The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-01-02

me doom, got to be MASTER, and shovit
ane, and pu'd anather in, till we landed
the whole sixteen or seventeen. But
my wark WAS ma done, for I kenned
there were mair in the river. I saw the
last O. my ain band safe, then DOT into
| the Clyde, wherever I heerd cries, and
soon 1 fatd tws lssaes striking, takes
EN- by their lang hair and tows them to
the quay in minute. just as I'm
landing thir twa, hear a cry in the
ware middle O. the river, and in splash.
1t was a strapping lass-they caed her
| Elizabeth Whitelaw. 'O'way, ye lang
daftie, says I, and begins to tow her.
Lo an behold I'm Grippit wi a man IN
der the water. It WAS her sweetheart.
She was haudihg him doom. The hizzy
was a reicht, but she was drooning the
lad PARTS these iva lovers-for their
gude-and takes 'em ashore, one in each
hand. Aweel, SIR, I saved just one
MAR, and then I plunged in again and
| searched but there was nae mair to be
seen moo; three puir lasses were droon-
ed bid I did mac ken that at the time.
And moo III tell ye farce. I'm seized wi
q faintness, and maks for the shore. But
I gat weaker, aud dazed like, and the
lights O. Glasgee begin to fecker afore
my cen; and thinks I'll no see ye
again I'm done this time It was all
could do for the bare life to DRIFT to
the hinder part of the quay. I hadna
the power to draw myself DOT. I just
grippit the quay and sobbit. The folk
were a. busy WI them I had saved !;
name of them noticed me, and I wad ha'
been drooned that NIGHT but-who d 'ye
think saved me that had saved sac
mony ?-and auld decripit man haw !!
hox lnr IT, l. ~
gied me the handle, an lowed me along
gat DOT wi his help, and swooned dead
away. I'm tauld lay there negleckit
awhile but they found me at last, and
1 had fifty nurses for ane."
Have I exaggerated? Does history
record any other example Of a man be-
ing clutched by great number of
drowning people, and carried to the
bottom, and saving them all in the
lump, and then dashing in and saving
the outsiders in detail
By way of illustration, let the reader
imagine an umbrella frame, and only
four or five curved whAlebones attached
to, the top paft OF the upright now
fasten several other curved whalebonee
high up, to each of those four or five
curves. Now plunge the whole frame
into water till the upright touches the
ground. Not one of the sixteen curved
pieces will touch the ground. But, in
the water, If person, male or female,
clings to fixed upright, that persons
body floats up more or less ut all
events, it inclines toward the horizontal.
Now James Lambert, by artifcially
Strengthening bis body, made himself
the stick of that human umbrella, or the
upright post they all chung to directly
or Indirectly, and 80 were kept floating
In curve, instead of sinking to the
bottom. This enabled him, but only
be patiently and artfully Watching the
fluctuations up and down of those f1oat-
ing bodies, to spring at the nick of time
from the hard ground, and carry them
all to the surface for q few seconds.
The rest is detail, and his own narrative
makes it clear. But see what intellec-
tual and moral qualities were here COM
bined. Genius is. often without cour-
age: courage is generally without
genius: and go indeed is bare skill and,
in desperate danger, how often has
genius lost its head, and Numbered like
an idiot I; how often has courage lacked
invention, and relied on precedent, that
did not fit the novel danger, and 80 lead
it to death. But this man, even as his
courage and swift inventive genius. He
did not repeat himself, as mere skill
does. Rugged in the water by single
| mal-the baker-he hit, with prompt
invention, on the one way to save both
lives; he used the bakers own chest as
q fulcrurn, and so tore himself free.
But clutched by a dozen and more, he
never attempted to get free at all, but
Strengthened and stiffened himself into
an upright post, and used the ground
as his fulcrum, to save himself and
those who were drowning themselves and
him.
come now to the sad ending of all
these glorious deeds.
THE LAST.
James Lambert was up the river
working, but at what business I forget.
An @ gineer fell into the water, and
sank for the last time before James
could get to the place.
Following the direction of persons on
the bank he flung himself from bridge
and dived for the man. But the others
had not marked the place precisely, and
the man to shore, life was going forever.
To use his own words, 6" 1t was dear
Jump. He lost his life, and I lost nv
sight"
1t was winter, and he was perspiripg
freely when he jumped into the icy
water.
Very soon after q great dazzling seized
him, followed by darkness. It cleared
after time, and he saw again. But the
same thing occurred at intervals and,
by degrees, the attack came oftener and
remained longer, until at last the dark
ness settled down, and the light fed
forever.
Think of it. This twenty years he
can no longer see the "Doninie's hole,
nor the three stances" nor the "peat
bog" nor the "dead- house." nor the
Clyde itself, where every bend is the
scene of some great good feat he did.
More than four score eyes he rescued
from the darkness of the grave; yet un-
Just fate and dire calamity have not left
him one poor orb to see the blessed
day, and the faces of those he has saved.
from the Glasgow Times, and surely you
will say that it was a rare, and noble,
and poetic distress, and worthy to be
sung by some great poet.
am no poet, and can not adore so
strong q tale therefore have aimed at
that which all honest men can attain,
il they will but take trouble, viz: the
exact truth. I travelled to see him.
stayed in Glasgow many days to know
him. / took him down to the Clyde,
and verified every spot, and got him to
tell me each principal incident over
again, at its own site, and noted down
his very words, we'll as 1 could.
The next thing was to rescue his fea-
lures from oblivion. I asked him to
meet me at the photographers. He did
so. But, horrible to relate, dressed as
all Scotchmen dress on Sundays.
"James," said I, severely, "was it
in this clerical suit you saved so many
lives?"
"No likely" said he; "except yon
earle that was bathing o the Saba
day. Mon, I was for coming in my
auld claes that wrought in at the mill
yon time; but tire wife cried shame
she wadna let me-"
Observe how devoid of common sense
is common sense the moment it NEEDLES
r