The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-11-03
SAVED FROM THE SEA.
EXCITING ADVENTURE CT YOUNG MIDGHPNAN
LOST OVERHEARD FROM THE FRIGATE OMAHA.

From the New York Graphic.l
: That the sea should give up its dead seen
n hardly q greater miracle than that in son
: cases it should give up its victims aliv'
Stories of escape from angry waves upo
e desolated coasts have filed chapter after chaI
= ter of works of fiction, and the power and in
+ mensity of the ocean have made it the chose
It symbol of the cruelty and relentlessness {
y tate. One would scarcely expect after the O.
haustion of the imagination of writer's ik
Capt Marryat and Victor Hugo, that it wa
reserved for plain matter Of fact to outrivs
= the invention of the novelist; and yet there
= at present stopping ut the Fifth Avenue Hote
. in this city young man whose adventure
and escape pass to the very verge Of the mai
4 velous.
Like so many other instances of huma
, peril, it seems to have provided itself with it
, own setting of romance. In 1854 the gates Q
! the far East were first opened to Wester1
s commerce. The first vessel that entered
9 Chinese port was the Seabird. She was com
, manded by an Ohioan named P. II. De Vol
Originally of French descent, he was himsel
thoroughly an American in physique, ner
: vous energy, love of adventure, and self-reli
, ance in the moment of danger. In stature h
was six and one-half feet. He had left in hi
home in what was then the far West young
: wife and boy about one year old. His own e1
PLOTS in the Orient added not a little to thu
credit of his countrymen in that part OF the
globe. Inasmuch as they relate only indirectly
to the matter in hand, they should be rapidly
sketched. Attracting the attention of the .hen
King of Siam, he was placed in command of on
expedition, his son relates, against the Ja-
panese pirates that infested the coast,
and in reward for several decisive victories he
was made the recipient Of distinguished marks
of the royal favor, among them being the gift
of white elephant. Not long afterward he
conducted another expedition against the
pirates, and this time drove them out of STA.
mese waters. He was again encountered with
gift of the same kind, and, what he deemed
Of much 81; alter value, privilege to enter the
mountain region of Siam to mine for gold. On
his way thither, however, he died of jungle
fever.
| His strange fortunes in the East had their
effect on his son. Nothing but life of ad-
venture would satisfy his boyish spirit, and at
the earliest age possible his mother by the
aid of family friends secured him an appoint
ment at the United States Naval School at An
napolis. He graduated with honor, and last
August after a brief vacation, he was ordered
to report for duty at Queenstown. Upon his
arrival there he was ordered to report at Nice,
where the American squadron in European
waters Was then lying.
At Nice he was ordered on board the frigate
Omaha, which was transferred to Queenstown,
about the Goth Of September, while less than
two days sail from Southampton, a violent
squall arose, and during its continuance young
De Vol was directed by the Captain to convey
an order to the officer stationed on the bridge.
AS he was going forward a huge S "a came over
the side, and the frigate, with its monstrous
burden, lurched heavily to leeward. The taft
rail was low, and being between masts the
young midshipman was swrled with the wash
over the side. The officer on the bridge saw
him and did what little he could to save him. !
He seized large circular cork life buoy and !
hurled it with all his might toward the point
where the young sailor was seen struggling |
with the waves
1t was the work of scarcely more than a |
second. To the buoy was fixed line about |
ten yards long, and as the buoy passed over
him beyond his reach, this line tell across his
back. He caught the end, and while the
vessel drove helplessly on in the
storm, he drew the buoy to him and placed it
over his head. He was now safe for the mo-
ment, but he says death itself would have
been pleasing sensation compared to his feel
the successive hills of angry water. His
knowledge of seamanship told him at once
that no captain would dare to put his vessel
about or attempt to lower boat in the violent
wind and sea that were raging
In little while" he relates, II could on
y see the masts and cordage whipping against
The sky, and gave up all hope. 1 tried to
swim toward it instinctively, though knew
t was OF no use, and that my only hope was
% outride the squall on my buoy, if possible.
md be picked up after floating few hours"
al e L l. |
but two or three hours, although it
seemed days to him, but no vessels came near
'nough to discover him. The water, stirred 1
rom beneath by the wind, was cold, and he
,egan to grow numb and weak. Fortunately
he cork life-preserver, which at first was so {
Dose that he had some difficulty in keeping it !
n its place under his arms, began to tighten I
s the cork swelled with the moisture. Sub {
equently it held itself well in its place. It
Vas about four o'clock when he was washed i
At nightfall he had grown quite t
Veak and his limbs were very numb. t
GAS the darkness began to gather" he mar t
ates, 81 felt that I would have to drown. +
sefore this 1 knew that my chances were des- (
crate, but somehow while it was light had t
ad hope Then l began to pray. I don't '
now how long time elapsed. At times I r
'ould pray for several minutes, and then 1
Iould find myself thinking of thou Il
and things about my home and my ?
lother and father, and about my past life. b
seemed as if all the good things and bad 6
hings had ever done or thought of came v
ack to me. Occasionally would start up as v
from a revery, and strike out to swim. At d
UGH times the water and sky would look so Il
lack and pitiless that it would seem to fairly o
tighten me, and I would be forced to shut "
~ eyes. can't tell how long suffered in
MS way, but it seems ages. Then indis-
nctly l remember another sensation. n
''My limbs we're numb and utterly without s
trength, but pleasant, istless, dreamy sort
feeling took possession of me. My sides,
hich had been chafed by the movements of Il
ae ife-preserver, ceased to pain me. can n
OF say I was happy, or that was entirely c
unconscious of my position, but 1 didn't seem "
} care. This state of dim consciousness was f;
ne last that I remember" f
At sunrise the next morning he was found F
y the United States merchant steamer Indiana Il
eating in the water insensible. He had been b
1 the water fourteen hours A great deal of | {,