Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-02-25

could detect sound like the incoming OF a
tiny let or stream At first I could see moth
ing: but as soon as became used TO the dim
light. | could distinguish the faint outlines
Of thn hoy at some distance below me. He
seemed to be sitting on the broken floor, with
his feet stretched out against cask. | call
ed out to him, and thought he looked up
| "Jack, are you there ?"
He answered me in a faint, weary tone ::
eyes! help me Do help mel Bring men
and bring lantern the ship has sprung a
eak."
I hesitated, and he added, in a more eager
tone, "Make haste, will try and hold it till
you come back"
I waited to hear no more, but hurried on
deck as soon as possible, and returned with
lantern and three men, | leaped down be-
side the boy, and could scarcely believe the
evidence Of my own senses. Three Of the
timbers were completely worm-eaten to the
very heart, and one of the outer planks had
been broken, and would burst in any moment
the boy might leave it, whose feet were braced
against the plank before him. Half-a dozen
little Jets Of water were streaming in about
him, and he was wet to the skin [ saw the
plank must burst the moment the strain was
removed from it, so | made my men brace
themselves against it before | lifted him up
Other men were called down with planks, and
spikes, and AIDES, and, with much care and
trouble, we finally succeeded in stopping the
leak and averting the danger. The plank
which had been stove in was six feet long by
eight inches wide, and would let in a stream
of water of that capacity. 1t would have
been beyond our reach long before we could
have discovered it, and would have sunk US
in a very short time. l knew it must be
where the iceberg struck us.
Jack Withers was taken to the cabin, and
there he managed to tell his story. Shortly
after | put him in the hole he crawled forward
and when he became used to the dim glimmer
that came through the dead lights, he looked
about for a snug place in which to lie, for his
limbs were very sore. He went to sleep, and
when he woke he heard a faint sound like wa
ter streaming through small hole. He went
to the open place in the cargo and looked
down and was sure that he saw small jet of
water springing up through the ships bottom.
He leaped down, and in a few moments found
that the timbeIs had given wholly away, and
that the stream was increasing in size He
placed his hand upon the plank, and found it
broken, and discovered that the pressure of
the water without was forcing it inward
He had sense to see that if it gained an inch
more it must all go, and the ship be lost, and
perhaps all hands perish. And he saw, too,
that if he could keep the broken plank in its
place he mi ght stop the incoming flood. So
he sat himself upon it and braced his feet
against the cask, and then called for help
But he was too far away-so low down, with
such mass of cargo about him, that his voice
scarcely reached other ears than his own.
Some of the men heard him, but thought he
was talking to himself, and there he sat, with
his feet braced, for four and twenty drcary
hours, with the water spirting all over him,
and drenching him to the very skin. He had
several times thought of going to the hatch
way and calling for help, but he knew that
the broken plank would be forced in if he left
it, for he could feel it heave beneath him.
His limbs were rtcked with pain, but he
would not give up. | asked him if he should
not have given up if had not come to him
as did. He answered that he could not have
done it while he had life in him. He said he
thought not of himself; he was ready to die
but he would save the rest if he could-and
he had saved us, surely saved u.s.
The boy lay sick almost unto death but |
nursed him with my own hands-nursed him
all through his delirium and when his reason
returned, and he could sit up and talk, bow
ed myself before him and humbly asked his
pardon for all the wrong had done him. He
threw his arms around my neck, and told me
if | would be good to him, he would never
give me cause of offense; and added, as he
sat up again, 81 am not a coward, l could not
be a dog"
never forgot those words; and from that
hour | have never struck blow on board my
ship. l make my men feel that they are men,
that | so regard them, and that | wish to
make them comfortable and happy as posi-
BILE; and have not failed to gain their re-
spect and confidence. l give no undue Ii
cense; but make my crews feel that they
have friend and superior in the same per-
son. For nine years | have sailed in three
different ships, with the same crew. A man
could not be hired to leave me save for an
officers berth. And Jack Withers remained
with me thirteen years. He was my cabin
boy; one of my foremost hands, my second
mate; and the last time he sailed with me,
he refused the command of a new bark, be-
cause he would not be separated from me-
But he is captain now, and one of the best
the country ever afforded. Such gentlemen,
is my experience in government and disci-
pline on shipboard.