New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-10-22

with the mast, his only reply was, That
but one life. my men; here are hundreds
God only knows how his heart must hav
! been wrung, for he was q kind and lovin
} father But the blows from the Ak b
welded still fell as fast as ever on the We
; and massive c0rdage that confined the spar
to the straining hull till the wreck began t
drift slowly astern and the last rope hat
been severed. BY this time the ship hat
drlfted so near the coast that its high, bOl,!
frowning outlines could be plainly seel
whenever fash of lightning lit up tn
horizon.
las the floating mass drifted uQder tn
counter OF the ship some Of the sehallel
ropes became entangled in the heel Of tht
she struck heavily on the wreck of the fore
mast, which caused her to spring leak
The pumps were manned, and, though the
men pumped with untiring zeal and energy
and were assisted by the passengers, the
water continued to gain on them.
Here the captain stopped for moment
and appeared to be listening attentively
then turning to me, he said:
Ibid you notice that short sea that struck
us under the bow, with dead, .thuggish
sound ~ And then added, Il don't like it
1t must have come from the westward But
| l WILL cut my yarn short, sir. as think Won
had better 60 below, out Ut this weather,
| and turn in.
Well" he continued, 1.-THE water con-
tnued to gain on them: the rigging and
spars that were still held fast by the heel of
the rudder caused the ship to pay off be-
tore the gale, and at the same instant she
was borne aloft by heavy sea. and then,
with an awful crash, was dashed headlong
between the rocks on the iron-bound coast
of Ireland. OF some four hundred and
fifty souls, including officers and crew. only
nine survived the horrors of that fearful
night"
But the captain exclaimed, what
became OF him g.
What became of him!' lie repeated, with
sudden energy, as lie dashed his hand across
his eyes. He died. as every man should
DIE under such circumstances. His lifeless
body was washed high and dry on the rocks.
with his arms locked around the ninth pas
serger, whose life he had attempted to
save
And his poor boy!" again asked. Both
father and son-the victims Of careless
officer
Stop he said, laying his heavy hand on
my arm; 'had the bow been lost, the Reso-
luton would have had some other master.
and should not have been here to give you
the details Of the causes which led to that
awful shipwreck."
Gracious heavens exclaimed, surely
you are not lDdl ---
But before l could finish the sentence his
voice rang over the ship, as he shouted in
tones like thunder
LET go all the braces. fore and aft-call
all hands-haul il the starboard head
braces
These orders were barely executed ere the
storm burst Oh us with all the fury of hur-
ricane; bur, thanks TO the nautical skill of
our vigilant commander we were prepared
for il, and he now proved himself equal TO
the emergency. The ships head had swung
round just enough to let the full blast Of
the gale strike us little abaft the beam:
but rs 1t was. our ship was thrown almost
over on her uroadside, and it was almost
impossible to see or hear amid the binding
spray and roaring elements that, in an in
slant, nearly overwhelmed US. One shake
sent our main and mizzen topsails clear
from the yards, but the foretopsail. being
full. stood the strain long enough to get the
ship before the wind, when she righted, and.
in less than five minutes from the time the
hurricane struck us, we We're scudding be.
fore the wind and sea. and received the
joyful assurance from the captain that we
were all safe.
The following day the storm abated, and
we were enabled TO rescue three hundred
and s'xty-three passengers from the ship
Rhode Island. The ship had been caught
atack while under sail, and after getting
stern board on, that had deluged her decks
with water, and washed every soul over
board that was on deck her masts went bv
the board. and she was left a hopeless wreck.
floating on the waters at the mercy of the
winds and waves. In an hour after we res
cued the last man on board the wreck, she
sank far down in the fathomless ocean.
II the details of these we'll known disas.
ters. which l have here truthtully stated.
shall have the effect of making one careless |
ship or steamer captain adopt the maxim of |
NY old friend, Captain -. whose modestv |
will not allow me to use his name. and |
make him more vigilant in looking after
details. usually entrusted to his subordin-
ates. the object Of the writer will he in |
part attained.