crew thought they were south of East Point but were in fact off Black Point when the jib and main sail gave away. The Welcome was now forced to lie under two-reefed foresail, greatly limiting the amount of headway the vessel could make. The other two vessels were lying under jib and doubled East Point. The Welcome was unable to round the point due to the condition of her sails.
Splinder gave a chilling account of trying to escape the clutches of the storm to the Lunenburg Progress-Enterprise. “At seven o’clock we headed South East and wore round to North West. We ran comfortably half an hour, the wind moderating, but a very heavy sea running. I saw an unusually high sea rolling toward us and called to the skipper to keep her hard away. He turned the wheel and looked at the sea until he saw the vessel was going over when he left and ran forward to the dories. I never saw him again” (Island Magazine Fall/Winter 1996 : 21).
Little did Splinder know that things would only get worse. The wave crashed over the schooner, turning the ship on her beam-ends and breaking her main boom while the angry sea swept Albert Himmelman into the dark night.
The sea attempted to grasp onto Splinder but he managed to haul himself up and pull himself over the taffrail. As he took a breath, he could hear the cries of the men in the cabin, his brother Gabriel, Alvin Zink and Stannage Himmelman, their words were quickly silenced by death.
They stayed there clutching on for dear life for about an hour when Alvin Conrad was taken from them by a heavy sea. Full of fright, they continued to encourage each other to hang on and keep praying. But then another soul was sent to meet his Maker.
I reached after little George when the sea tore him away and helped him up again. The last time, he looked up into my face and smiled, then sank to rise no more” (Island Magazine Fall/Winter 1996: 22).
Henry Mosher was praying to God when yet another wave came crashing over him taking him out to sea. Splinder cold, scared and alone went to find his friend Eli.
He encouraged Eli to come out to the masthead with him and although exhausted his friend attempted to find his way. Then once more, the sea made her presence known.
“When almost near enough for me to reach him, the sea tore him away and I was left alone. The last words I heard him say were, “What will our people say when they hear this&148 (Island Magazine, 1996: 22)?
Spindler continued to hang on for 26 hours, unsure if he would ever be saved. He clung on with aching muscles through the night and in the morning he found himself sitting on the rail of the ship, not knowing how he had got there.
Finally, Spindler’s nightmare ended, as John H. Campbell and John MacPhee rowed out to the wreck and rescued the exhausted man. “He was taken ashore, and after care and rest, was able to attend the inquest and burial on Sunday, September 2”(Island Magazine Fall/Winter 1996: 23). The bodies of five men were recovered from the wreck, they were prepared for burial by local people in the community and laid to rest in Kingsboro cemetery.
The news of the tragedy was telegraphed to Lunenburg on Friday, but it was the following Tuesday before Benjamin Himmelman was able to reach Souris. He had been in the same gale aboard the steamer Edgar Stuart, which had rescued the schooner Active, disabled off Betty’s Island, and towed her into Halifax on Saturday.
It was some time before the Welcome was refloated because, due to the salvage laws at the time, there was a lengthy battle over who owned the Welcome and who was responsible for paying the salvage costs. The Welcome was sold to Mahone Bay interests, a year later the ship was sold to two Prince Edward Island fishermen. Over the next three years the vessel would have four different owners on the Island. In September 1902, 19 years after that disastrous day off Black Point, her registry was transferred to Sackville, New Brunswick, Closing at last the Welcome’s Island log.
