The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1868-04-17

sorts of fearful cries saluted my ears. which
fairly uAke me vshudder when think of
them. Ne. screams ofIthe terrified women
rusht<f pass en- disaJiNe, the cries of the
ciildrn, the. heavy Npsecatisasa and
sshouiS Of .h6nfcu, joined vii 81 hesaacking
+ be 6 q lind and water ALI etlkf-|
90 UfS edefS61ta scene OF, cont Us l0n Int /
never hade&set<e1 to be ~ Witnessed Ia
this world. Looking round, | perceived
that the inter part OF the cabin was filed
with smoke, and noticed now and again
quick angry forks OF fame shooting through
it.
Having noted these matters in few mo-
mcnt's times returned Ffnl ttateropm
and picked up two cork RE preservcrs,
With which / started for The forward deck.
The fameS,made such extraordinary head
way that,it did no9 seem to me FIVE min
ute's time before thc whole hurricane deck
was Sire: The lower decks were, as get,
'suntducheds. CO ion | ITS a9W 10 20
Upon reacbins the Coward deck, and me-
IticIng fine cohdisi6n of ehifsgs,4 went down
Iito;the Iowerdeck TO zee what ach ance,t here's
was fir escape id It Kttt Direction. Were /.
Ffbhfd portion Of theicfew making q great
inoise, shouting to bbe a1otiler,i and trying
Ito get I hp,se ov9fbbsfd,ewi,f the Assist
a1ee ii q hith, L suppose, tlfeyiiHtenaetlit to
MAKE atefvft for tlieslfore.l Finding that
Pc could fop lie there on account Of the
smoke, L ascended again to the upper Geek
pand helped the second mate, Lcandcr
Packard, tear AWAY as much as we could of
1T in order 70 stop .the progress of the
flames toward the bow. AT about this
time a man standing, near me, noticing
that I had two aite-pfeseryers, asked me
/ for one, witch T gave !hiih ; "A t. this time
j vas quite broad daylight: and, | should
Judge, between six and seven O'Clock.
There was a very heavy sea, and it seemed
to be Increasing in 'ume. 1 stood
among the crowd that was hudded togeth-
Ter near the forward part of the bow, and
it was white standing here that | noticed
ECaptain Morris; without a hat and in his
/ shirt sleeves, talking with some of the
men. He appeared to be quite calm, and
formed a remarkable contrast in appear
ance' to the frightened and panic stricken
men gathered apeut binl sdi i b9atus a
Many had Jumped before this time, into
the water, where, from its extreme chilli
ness, death must have soon terminated
their suferingsz 'ag big a# ilt ,Isd3 iliI
twas now on the deck, forward of the
pilot house. and from the direction :ind
which the wind blew was entirely shGlEered
from the flames. On this part OF the deck
were several ladies and children, whose
waiting ami cries were -Eifeous to hear 81
As soon as the cry OF Gre was rai sed ana it
was found to be making such rapid head
way, there was "a simultaneous cry from
MANY: Head the boat for the shore; head
the boat tor the shore. 'h In carrying out
this order the helmsman either through ex'
element of the OCCASION, or because the
after machinery Of the wheel had already
received irreparabie daMage from the fire,
put tlie!rudder hard apor ,and left'it in that
way. This kept the vessel turning around;
but she had hardly made more!than one cir
cult Before the engines stopped working,
and by this time the hurricane and upper
decks had completely burned off. sg Hg'aal
At this time, that Is about one>half hour
after left my stase-room.3 there were not
more than ten meh remaining on the wreck.
B5 this time i had worked my way to
the most forward part of the vessel, and
seated myself on the forward post. While
sitting there 1 pulled down the halyards
from the flagstaff and doubled them twice,
intending to run the quadrupled cord
through the sta pie ofthe post. and lower
myself down when thought the time had
arrived for. doing so. e.g 5.!5 80 - a nd
The men below the, who were holding
on to the sides of the bow, were dropping
off one after another, becoming overcome
either by the heat or the coid.d ! r3iga !
The last act ofthe second mates was to
take down the flagstaff and Jump ever-
board With it, Thew water was so intensely
cold that he could have lived but very
few minutes. asg.s 5a 3sag 2rr' afad
.Darine all ;histime there were dead bod-a
les floating around the vessel, and many
live persons could be seen battlisg with the
cruel waves and separately ciInslng tea
chairs and pieces ofi.the wreck teneraiiy
when a man was to- jump Overheard he.
would shout aloud, and ON rising to the sur
face of the water after his plunge he would
shout again. but the cold soon mum bed hun
and he9would sink to rise3no more.
AT this time We were about eight miles
from land The wind was blowing from
the east, and we Slowly drifted to ward the
shore. cuii9 - s'eH st sEI
Shortly after the mate jumped overheard
my seat On the forward post became, from
the approach of the flames, altogether too
hot. g / therefore, With the aid of the hal
yards, lowered myself over the bow of the
boat, holding on to the projecting rim of
one of the vessels timbers with my feet, oc
cupyiug' the identical position chat many
poor wretches bad just before me, and
from which, despairing of suecor, they had
dropped hopeiessly into the lake. al gvs"
AS near as L can Judge, about three
quarters of an hour after had reached the
forward deck, [ was surprised, on looking
.saaa ICoaeladed on First Page. Ii oii
Ioel.f. ,s,,,. "A, 49, -,f -..3 I.-...