, 1866-02-23
THRILLING STORY OF SnlrWRECK.
A Maine Schooner Capslzed in the Hn-
hama lslQnds-TWelve Days Of Hor.
ror and Suspcnxe-Wonderfu End0r.
auce and Final Rescue,

-.AAoAAAA@9A'NN
A Maine Schooner Capslzed In the Hn-
hama lslands-TWelve Days of Hor-
ror and Suspcnxe-yEonderfu1 Endur.
arce and Final Rescue.
(From the Gospel Banner, Boston.]
In the following narrative, incredible a5
some parts Of 1t may seem. there is no word
non Of the old adage that ''truth Is stranger
than felton," and Il is here written, as relu.
ted BY the Captain Of the Enfgma,n man
of undoubted vcracity, and the principal &C:
tor In the scenes herein described.
The Enigma" was a schooner Of about
Moses, Esq, of Bath, aud owned jointly by
lin and J. 7. Morse, master, Of Phippsburg.
She was built TO run in shallow wafer, her
model being quite fat on the bottom, while
she was prepared for deep water BY centre.
board, which could he let down several feet
below her keel, or drawn up al pleasure.
She sailed from Bath on the I'd Of
sons on board, bound fol Charles.
ton aud Mobile, loaded principally with 1um-
ber and potatoes. J. r. Morse, master and
part owner, and Cyrus Morse, Gilmore Mar,
Joseph Anderson and Henry w. Small, cook
md sailors, were the Bames Of those on
board. She encountered some rough weather
bsE"S bsors es reaching aa Caa5le33,on g. G. but be:
In good condition. Alter discharging por-
tion Of her cargo, consisting mostly Of pota-
tocs, taken from the hold, In the after part OF
the schooner, she sailed fronl Charleston, on
the 18th of October, for Mobile, Everything
went finely until the I'D, when the wind,
which had been increasing for some hours,
began to blow severely. and soon became Ter
craft, but as she stood up finely, and rode out
hours Of the sweeping gale, confidence in her
safety increased, ard tile men became cheer
full and well assured. but the wind increased
to gale, and the gale grew to hurricane.
AL day the situatfon was one Of great peril,
and growing worsc every hour.
Still the schooner was stanch, made only
about twenty-five strokes ofwatcr In m hour,
and all on board believed she would weather
the storm.
al this time they were OF the Abaco
Islands and kept yery nearly to their course
with the little sail they we're able to make.
Thus things continued until evening, when,
though The sea rolled fcarfully, thcrc were In.
diratlons that the gale had spent Its greatest
force; and leaving but two on deck the
otlcFs retired to the small cabin, prepared to
sleep, In hope Of a bright tomorrow.
At eleven O'Clock one Of the men whose
watch was on deck came into the cabin Tor
drink Of wafer, and reported everything out.
side as favorable as conld be expected and
down on the stairs leading to the companion
way, and willie eating talked OF their sItu-
alton, ss If the danger was already past. The
Captain improved That moment to remind the
others Of the gratitude which was to Him
WHO G Ply Plants his footsteps on the sea.
Many poor fellow" said be, "has been
dashed upon the rocks or gone down beneath
the mountain waves that we have de1ed.
Many proud ship has failed to Withstand
this war Of wind aud waters, which our little
craft Las passed through so proudly. Keep a
sharp lookout, Anderson. md the other boys
will be ready for their watch after M hours
Sleep"
Anderson, for he WIS the one, taking his
lunch, was Just rising 10 go on deck, when
sen, mightier than they had felt before, struck
The schooner, tripped her, and almost Instant
y Sue was bottom upwards. The Captain,
Cyrus Morse, and Henry Small, were thrown
from their berths, almost naked they having
taken ot their clothes on retiring, to dry
them, as they had been wet through ior several
hours. They rushed for the companion way
and tried to open II, but the pressure OF the
water was go great 1t could not be moved. and
they were shut in beyond the possibility of
escape, Ly that, the only passage from the
CABIN. The water was slowly coming In up
deep. They were In utter darkness and hope
less Of eyer seeing the light of day. They
talked Of young Mari, the ono who was On
deck at the time OF the disaster, and felt that
lie was the only Que who had any chance Of
escape. lie might 60 OF with the deck load
Of lumber, and possibly cling 10 1t, or parts
Of II, TIL lc should be picked up. For some
themselves. 20 intent were they In their petit
tions to God that Mari should be saved 10
tell tho story Of their sad fate to the dear
friends ut home.
