Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1866-03-02
BY REV. j. l.. FLETCHER.

BY REV. J. l.. FLETCHER,
| In the following narrative, incredible a
some parts Of it may seem, there is nc
word of fiction. There is in this sto,y q
verifca'ion of the OLD adage that "tuih is
stranger than fiction" and it is hire writ
ten, as related by the Captain of ne "Enig-
ma" a man Of undoubted v<raciiy, and
the principal actor in the scmes herein de-
scribed.
The Enigma" was ,chooner Of about
one hundred tons bur,len, built by F. o.
Moses, Esq, of Bath and owned jointly
by him and j. I. AIfse, master Of Phipps-
burg. She was luilt to run in shallow
watar, her model oeing quite fat on the
! bottom, while she was prepared for deep
water by centre-board, which could be
let down several fed below her keel, or
| drawn up at pleasure. She sailed from
Bath on the I'd dayof October last, with
the following persons on board, bound for
Charleston and Mobile, loaded principally
with lumber and potaoes. j. T. Morse,
master and part owner and Cyrus Morse,
Gilmore Mari, JoseIh Anderson and
Henry w. Small, cool and sailors, were
the names of those o, board. She en-
coun'ered some rough weather before
reaching Charleston, S, c., but behaved
well, and arrived there in eleven days in
good condition. After discharging por-
tion of her cargo, consisting mostly of po-
tatoes, taken from the hold, in the after
part OF the schooner, she sailed from
Charleston on the 18th of October, for
Mobile. Everything went finely until the
", when the wind, which had been in
creasing for some hours, began to blow Sc
verely. and soon became terrific. All on
board trembled for the little craft. but as
she stood up finely, and rode out hours ol
the sweeping gale, confidence in her safety
increased, and the men became cheerful
and well assured. But the wind increased
to gale, and the gale grew to hurricane
All day the situation was one of great per.
u and growing worse every hour.
Still the schooner was stanch, made on.
ly about twenty-five strokes Of water in ar
hour, and all on board believed she would
weather the storm.
AT this time they were off the Abaco
Islands and kept very nearly to their course
with the little sail they were able to make.
Thus things continued until evening, when
though the sea roared fearfully, there were
indications that the gale bad spent its
greatest force; and leaving but two on
deck the others retired TO the small cabin,
prepared TO sleep, in hope of brigh. to-
morrow.
At eleven o'clock one of the men who's
watch was on deck came into the cabin gr
drink of water, and reported everything
outside as favorable as could be expeted,
and then taking piece of bread.n his
hand be sat down on the stairs le4ding to |
the companion way, as if the d.nger was
already past. The Captain improved that
moment to remind the others of the graft.
tude which was due to Him
"who plants his footsteps on the sac,
And rides upon the storm
"Many a poor fellow said be, "has
been dashed upon the ocks or gone down
beneath the mountain waves that we have |
detied. Many proud ship has failed to
Withstand this war Of wind and waters
which our little craft has passed through
SO proudly. Keep sharp lookout, An
dersoD, and the other boys will be ready
for their watch after an hours Sleep"
Anderson, for he was the one, taking
his lunch, was just rising TO go on deck
when sea, mightier than they had felt
before, struck the schooner, tripped her.
and almost instantly she was bottom up
wards. The captain, Cyrus Morse, and
Henry Small were thrown from their
berths, almost naked they having taken,
off their clothes on retiring, to dry them,
as they had been wet through for several
hours. They rushed for the companion
way, and tried to open it, but the pressure
of water was so great it could not be open
ed, and they were shut in beyond the pos
sibility of escape, by that, the only pas
sage from the cabin. The water was
slowly coming in upon them, and in few
minutes was two feet deep. They were in
utter darkness and hopeless of ever seeing
the light of day. They talked of young
Mari, the one who was on deck at the
time of the disaster, and felt that be was
the only one who had any chance of es-
cape. He might get off with the deck
load of lumber, and possibly cling to it, or
parts of it. till he should be picked up
For sometime they scarcely thought of
praying for themselves, so intent were
they in their petitions to God that Marr
might be saved to tell the story of their