Albert Jackson was supposed to be dead.
When the schooner Jessie P. was caught in a violent Gulf storm in 1896, the crew abandoned the vessel and escaped in boats with the passengers. Jackson, asleep in the cabin, was accidentally left behind.
Days later, fishermen boarded the waterlogged wreck and heard a faint rapping coming from below deck.
They broke open the battened hatches and found Jackson unconscious on the cabin floor, surrounded by large rats gnawing at his legs. The strange knocking sound had been caused by his feet striking the floor as the animals attacked him.
After days without adequate food or water, and after fighting off the rats until he no longer had the strength, Jackson was somehow still alive.
Was Gnawed By Rats
After almost incredible suffering, Albert Jackson was rescued from the schooner Jessie P., which was wrecked by the great storm that swept over the gulf ten days ago.
When the Jessie P. Left St. Andrews’ Bay, Florida, for Pensacola, there were several passengers on board, one of whom was Jackson. The vessel was caught in a storm and was deserted by the crew, who took with them in the boats all the passengers save Jackson. The latter was asleep in the cabin at the time and was forgotten. Those who escaped soon missed Jackson, but the storm was too fierce to put back, and the missing man was supposed to have gone down with the vessel.
The Jessie P. Did not go down, however, and her waterlogged hulk was sighted and boarded by fishermen from a smack. As the fishermen were walking about the deck they heard a faint rapping in the cabin. The hatches were battened down, but the fishermen broke them open and entered the cabin.
As they entered, they saw the form of Jackson on the floor and a number of large rats gnawing at his legs. As the rats gnawed, Jackson, although unconscious, would strike his feet against the floor, and it was this that caused the rapping.
The rats were very fierce, and they left their prey reluctantly as the fishermen approached.
Jackson was taken on deck, and after several hours was revived sufficiently to tell of his experience. When he awoke on the night of the storm and found his companions gone and the hatches battened down, his reason almost tottered. He made desperate but futile efforts to burst open the hatches.
There were a few biscuits and a little water in the cabin, but the bread and drink were soon gone. He fought the rats off until his strength failed and he became unconscious. He had been unconscious for two days when finally rescued.
Jackson’s legs are horribly gnawed by the rats, and he is weak from hunger and thirst, but will recover.
Source: San Antonio Daily Light. San Antonio, Tex. August 31, 1896.
