Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1871-03-31
A LEAP FOR LIFE.

| was on my way from PaflS TO home,
and one morning in May found myself
in the city of Marseilles, where / had
made up my mind to take the steamer
for italy. The vessel had intended to
to sail in, had departed the day previous
to my arrival, so there was nothing to
DO but to select the next best and COM
mence my journey. After noting the
offers of the various companies; finally
settled upon the General Abbertocci, Of
the Valery line, and after seeing my
baggage aboard, and looking in vain for
some one to whom might say good bye,
I followed suit and was soon on thee
deck.
looked around me at our passengers;
never was there a greater mixture OF ma
tions. French, Spanish, and above all
Italian, was heard on every side, but |
listened in vain for sound of our good
old English tongue. After numerous
leave-takings and kissing, such as only
a foreigner can indulge in, we managed
to get off, and steamed from the harbor
with light breeze following, and as
happy company as was ever got togeth-
er. There were several notables on board,
the Consul General of France to Rome,
and his wife, an accomplished and ele-
CANT woman; several Secretaries of Le-
CATION, besides many officers of the
| French army, who, with company OF
troops, were on their way to relieve a
part of the garrison of Civita Vecchi,
then held by the French. AS we sailed
along many small boats followed us, the
occupants shouting and waving their
GOOD hxroc rI1yfiI 011t of cinht
Could they have seen what the next
twenty four hours would produce; could
they have known that their good d-byes
were indeed farewells to those who,
before the morrow'S sun, would be in
eternity, their gladness would have been
| changed to sorrow, and their rejoicing to
| tears.
AS [ said, we sailed on the morning OF
the 7th of May, 1869, and nothing oc-
Cured to mar our voyage up to O'Clock
that night, when the wind changed, and
a head sea set in, which quickly drove
all the ladies andmost of the men below.
AS for myself (having spent nearly a
year at sea, and never suffering from
that malady called sea-sickness), walk
| ed the deck for some two hours, partly
| lOl UIle lIcSIl WhICI COulOA IIOO SCl
in the saloon, and partly because feel
| ing of uneasiness and insecurity had
taken hold on me, which | endeavored
in vain to throw off, There were good
grounds, however, for my feelings, for
| had not been half an hour on board be
fore | noticed a lack of discipline among
the.offcers and crew, which BODIED nc
good in accident, and which was after
ward fully confirmed by their conduct
We were also. heavily laden, including
among our freight deck-load of petro
leum, upon the barrels Of which the
troops lay or sat smoking. | endeavOreC
in vain, by signs, to make the Captain
understand the nature of such an in
hammable material, but he treated the
subject with the utmost Indifference
and. Struggling his shoulders, went int
his room, as if the fate of over sixty
lives were of no possible consequence.
Having remained on deck up to near
ly one o'clock, went to my room anC
lay down, taking off my coat merely, fo
the horrid presentiment that something
would occur still clung to me, and m,
sleepwas any thing but quiet. was abou
one O'clock, when I was awakened by
fearful crash, followed instantly by tive
more shocks repeated in quick success
sion, while at the same moment shrek
and cries burst from all parts of tn,
cabin, where terrified women and chill
dren were rushing madly hither anc
thither. My first thoughts were tha
we had struck upon some hidden reef o
shoal, which this part of the Mediter
ranean abounds in, but on reaching tn
deck l soon saw my mistake, for larg
brig, whose outlines | could just see il
the darkness, was slowly drifting AVA
from us, and knew in moment tina
we had crushed into her, and the Onl
question now was, were we sinking o
was she .ess..ssf.s Ee
Every one was now on deck, and tn
confusion and excitement was dreadful
Men called aloud for their wives, an
mothers for their children, while other
on their knees called upon God to say
them.
Invent to the forward part of the shi
and there saw enough to convince m
that an hour would soon decide the cas-
for us all, for our bows, which wer
made of iron lin fact the ship was iro1
and Clyde built), were all stove in, an
the water pouring in in great volume