The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-01-13
Selert Snrg.
AMIDST THE BREAKERS.

never was in better spirits than on
the morning when l left Shanghae.
was then captain of the good ship Morn
ing Glory, bound from that port to Lon
don, with cargo of tea. The vessel
was fine clipper, well found, and in
good trim; so l never felt more conf
dent of making rapid passage than on
the day we cast off the tug at Woosung
and ran past Saddle Island, with fresh
eight knot breeze, down the China Sea.
had only two passengers with me-
Mrs. Clifford tie wife of an English
merchant at Ningpo, and her daughter, a
little sunny-haired child, who soon be-
came great favorite with all on board.
All went well until we were off Turna-
bout, when the wind fell light, and for
several days we made but little progress,
When | came on deck one morning, l
was surprised to find the royals and top
gallant sails slowed, though it was
dead calm, and the crew busily employ
ed reefng preventer-braces and doubly
securing everything movable.
Whats the matter, Jackson ?" l in
quired, as the chief officer came towards
me.
II think it's going to blow hard, cap
tain; the mercury's all of quiver in the
barometer-the birds fly high and are
making for land. I've seen those signs
before i'll these seas, and know ty-
phoon's coming on pretty shortly" he
replied.
l commended his forethought, and,
urging him to get everything snug as
quickly as possible, went below to asCer-
tain, as accurately as | could, the vessels
position.
Clouds gradually gathered overhead,
and at eight bells in the afternoon the
first installment Of wind came, in short,
fitful gusts, from nearly opposite points
of the compass. Presently the clouds
opened, and torrent of rain poured
down, while the wind increased in vio-
lence till it blew heavy gale.
The matches were tightly battened
down, all sails furled except the three
close-reefed topsaiis and fore course !;
and rut her right before the wind, to
endeavor to run out of the circle of the
storm. Night came on, and then the
full fury Of the tempest burst upon u.s.
To see was impossible, for the rain drove
horizontally along, cutting to our very
skins-to hear, still more so, for the
bowling of the warning elements deaf
ened us completely.
Groaning and quivering the good ship
bore bravely OH, now rising high on the
crest of mountainous billow, anon
punging deep into an abyss of darkness,
from which she again emerged foaming
and snorting like a mettlesOme steed
The crew drenched to the skin, were
crouching under the lee of the weather.
bulwarks; and was firmly lashed to the
mizzen-rigging, under shelter of a tar
paulin.
Still the hurricane ragged with increas-
ing violence. i could not cl0se-haul the
vessel for want of sea-roOm on the star
board hand and knew we should get
into the inner circle of the typhoon-the
pOlhJ lnOoJ W D6 uTtduGu-II we lay 10
on the off.shore tack. The topsails blew
out of the bolt-ropes with a roar like
thunder; the fore-bra parted, and the
yard came crashing down on deck One
huge wave broke over the stern, while
another struck the vessel full on the
broadsde, fling her Oh her beam ends in
the trough Of the sea, where she lay
moaning like vanquished giant
Cut away the mlzzen-mast,' l roared
through my speaking trumpet.
jackson, than whom better sailor
never trod plank, obeyed my order
promptly one stroke of his axe severed
a shrUnd landyard of the mizzen-rigging
and the lower mast, swapping short off
below the top, fell into the boiling ocean
to lseeard. Still the vessel lay over on
her side, and the sea making a Complete
breach over her.
Mainmast, now !" shouted, and soon
the mast went close by the deck carry
ing with it the foreiopmast-and,a alas
jackson and ten brave fellows who had