The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-02-27
TIE HERO OF THE NoREHFLEEE.
A Noble Death.
From the New York Tribune

From the New YORK Trlpune
The excitement which the loss of the North
feet caused In England still continues TO show
Itself In various characteristic ways. The
steamer, which escaped like conscious muir
derer, in the confusion and darkness, has
been viudlclively watched for in every port In
Europe; The inefficient means OF escape pro-
vIded on igrant ships Ia blamed; the made
ouate signal system. &C., &c. Contributions
ior the few remaining victims pour in from
every quarter, from the Queen TO the half
starved miners. That three hundred souls
should be thus lost In calm sea, within sight
of the Euglsh coast, surrounded by dozen
vessels, within easy hearing and reach OF q
crowded English roadstead, would be enough
to account fJr the thrill of universal horror,
and the eagerness with which the whole ma
tion has risen to repair the Injury as far as
practicable, were II not that calsstrophea Just
Hs general and terrible EaVe occurred and died
out OF notice 10 day.
But there was single point OF human In
terest In this ship as 1t went down which made
all nations akin as they looked at It,. A null
titude OF deaths OF unknown men and women
is, after all, only ghastly vague fact, un-
emotional as the sum total Of DILL OF NOR.
tally. Bnt this Captain Knowles, wakened
ont Of his sleep 10 lind the open sea yawnlng
beneath, and these iour hundred souls de-
pendent upon him, on the Instant cool, steady,
sagaclons, Seeing that death was Inevitable,
and Standing on It's edge TO choose out the
weakest aud most helpless TO be Raved-there
ia real live man " hum we wonld fain claim
as The brother OF us all. There is
much eaid nowadays of the corruption
of society; when our political leaders
take brlbes we are told that chicanery
and money and love Of sham show control
the majority of lives; yet sometimes death,
from among us, takes some commonplace iel,
low like iris ships captain by the throat and
III "A a Inc IL
tho man Iakps his footing upon his plain daily
duty. and doing that, chooses 40 TO be lost 10
the eternal silence. But how the whole world
Is stirred as he goes out How 10 every
country In the last fortnight men's hearts
have beaten higher, and the tears come TO
| women'5 eyes looking ut me hgure OF This
Knowles on the edge of his sinking ship; how
we had listened TO hear his last words before
the sea covered him; 10 know something
more of the man. Cleopatra pnls on
her crown 10 make tragic ending. WHATS
| brave, what's noble. lets do 1t alter
| the high Roman fashion, and make Death
prond 10 take u.s." THE captain was the only
quiet man aboard" said one OF the Survivors;
| me was about thirty years old, and had Deen
married six months. He kept the crew back
with a pietoi 10 one hand from the boats, and
helped The women aud children In with the
other. Some called him to tie himself 10
spar. but he went on lifting in the women:
He gave hi5 VILE 10 lne DOaibWdiu Ill Oue VI
Ihe boats. "Take care OF her, bosen," he
said: 81 will never see you again, dear girl" J"
Mrs. Knowles was young thing, very much OF
O child. She wante.i TO 20 back on neck ana
die with her husband, but We held her."
While we look through the night at tne
shin going down with this man at his post on
| her. other remembrances come back to us; Of
| R obprt Shaw, "bured In pit With bis Mig
gers;" of The engineer Kealey lying dead at
| the bottom of The river, and the train ne had
saved safe at the other side; and, dearer than
| all, Of another ship that sank 10 the British
| Channel not many years ago. There was part
| of an infantry regiment on board, returning
after a five years ABSENCE from India. "When
| II was found That the vessel was sinking, and
that The boats were insufficient to hold the
women and children, the colonel. 10 prevent
confusion. marshaed his men In rank on
deck. They obeyet, and presented arms"
And 40. almost within sight of the home they
had not seen for five years, foot 10 loot and
shoulder to shoulder, Silent and immoVable,
US though ready to charge upon the foe, they
There are men whose lives are clad with
GREAT deeds or words as with royal garment; !;
6ut these were homey and commonplace,
doing lbe task of every day, alter no high Ro-
m,n fashion, but quietly aud steadily. At.
trmn1iop and achieving no more than this,
Ihrv passed through the great dark portal
which never opens twice for any man; but
when it has closed behind them 1t seems 10 us
as though King had gone out from among us.