The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-09-23
A rrne story OF Heroism.

On the 10th Of last July the ship hotiiesay,
which but three days before had cast on
from, the Calcutta tug, was caught III . "
clone, On the 30th she lay wreck a. ~. u,
mercy Of the waves. Then tue Pi'o'' 'u'
r,snr gathered together few volunteers
.ra constructed and rugged rait. @ihirteeh
Of the crew got on her; the rest' as - ,ts'''''
.,.,, oo.as;ons-ard therefore the hero
-. 80 th;s one man stands out all the
1sor-were frantic with terror, praying,
s.aM 1;us, veJliuc. drinking. Elson was the
,ast to leave the ship. the captain having
L ta.s disabled by an accident. Lcaplng over,
bo c,,t the hawser that held the raft to the
po,hessy. and took upon himself the COM
mand. We shall see how he luihled us re.
.non,ibiIities. All that day ana all tnat
n;ght, we are told. the seas broke heaVhy
oysr tho raft. awe were up to our neeRs
y, wafer" saws the man who recited the
,torv " f,r she fioated low" All the night,
nevertheless. Elson. who appears to nave
been powerful swimmer, swan ROUND ana
ronnd the raft, lashing her together and ma
king her stronger As best he could. Now ana
again would the furious waves wash over the
rsft, and ever and anon victim went away
into space and eternity along with them.
Nevertheless, this brave ElsoD, whose heafe
and strength both appear to have been giant.
like. would be of the raft with dash, ana
,yould strike out. and at times would pring
poor creature back. Away went a man,
and Paul Elson would follow. But at last II
became necessary to construct smaller rast,
20 that the weight might be divided TO re-
.lisye The other. This Paul Elson built, at.
most singlehanded. The larger raft noatea
away; the pilot and three other men TOOK
20 the smaller. And here we may simply
record the fact that this separated Elson
from bis servant, native boy, whom we are
assured Elson tended with The care OF
mother and never once lost sight OF IN
the midst of oil his fearful toll and anxiety.
"He kept near hun ; he tended him as
mother would her child; ne gave nm our
last supply Of drinkable water"
The Rotbesay had sunk on the Goth Of
July, and this was the I'd of August. Io
follow out the account given in the London
Datly Teleqraph "The raft was drifting
under raging tropical sun. For three days
there had been no food, no water. Worse
than this, the frail support began to break
10. and, swimming about in heavy SUR
Paul Eison became much exhausted. The
end, of course, could not now be far off
First, one OF the men was washed away, aDC
then another, until Elson himself and thu
scotchman, who tells the story, were the sole
survivors. pilot said I,-so the narrative
runs-'we must fight it through ON
Fraser! y answered he, L can't hold out an.
longer Then a heavy sea brok'
upon us and knocked him off. found i
Impossible to hang on, and was forced to le
him co. And SO the story ends. The bod.
of Pilot Elson, worn out by his incessan
labors, floats away into the great deep, Their
to lie till the sea shall give up its dead"
1t Is almost impossible to picture to one
sell a nature grander than this mans. Fo
hour after hour ne had labored and toiled
aud-Ne had almost written wasted, bu
such word would i'll bett the oflerin
which Paul Elson made in this way to hi
Maker-used all his strength and efforts t
succor those whom he had under his charge
A hundred times he forgot himself. and. q
the journal which we have quoted iron
above remarks, He broke his great heart Il
an obstinate effort to save, not himself, blu
the Others" And when going up. when tL
strength was all but gone and the stout spiri
had been crushed, Paul Elson again be
thought him Of duty. Il told him." say
Fraser, "that if he couldn't hold OH wou'
lash him. Hs then made some exclamation
about his poor wife, and said, Il will try II
stand it," But the roaring ocean claimed
him, and Paul Elson's body went down int
the deep and his soul to bis God, his memo
" to live eyermore noble example OF dul.
well and studiously performed, and rs
bright star in this world of ours that throw
purer light to guide others in the SAM
path, and to make us think Of the wealth
courage and endurance that ut times lie dor
nlant in DOOR humanity .-BoStOR GLOBE.