Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-09-01

hitch round his body, under The ErmP,
and thrustinR himself forward to the
deck-end Of the plank, ssid: Six Of
you here. stand by this plank and keep
It fair" Then, addressing the man with
the rope, he said: "Up with you, and
make that rope fast on the bank -
"pll never be able 10 get up that
plank, Mr.. -" said the man, hesitat-
Inc
Up with you" shouted the mate,
he -cely, at the same time pushiug him
on to the plank. up which, thus urged
ard helped, be scrambled on hands and
knees, ever and anon clipping in his ef-
forts. "Psy out there, slack the rope
one Of you; bring pole heFew shouted
the mate, and seizipg 1t when handed to
him, he pushed 1t after the man. "Put
one foot On the pole; grip hard; look
alive! You'll do itv he cried, as all
eyes were bent on the poor fellow, who
was doing his best to obey orders.
Notwithstanding the help of the
wheel, the boat YVES all this time drift
inc, and there was great difficulty In
keeping the plank from swaying or be-
ing overturned as ii passed along the
uneven edge of the bank. Once or
twice the man was all but turned off
from from his peIilous position, saving
himself only by clasp of both arms
and legs; but at length he won the top,
and scrambled on shore amid the cheers
that involuntsrily burst from all present
except the mate, who grimly shouted:
"Shut up Pay out the rope; look alive,
you up there; make fssl! and present.
ly there came back from the bank above
the cry: "All fast, sir" The rope being
now secured on the boat, we lay steady;
and the tempest, which had been mod
Grating for some minutes, passed away
almost as suddenly as 1t had come upon
us.
Will here describe the pilot ard his
action. In person he was thin, deli
cate looking man, of sbout thirty years
OF age, native of Nashville, Tennes-
zee, Of silent habit, aud the cast of his
thought tinged by deep but qusint
seriousness l append his account Of
the circumstances, SIS narrated 10 me
that night.
When sat with him In his cabin, and
he had so far recovered from exhaustion
as to be able to converse, he said to me:
II had headed her out to pass close by
Flower Island, and cut off the bend, as
well as to escape the current which sets
AhsO ~ hDCh Il % " bAlG CUD1l1ky
and had only time to pull the wheel
hard down, so as to bring her head to it,
when it became so black that couldn't
see, and thought / had been stricken
blind by the lightning. She didn't come
up quick enough to the helm, and the
next thing knew was the breaking Of
the smoke-stacks, the lsIbosrd one fall
ing on the clearinghouse close to me,
and smashing 1t right down to the deck,
the remainder OF the light work of the
f1ouse being blown away, and had to
turn my back to the wind as much as /
could to catch my breath. next heard
the wheel-house g :, and when the pam
try was blown in did believe she had
burst up. began to ieel my arms Civ
ing way from the strain, but knew
that If let that wheel up a point she'd
60 right over; so got my feet jsmmed
against the wheel-frsme and held on
like grim death until she took the bank,
and when she did strike was so fasten-
ed on to that wheel that couldn't let 1t
60 for some time"