ANYONE who lives to the ripe old age of 100 qualifies to be called a survivor. In the case of Mrs. Writa Knight Johnson of Warwick, she is doubly qualified, being a survivor extraordinary.

Nearly 80 years ago while on her honeymoon trip from New York to her native Bermuda, she and her young American husband were rescued from the Furness liner Fort Victoria just before it sank on the high seas after having been rammed in a fog storm by another ship, The Algonquin.

During the early years of the 20th century wealthy Americans, who considered Bermuda their playground, went to great lengths to secure the services of bright young Bermudians because of their charm and industry to work in their homes and enterprises.

Writa became the envy of her peers, who considered her lucky when she took advantage of such an opportunity at age 16 to go to Newport, Rhode Island, to be a mother's helper.

In her early 20s she met and married a Rhode Islander, Al Burton. Their intention was to spend Christmas in Bermuda in 1929, and to meet her family for the first time. They travelled to New York and set out aboard the Fort Victoria on December 19, burdened with their Yuletide goodies.

It was the liner's last voyage before the holiday season, and it too was loaded with much anticipated cargo that ended up on the ocean's floor. Luckily, all of the passengers escaped unhurt, with only the clothes they were wearing.

The honeymooners were taken back to New York and returned to their homes in Rhode Island. It was a year or two before they eventually got to Bermuda as a couple, although Writa had visited before by herself.

In fact, Burton died in 1934 of a job-related illness. In 1942 she married a New Yorker, Ervin Johnson. He was an avid golfer and a frequent visitor. They made New York their home base, and became leading figures in the affairs of the influential Bermuda Benevolent Association, Inc. That marriage lasted nearly 30 years before he passed away.

Writa was born in Paget, near the Horizon Hotel, on February 12, 1906. She was the eldest of the ten children of Arthur and Bertha Knight. Her father, who lived to be 103, was a pilot in the Dockyard and one of the founders of the Somerset Brigade Band. Eventually the Knight family moved to a home he built in Somerset.

Mrs. Johnson was undeterred by her harrowing experiences aboard the Fort Victoria. She became a world traveller, even organising a ladies' travel club.

Twenty years ago she decided to escape the rat race of New York and its bitter winters and returned to the island to settle down. She is a very independent woman, friendly and frank. She lives alone, and keeps fully abreast of current events.

She has only one surviving sibling, brother Harold Knight. For many years Harold and his wife Amy owned and operated a motor lunch counter in Pembroke and Devonshire. When they retired they moved to Virginia where a daughter has a home and family.

Deceased sisters were Gwendolyn, Gladys, Ismay, Audrey and Enid, and brothers Albert, Arnold and Harold.

Last Sunday a host of nieces and nephews, along with other family and friends, clubbed together to entertain their aunt at her 100th birthday party. Premier Alex Scott and his wife Olga and her rector, Archdeacon Emeritus Dr. Arnold Hollis, attended.