Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1852-08-13

could not make out her name and l don
know as We did it for any reason in partic
ular, but as the sea was smooth, We launche,
r the canoe and went alongside, and some o
> us got out upon the vessels bottom. Thinl
r of our surprise on hearing a knocking
. from inside! At first we thought it NIGH
be some of the cargo floating about in the
wreck, but as We listened we heard indis
tinctly but surely human voice.
! Instantly returning to the boat we pro
cured the few tools that were on board
an axe, hatchet, and a saw, and COM
menced cutting hole near the cardboard,
but in our haste the axe went overheard
upon the first blow, and was lost and this
carelessness how bitterly was it repented
of! Well, We worked away with the
hatchet and the saw, so that in few mo-
ments We made hole in the plank under
which we had heard the noise, large enough
for a person to show his face, and for US
to hear from below the shout of joy of
those who had hailed us as their dclivelcrs.
Never wetc men destined to be more dis
appointed than these poor wretch~ were.
For few moments they gave themselves
up to the delirium of joy, and then-when
the awful truth dawned upon them that
we, instead Of saving them, were sending
them to more speedy destruction-there
came contrast no pen con describe, no
tongue can tell. The hole which we had
made, although not large enough to cxtri-
cate man, allowed the air which had kept
the hull afoat to escape, and to our horror
we saw that the vessel was every minute
sinking and we ourselves coming nearer
to the surface of the water.
We worked with the hatchet and the
saw with all the energy men are capable
of, but could only cut the plank. In vain
we hacked with our little hatchet upon the
close timbcrs of the schooner Our axe !.
We would have given worlds for it now it
might have saved them. But soon they
as well as ourselves began to perceive that
all exertion was useless, and they crowded
the small aperture We had made, putting
through their hands and seizing ours with
convulsive grasps.
Oh, hope long deferred, thus to dawn in
estacy and to sink in despair They yell
led, they blasphemed, and they prayed
They cursed the light of heaven which broke
upon them the sooner to shroud them in
eternal darkness, and then they fervently
implored forgiveness.
Amidst this confusion the Captain Of
The schooner made his way to the opening,
aud arresting the disorder beneath, asked
of US, with a cool manner and perfectly
calm voice, how much of the hull seemed
vet to be out of water We told him, and
then heard him communicating the infor-
nation to those below, and giving his or
dcrs to mointain silence while he related
his story, which was necessarily short.
They were from an Eastern port, bound
to Charleston, nearly in ballast. When
they were capszed in the late gale, two
men were lost, but most of them being be-
low, as the schooner was lying, to they
were able upon her going bottom up to get
through the run scuttle into the hold
The confined air had held the vessel up
till now, but they had dcspaired of succor
knowing how improbable it was that the
wreck should be seen, or if seen, that any
one would search for them.
Thus they had been for four days, hay-
ing found sufficient provisions for subsis-
tancc, but with expectation of release they
had resigned themselves to fate that
seemed inevitable But when they heard
the sound of our footsteps, then they tho't
their preservation sure-but now their dis
appointment was the frenzy of despair.
But the Captain was man! There he
hung on by the floor timbers, and told his
story-gave his name and the names Of his
crew-bade US good bye in firm and
manly voice, which only ialtered as he
gave his last message for his wife and chill
drcn.
Put your hand through" he said to
one of US, " and let me kiss it. When you
land, 60 to my home, and let my dear wife
put her lips to the same spot. Tell her it
is all can send her from here, but that
my last breath shall be prayer to God
for her and her little ones! And now,
good bye, my kind friends-you have done
all you could for us-God will reward you
look to your own safety" 1t was time
indeed, lest our canoe should be swallowed
up in the vortex of the sinking vessel ;
and with feelings to which nothing Of
wretchedness can compare, We showed off
to our pilot boat.
In a moment the wreck went down, and
the last yestipe of those IL contained was