The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-05-14
PshawI it's only Rimmcr:

) He stepped forward and clenched my
arm. He pressed it with convulsive
grasp, and pointed TO the cabin.
1 attempted to go there.
! He stamped his foot and tried to hold
me back. He pointed to the boat, and
implored me with frantic GESTURES, to
go up.
1t is appalling to witness the horror
struck soul trying to express itself by
signs. 1t is awful to see these signs
when no face is plainly visible, and no
voice is heard. could not see his face
plainly, but his eyes, through his heavy
mask, gIowed like Goals of fire.
81 will go !'' exclaimed. Isprapg
from him. He clasped his hands to-
gether but dared not follow.
Good heavens L thought, what q
fearful thing is here What scene can
be SO dreadful as to paralyze the soul
of the practised diver. I will see for
myself.
I walked forward. I came to the
cabin door. 1 entered the forward sa
/ loon, but saw nothing. A feeling of
contempt came to me. Rimmer shall
not come with me again, I thought. Yet
l was awe-struck Down in the depths
of the sea there is only silence-oh, how
solemn paced the long saloon which
echoed with the shrieks of the drown
| ing passengers. All, there are thoughts
which sometimes fill the soul, which are
only felt by those to whom scenes of
sublimity are familiar. Thus thinking,
I walked to the after cabin and entered.
Horror what sig gut!
Had not my hand clenched the door
with grasp which mortal terror had
made convulsive, should have fallen
to the floor I stood nailed to the spot
for there before me stood crowd of
people-men and women caught in the
last death struggle by the overwhelm-
ing waters, and fastened to the spot;
each in the position in which death had
found him. Each one had sprung from
his chair at the shock of the sinking
ship, and, with one common emotion, all
had started fer the door Bot the-wa-
ters of the sea had been too swift for
them. Lol then-some wildly grasp
ing the tables, others the beams, others
the sides of the cabin-there they all
stood. Near the door was crowd of
people heaped upon one another-some
on the floor, others rushing over thcm-
all seeking madly, to gain the outlet.
There was enc who sought to clammer
over the table, and still was there an
other holding on to an iron post. So
strong was each convulsivc grasp, SO
fierce the struggle of each with death,
that their hold had not yet been relax
ed; but each one stood and looked fran
tically at the door.
To the door-to me, to me they were
lookingl They were glancing at nae, all
those dreadful, those terrible eyes -
eyes in which the fire of life had been
displaced by the chilling CLEAN of death
eyes which still glared, like the eyes
of maniac, with no expression. They
froze me with their cold and icy stare
| They had no meaning, for the soul had
gone. And this made it still more hor-
rible than it could have been in life ); for
the appalling contortions of their faces
expressing fear. horror, and whatever
else the human soul MAJ feel, contract
ing with the cold and CLASSY eyes, made
their vacancy yet moro fearful. He up
on the table seemed more fendish than
the others; for his long, black hair was
dishelved, and foated horribly down
and his beard and mustache, all loosen
ed by the water, gave him the grimness
of demon, Oh, what woe and and tor
! sure what unutterable agonies appear
ed in the despairing glance of those
faces-faces twisted into spasmodic con-
| tortions while the souls that lighted
them were writhing and struggling for
life.
I needed not the dangerous sea which,
even when we touched the steamer, had
slightly rolled. Down 10 those awful
depths the swell would not be very
strong, unless it should increase with
ten-fold fury above. But it had been in
creasing. though had not noticed it,
and the motion of the water began to be
felt in these abysses. Suddenly the
steamer was shaken and rocked by the
swell.
At this the hideous forms were sha-
ken and fell. The heaps of people roll
ed asurds-. That demon on the table
seemed to make a spring directly to-
wards me. I fed shrieking-all were
after me, 1 thought rushed out, with
no purpose but to escape. I sought to
throw off my weights and rise.
/ Ny weights could not be loosered-I
pulled at them with frantic exertions,
but could not loosen them. The iron
fastenings had grown stiff. One of them
wrested off in my convulstve efforts,
but the other still kept me down. The
tube, also, was lying down still in my
, passage-way through the machine rooms
did not know this until / had exhaust.
! ed my strength, and almost my hope, II
} vain effort to loosen the weight, and
, still the horror of the scene in that cab