The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-10-28
Mr.. Moran's Adventures.

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Kate Field writes from London to tn
Louisville Courier Journal: An America
who appreciates London out of seaso
is our excellent Minister to Lisbon, Ber
jamin Moran, who for thirty years serve
his country devotedly as Secretary @
Legation to the Court of st. James. Uu
fortunately our civil service is the mos
uncivil of all services, and Mr.. Moran
promotion has come about fifteen year
behind time. Better late than never
however, and thousands of American
will wish him speedy restoration t,
health. Leaving here with nerves shat
tered from overwork, Mr.. Moran ha
found a cOngenial climate, and nov
returns on furlough, looking quite wei
in the face and otherwise less unwel
than he was months ago. 1t was pleas
ant to meet him and most interesting t.
hear him narrate his escape from ship
wreck in the ill-fated BOyne that struck
the rocks off Brest. "There never wa,
a more unjustiiable wreck" exclaimed
Mr.. Moran, "and / should like the fact,
to be known. They have not appeared
in the English papers because these
steamship companies WELD tremendou.
monetary power. When / got on board
the BOyne at Lisbon and remarked the
course pursued became uneasy. Instead
Of keeping out to sea the captain Rugged
the coast, and every one knows what
that coast and the Bay of Biscay are
The first officer was ill, and the captain
had superseded man who, being care.
full, burned more coal than suited the
company's pockets. When a captain
goes about giving orders with cigar in
his mouth don't put much faith in him
The time for smoking is when off duty,
not on it. Well, according to predic-
tion, we were to make the quickest pas
sage on record between Lisbon and
Southampton. / had misgivings from
the first, and when off the French coast
we got into dense fog grew still more
uneasy. We could take no observation
and the captain guessed at our course.
So convinced did become of some i'm
pending accident that, after dinner, a
few hours before striking the rocks, !
changed my clothing for warmer suit,
took f25 in gold from my trunk, put it
into my pocket, and was about to do the
same thing with my letter of credit,
when reproached myself for being SO
superstitiOus and replaced it. Going on
deck entered into conversation with a
lady, when suddenly ! heard a crunching,
and knew that we were on the rocks.
Starting up, saw the captain, cigar in
mouth, taking soundings. I'VE are on
the rocks: what are you going to doP /
asked. Pm sure / don't know, was the
reply. There was no discipline-no head
and death seemed to stare us in the
face, for we were in a sea of rocks, and
expected to 60 to pieces every moment.
No words can express my admiration of
the manner in which the women on board
behaved. They were English, and did
honor to their country. Believing that
death awaited them, they uttered not a
word, acted with a calmness which was
an example to the rest of us. and utterly
disproved the traditional conduct of wo-
men under similar circumstances. The
boats were gradually lowered, but, had it
not been for the interposition of myself
and several others, they would have been
appropriated by the sailors and male
passengers women and children first
we exclaimed, and succeeded in getting
them slowed away. My boat, utterly
unseaworthy, leaked badly, and was
without tiller until improvised one.
The sailors were scoundrels. No sooner
had the steamer struck than they broke
open the stores and appropriated the
liquor, and the men who rowed us soon
began to drink. Needing knife, one of
them borrowed mine and gave me a
worthless one in return. Had the
weather been rough we should have gone
down at once. The captain sent up a
few rockets, but they were not seen. The
accident occurred about eight o'clock in
the dim twilight, otherwise do not be-
lieve any of the passengers would have
been saved. While we were beating
about Norwegian bark approached,
and, sending up shouts of thanksgiving.
We thought that the hour of delivery
had arrived. Talk about humanity!
Would you believe it? That ship turned
and sailed away from usl There we sat
in the dark, expecting to hear the ship
break up and 60 down every moment,
when at last relief came in an unex-
pected form. The sound of boat
reached our ears, and voice cried out,
What ship is thatT Never did the
English language sound so sweetly. The
boat was filled with divers and wreckers
who had been sent to the French coast
to raise another English steamer that
had gone down short time previous.
these wreckers we were saved,
and at midnight arrived at a fishing vii
lage. We were saturated with sea water
and utterly exhausted, having had moth
ing to eat or drink while in the boats.
The fishermen and women treated us
with the greatest kindness, though, of
course, their hospitality was primitive.
We owe our escape to good luck. Not
only did the sailors rob the stores, but
they pillaged the passengers trunks,
money, jewelry, and everything
of value. My portmanteau was opened,
and things were stolen that can not re-
place. My knife was found on man
who swore he had stolen nothing. The
company are trying to evade indemnify
ing us for our losses, but shall have re-
course to law, if necessary; $3.50 will