o, what thoughts loaded the soul In those
fearful moments. The whole past flushed up
on them In IN Instant aud they saw their
lives clearly mapped, apparently without the
loss Of d single event,
Home, never before SO truly appreciated
friends, whose smiles and words Of love were
never half 70 precious as when In that ax-
reproduced them; work
well done, and work unfinished; hopes ripea-
ed into ftultion, and Others, long ehcr1ettcu,
now lost In despair; and still others, cher
isAed more foudIy than in their brightest
days, pointing as thgy did 10 Immortality
these, with their full power of as sociation
and suggestion, with their effects Of joy or
sorIow, satisfaction or regret, were strangely
real to them, Us in the hands Of the angry
waves, they waited for the next sea to crush
the schooner aud change their cabin to
tomb.
The water was rapidly rising and soon filled
half the space OF the small room. Tho sea,
still lashcd by the tempeet, tossed the wreck
about with great violence, and rs the men
they could keep. their feet, the water would
completely cover them, and they we're some
times obliged to let GO their hold and rise TO
the 2suriace 10 1roid drowning. Then they
we're In danger from the waters that might
instantly dash them to the other side, and
being In utter darkness they could not ward
OF the blow or lessen It's force.
Why did fhap mt 3fe dnteN In {hc 1rn tora
and die at onces Why did they 50 contend
against what seemed TO them an inevitable
fate! They expected to,perish IN m hour at
the faItLest, yel they clung to every moment
as if an eternity Of being depended thereon.
Q, love Of life, how strong, how universal are
thy mysterious ties.
In this situation the Captain conceived The
plan Of cutting through the bnlk-head into
the hold oft wreck, where they would have
more room, more air, and escape the fncrcas-
ing waters for while longer. This Idea was
suggested by coming in contact with small
hatcAet thai VAS III The cabin, and feeling his
WY to the spot, which, in lii opinion prom
ised most speedy SUCCESS, he commenced cut
ting through.
lie could not see where to strike. Tic could
not stand firmly in the place where he made
the attempt, Jet be worked with aQ lis re-
naming energies. Tie other men were aux-
ious TO help him, and coming near he eau
t1oued them to hold on where they were, lest
thcy should be thrown against lis hatchet,
yet In moment afterward, Henry Small was
dashed that way, and putting out bis hand to
saye llmself, It came directly where the hatchet
was falling, and was cut In o most fearful
manner. lie was disabled and from that mo-
ment could render no assistance to his COIL
pnnions In peril.
The others helped the captain, and in less
than IN hour, as they believe, they cut
through tue finish, through the two.inch
iamity ovcrtaken them before they reached
Charleston, and while the hold was full OF
cargo, they would have found no means Of
escape from the cabin, aud could not have
lived another half hour. When they got
through into the hold, the water was about
four feet deep IN the cabin, aud they had but
numbed with cold. half drowned and badly
bruised, they crawlcd up to that part of the
hold where the lumber was nearest 10 tue
bottom Of the vessel, and, strange as 1t may
seem, they fell asleep. Up TO that time they
had not seen each other since the vessel went
over. They went 10 sleep in the darkness, rs
they think, abont two or three O'Clock, three
or tour hours at,er the schooner was capsizcd,
and they slept I'LL after daylfgat; for soon
after waking the wreck was struck again in
such q way as to thrown her upon her side,
and for IN instant they thought she would
come over and right herself ngain.
In this they were doomed to disappoint-
lnent, though, had she come over, they would
doubtless hare been crushed to death with
the lumber, as 1t would hare fallen back into
its place. As it was, tho incident gave them
a momcntary gleam OF hope, the only one
which Ind chcccd them for an instant during
those hours Of terrible Imprisonment, and
they would gladly have riskcd tho consc-
9uenccs could the sea have lifted the vessel 3
little further, and brought ler right side up
again. Brt though tlis was not done some
thing desirable Wns accomplished by that
mountain wave, aud thus q new hope was IN
spired.
Thrown upon her side, the deck load OF
went away, ono Of the matches came oil, and
the light Of the sun shining down through
The water outside was reflected dimly through
the opening TINS made, 80 that for the lrst
lime 1ey saw each other. The Captain, bare