Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1846-11-21
THE BURNING SHIP.
ny THE AUTHOR or CRutzrHa IN THE
LAST WAR"

Ny fiend Harry II the h~appicst Of mon
lie has the sweetest aud most romantic
cottage In the vicinity Of Philadelphia. |
- but nine miles from the city and neat q
fins old turnpike, 50 TINT u span Of bl0oc
horses will take you theirs in forty minutes
Ills vito Is n perfect nngsl-beuutiflI
sweet tempered and loves Harry deyotedIY
And then u group Of such lovely children
did YOU ever helr how fsabcIan | be.
cane acquainted" said he to me, one
evening, looking on his wife ! shook my
head IN the negative. "Well, then, draw
your chnlr closer to The fire, and | will tell
you. With those words he began.
~ wns n night IN the tropics. We had
been IN pursuit Of Il heavy merchantmen,
but II fog coming up, sbe was shut in from
our sight, md for more THAI nm hour re.
manned invisible. Suddenly. however, the
moon broke forth, and we saw the chase
close hauled, on the very point Of escaping
na. We instantly nude all sail, but The
wind was 30 uncertain That the stranger
Kept bis advantage, the air being compa-
ratlycly still with Us while he had Il res.
pectable breeze: At length il fell a dead
calm, the chase being by this time several
miles off.
She could now be seen, lying in h liquid
flood ofsuoonhgit, rising and falling iazily
upon the swell, her white sails scarcely
moving from the mast, and flashing iii the
distance, like n sea CULTS snowy wing. Al
ut once Captain Drew, who had been
serntinizing her through his glass, en-
claimed.
There's something the matter on board
there, the men have almost al lct her
dccks-and even / lose alod repairing arc
coming down-what Gun il be-, Mr.. Joncs2'
i cant make out, sir-the crew perhaps
has mntinicd, they are running wildly hith.
g Grand thIther-no, my God, The ships on
IRE : he calculated, as n cloud Of thick,
black smoke suddenly pulled up her fore
hatchway, followed by u long, vivid stream
Of fire, that shot up brightly into the mid.
nightsky. We saw DIT once that the flames
must have been raging some time in the
hold, md that they had attained nm inten.i.
~ which would defy every effort to slbdue
them. II was q fearful sight. The eager
element shot along the rigging, ran swiftly
", the iofcmast, and wrapping the hamper
IN o sheet Of fire, sfreamed almost pcrpnn-
dIcnlarly upward Il fathon or two above
The truck. There was no breeze; but the
nnduIatlon9 of the atmosphere swept the
smoke to ono side, forming, us it
wefc,a gloomy curtain against which the
lnFid flames sdonc IN terrible relief. Every
object on board could now be- distinctly
seen, and we noticed bal all at once the
crow rushed aG. A signal Of dis.
css the next instant was shown on the
All this had passed in a moment.
Lower away the boats-pipe their
crews there, boastwain ! quick, sir, Or the
POOR wrctclIcs viii be lost, numbered the
'Thc men hurried to their stations, fred
With q sympathy equal to his own.
'Mr. Danforth,' be said, 4 viii give
you the command Of the leading boat,
pare no effort to reach them in time-.bnt,
&c continued in a whisper, mind the maya
'Ay, ny, %sir,' answered, touching my
mi, and leaping into the stern sheets | con.
inued, push offthere, fofward--and now
live way with a will, ~boys-puN.' .
al these words the men bent to their
'ars with the sinews Of giants curling the
waters in foam beneath our bows, and send
ng the boats along az if they had been
skifs. = {
'Bnt swift as was our progress, that Of ,
be destroying element was still more So
The fire had spread with such (rightfnl ra.
ldlty as to wrap the whole fore part of the
hip IN flames, and threaten tn consume her {
cfore we could arrive. Since i. found c
ent, il ragged with redoubled fury, until now !
ne shrotds, the lorcmast, the bowsprit, the l
ards, everything was sheeted with fire,
'hieh wllriing round and round, ascended %
to the mast head, shooting its fofky .
'ngues-olt on every hand, and streaming y
a meteor away up into the calm, blue q
Ky, Meanwhile the flames had broken r
ut the after hatch, and catching at u
nee to The %ratlins, leapcd from rope to rope, n
IN wildly up the rigging, spreading almost p
Instantly to the huge lower sails, Kissing, n
ashing, and roaring as they went, until at II
myth the whole ship seemed a mass of 2
ND ire, and nothing was left untouched u
ut the narrow quarter deck, on which the r
ow despairing crew had gathered in t.
some eagerly endeavoring b lower c
only boat that had escaped the flames, G
frantically crying out for mercy, some h
ursing and disappearing awtully in their 0
gony, and some stretching out their hands r
nploring for help. r
Give way, my men, give way-wiI YOU !
ee them miserably burned to death before d
our eyesl' shouted, rising in the boat :
waving my hat to the sufferers forget. :
ng in the excitement of the moment the :
nminency of our danger in case OF an >
The poor vr3tches on the quar- Z
r of the burning ship answered back with >
hysteric shout. Our gallant tars started,
ke melted hounds at the CRY, and with a :
w vigorous strokes we dashed up to the y
uarter. :,
Keep her off there I shouted, seeing ;.
lat we should be swamped By the eager. i
ess of the sufferers to escape, keep her !,
1-jump overheard, and we1l pick YOU 4
| continued, as we fell off from her =
1artpr again; and in less than three min :,
.es the deck was bare, and our boats full !,
the rescued crew. :
mr.. Danforth,' at this moment shouted =
lck, from the other boat ahead, there's a /
dy and her father, they say, here-still 7
j board-for heavens sake let US try to =
I've Them :
For n moment as / remembered my y
'ders, and the extremity of our danger, / +
aused; but when REFLECTED thai by depart /