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Auction: 15003 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 244

Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, small silver medal (John W. Jinks. Chf. Offcr. S.S. "Mexican" for Rescuing With Boats Crew 6 of Crew of Schr. "Drisko". Oct 16. 1893), with integral top silver riband buckle, extremely fine, in Elkington, London, fitted and embossed case of issue

Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Annual Report July 1894: 'A Silver Medal and vote of thanks to Mr. John W. Jinks, Chief Officer of the Mexican, for having with a boat's crew of four men effected the rescue of the schooner Drisko's crew on the 16th October 1893. The Drisko had been dismasted in a hurricane and waterlogged, and when seen by the Mexican the crew, consisting of the Captain, his wife, and four men, had been without food or clothing for four days, the only part of the vessel above water being the top of the after deck.'

A Thrilling Bridal Trip
'Captain Drisko had all his savings invested in the schooner Drisko, and after his wedding a bridal trip to the West Indies from Charleston, South Carolina recommended itself to the happy groom. Mrs. Drisko assented. She was unfamiliar with blue water and thought the trip would be an interesting one. It proved to be something more. Including the captain and his wife, there were seven people on board when the schooner cleared Charleston Harbour on the 8th October 1893. There was one whole day of quiet seas and whispering winds, and then, as the land dropped behind the sea line, the sky grew overcast and the barometer portended rough weather. About midnight a gale of cyclonic fury was raging. Huge waves broke over the vessel, carried the deck load adrift, and wrecked the bulwarks before the schooner's head could be brought round to meet their savage blows. Only for a short time was the vessel able to lie in that position. Captain Drisko decided that his one chance of safety lay in putting the helm up and making a run for it. With nothing showing but a close-reefed mainsail, the vessel began her flight at 4:00am. By daylight she was struggling along with bare poles. Captain Drisko was knocked almost senseless by a heavy timber, hurled against him by one of the waves that constantly swept the deck.
"I took another look at the Barometer", recounted the Captain, "and I saw that we were in for more trouble. Shipwreck was written all over it, and as all of our boats had been swept away, matters began to look very serious. The schooner had become waterlogged and was steering very badly. I dragged Mrs. Drisko up the hatchway and lashed her to the top of the deckhouse. Then, seeing that the schooner would founder outright unless something was done very quick to ease her, we clambered along the weather rail and commenced hacking at the rigging of the masts. All three had to be cut away before she righted, and then, as she hove up her battered bulwarks, we sought refuge on the deckhouse, which was the only part of the ship that was left above water. Running across the deckhouse was an iron bar. I first tied one end of a rope around my wife, passed the line once around the bar, and made the other end fast to myself. Mrs. Drisko's end of the line was too long. A big wave came along, and when I had rubbed the brine out of my eyes I looked for her, but she was gone. The line was still fast, however, and we seized it and dragged her back on board, bruised, bleeding, and nearly drowned. All of us then assisted in lashing each other to the deckhouse, and it is very lucky for us that we did, as our strength was wholly exhausted, but neither rest nor sleep could be had. A man cannot sleep when he is expecting to be drowned every minute, and is half drowned at shorter intervals by waves that dash every bit of the breath out of his body."
For two days and nights the crew clung to that frail support, while angry seas did their utmost to wreck it. The driving rain which beat in the faces of the shipwrecked stung the flesh like so many volleys of birdshot, and, as the hours dragged by, there came the madness of hunger and thirst, and then, finally, despair. The schooner was wreck on Tuesday night, and it was Friday morning before the storm abated. A can of vegetables which was fished up from the hold formed their only sustenance. A few hours later the smoke of a steamship was spotted. It proved to be the Mexican, bound from New Orleans for Liverpool. Two hours later the rescue was effected. The transfer from the drowning wreck to the deck of the Mexican was made just as another storm came up.' (The New York Times, 16.11.1893 refers).

Mr. and Mrs. Drisko returned to America from Liverpool on board the Cunard steamship Etruria, and arrived in New York in early November.

Mr. John William Jinks, born Manchester, January 1862; obtained his Master's Certificate, July 1887; died May 1942.

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