Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-04-07
DRAWN DOWN BY A WHALE.
A Remarkable Escape from Death
A London paper has the following:

A London paper has the following: A
ship some time ago arrived at Bristol
after successful Pacific whaling voy-
age The ship was the West Wing,
commanded by Captain Parker, who
met with a most perilous adventure
during his cruise, and which came very
near costing him his life.
It seems that Capt. Parker was out
from his ship, with q boats crew, chas
ing a whale, and, having fastened his
harpoon to the creature, it diged, as
usual, and the lie, coiled in the bows
of the boat, began to run out with
lightning speed as the monster sunk to
the extreme bottom of the ocean, At
this critical iunctrre Capt Parker went
to the forward part of the boat to be
sure there was no ''twist In the rope to
prevent its working clea,." The line
was running out with such rapidity as
to cause smoke to arise from the wood
work of the boat, and the captain threw
water, as it is the custom, upon the
spot. By some unlucky lurch of the
boat he was canted from his position,
and he naturally threw out his left hand
to prevent himself from falling; but in
doing SO he unfortunately placed it so
that the rope coiled about his wrist,
and he was overheard and out of sight
In an instant. " .t 7~HsA
He was perfectly conscious while he
was rushing down, head foremost, aud
with an Incredible swiftness, and 1t APP
peared to him that his arm would be
torn from the socket, SO great was the
resistance Of the water. During these
awful moments he was well aware of
his perilous situation, and that his only
chance for life was to cut the line. But
how could he do this? He could not
move his right arm from his side. to
which it was SO closely pressed by the
force of the element through which he
was being drawn. The pressure on his
brain grew more terrible, and a roaring
as of thunder sounded in his ears. He
opened his eyes for a single instant, and
it seemed as though stream of fire
was passing before them. And now
came that inevitable activity of the
the brain which characterizes all such
perilous situations, where ones life
seems to pass in review in an instant of
time But the captain was very prac-
teal man, cool and courageous always,
and consequently still self-posessed.
He began to struggle with all his
muscular power to reach the knife
which he wore in his belt. He felt
that he was growing weaker every in
slant, and it was now or never with
Linn, though we shall say, parenthetic-
ally, that what requires so long to de-
scribe occurred in time which was
reckoned by seconds rather than min
,,+oC oh If he oOJ116 b11t command
his right hand for one stroke on the
fatal line! New and b s heart began to
fail him. He did not absolutely des-
pair, but his brain reeled, his nerves
seemed to relax their tension, light and
darkness appeared to alternate before
his eye-balls, and his head felt as
though compressed by an iron vice.
Were these his last moments? He
thought in spite of the agonizing pam
he endured he would make one more
brave effort.
The line providentially slackened for
a second; he reached his knife, and as
quick as thought itself, as the rope be-
came taut again, the keen edge of the
blade was upon it, and by desperate
effort of his arm it became severed. He
was freed, and then commenced his up
ward passage. caused by the natural
buoyancy of the human body. After
this he only remembered a feeling Of
suffocation, a gurgling spasm, and all
was over until he awoke to an agoniz-
ing pain of reviving consciousness, in
the arms of his boats crew. Truly one
of the most remarkable escapes from
death on record.