New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-07-26
DAILY CRESCENT.
Extraordinary Escape.

a +
Of Capt, Castle, of the pylades, in new work
entitled e Blue Jackets; or, Chips Of the Old
Block A Narrative Of the Gallant Exploits Of
British Eeamen. and Of the Principal Events in
the Naval Service during the reign of Queen
e Victoria, BY W. II. q. Kingston The incl
dent occurred off Cape rAgullus:
III was blowing d heavy gale of wind, with a
tremendous sea running, such sea as one
rarely meats with any where but of the Cape
when, just at nightfall, as we were taking an
other reef in the topsails, fine young seaman,
mis2entcpman, james Miles by name, fell from
the mizzentopsail yard, and away he went over
board In his descent he came across the chain
span of the weather quarter davits, and with
such force that he actually broke it, / could
scarcely have supposed that he would have ess
capped being killed in his fall, but as the ship
fiew away from him, he was seen rising on the
crest Of . foaming wave, apparently unhurt.
The life-buoy was let go as soon as possible,
but by chat time the ship had already got CON
siderable distance from him, and should he be
able to reach it, even then felt that the pros
pect of saving him was small indeed, as had
no hope, should we find him, Of being able to
pick him out Of that troubled sea and could
scarcely expect that even boat could swim to
go to his rescue, should determine to lower
one was very doubtful as to what was my
duty. I might, by allowing boat to be
lowered, sacrifice the lives Of the officer and
crew, who would, was very certain, at all
events, volunteer to man her. 1t was moment
Of intense anxiety. / instantly, however, wore
the ship round, and while we stood toward the
spot, as far Us we could guess, where the poor
fellow had fallen, the thoughts have mentioned
passed through my mind The sad loss of the
gallant Lieut.. Gore, and whole boats crew, a
short time before, about the same locality. was
present to my thoughts. To add to the chances
Of our not finding the man, it was now growing
I rapidly dusk,
As we reached the spot every eye on board
was straining through the gloom to discern the
object Of our search, hut neither Miles nor the
z life buoy were to be seen Still, / could not
bring myself to leave him to one of the most
dreadful of fates He was good swimmer, and
those who knew him best asserted that he would
swim to the last. For my part, almost hoped
that the poor fellow had been stunned, and
would thus have sunk at once, and been saved
the agony Of despair he must be feeling were he
still alive OF one thing / felt sure, from the
course we had steered, that we were close to the
spotwhere he had fallen Anxiously we waited,
minute after minute passed by, still no sound
was heard; not speck could be seen to indi-
cate his position At last half an hour had
passed by. Miles must long before this have
sunk unless he could have got hold Of the life
Z DuVy stl4A VI tlldt L ntbu HO nUp6 l0OkeU at
my watch by the light of the pinnacle lamp
It is hopeless / thought; we must give
the poor fellow up When / had come to this
melancholy resolve, I issued orders for wearing
ship, in somewhat of a louder voice than usual,
as under the circumstance was natural, to stife
my own feelings. just them thought heard
a human voice borne down along the gale--I
listened; it was, / feared, but the effect of
Imagination, yet waited q moment; again the
ships company heard it. 6 There he is, sir
There he is, away to the windward,'' exclaimed
several voices; and then in return they uttered
q loud, hearty cheer, to keep up the spirits of
the poor fellow. Now came the most trying
moment; must decide whether would allow
q boat to be lowered. g If refuse felt,
Tsmy crew will say / am careless of their lives.
1t is not their nature to calculate the risk they
themselves must rum
At once, Mr.. Christopher, one of my lieuten-
ants, nobly yentured to make the attempt, and
numbers of the crew came forward, anxious to
accompany him. At last, anxiety to save
drowning man prevailed over prudence, and
sanctioned the attempt, The boat, with Mr.. 1
christopher and picked crew, was lowered, |
not without great difficulty, and, sad to say,
with the loss of one Of the brave fellows. He
was the bowman, and as he stood up with his
boat-hook in his hand to shove off, the boat gave
q terrific pitch and sent him over the bow He |
must have struck his head against the side Of l
the ship, for he went down instantly, and was
no more seen. Thus, in the endeavor to save
the life of one man, another was already sent \
to his long account.
With sad forebodings for the rest of the gal
liant fellows, | saw Che boat leave the ships
side. Away she pulled into the darkness, |
where she was no longer visible, and a heavy l
pull knew she must have of it in that terrible \
sea, even If she escaped destruction It was \
one OF the most trying times of my life We l
waited in anxious suspense for the return Of the
boat; the minutes, seeming like hours, passed \
slowly by, and she did not appear. began at \
length to dread that my fears would be realized,
and that we should not again see her, when, l
after half an hour had elapsed after she had \
left the ships side on her message of mercy. a 4
cheer from her gallant crew announced her 4
approach, with the success Of their bold enter !
prise. EN-
Lieut., Christopher very properly received the |
honorary silver medal of the Humane Society \
for his gallant conduct
The Difference between French and American I
Theatres.
We make the following extract from the Paris 1
correspondence Of the New York Times:
Said an American to me yesterday, It seems
to me that the prices at the theatres Of Paris 4
are very high" He had been to the FRANCHISE |
the night before, where he had occupied an \
orchestra stall, and he had paid one dollar. / |
told him that he must remember one thing
that the theatres here pay the authors whose /
works they perform-an expense which the \
American theatres manage to avoid. This may |
be said on an average to be eight and nine per 4
cent. on the gross receipts They also have
another outlay--as unjust as it is onerous-t
nine per cent OF the gross receipts belonging to
the hospitals Besides all this, the product for
which you pay your dollar is infinitely superior
to any product Of the kind that an American
leaves behind. Even as it is, the FRANCHISE
does not pay its expenses, and the Government
gives it half million a year.
The administration of the hospitals has lust
published its annual report, and 1 extract from
1T the portion which concerns the tribute levied
upon the theatres. This amounted in 1868, for
the fourteen principal theatres, to the consider
able sum of $4,000 francs. The Opera Comique
Stands at the head of the list, having CON
tributed 100000 francs Think Of one single
theatre obliged by law to give $22, 900 to the
poor in one year! The Grand Opera gave co.
goo francs, having been open but ten months
out of the twelve. The Porte st. Martin gave
$4,000 francs; the italian 44,O0; the Gymnase
$4,000, the Gate $1,000 and SO on,
From these data the total receipts of the
fourteen theatres are easily deduced and thew
tail but little short of ten millions. There
are, besides, ten lesser theatres, and a great
variety of balls and minor exhibitions. all Of
which pay their nine per cent. to the hospitals,
The very mountebanks and tumblers, the Punch
and lsldvs and tho n7ho1a