The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-12-20
New York world.1


New York world.1
Stories of men and sailors insisting On
saving themselves in time of peril at sea.
in selfish disregard of the weaker women
and children, are 10y no means uncommon
in the annals of marine disaSter-which is
as much tn say that the instinct of self
preservation will i'm many men assert itself
superior ON occasion To moIe heroic uas
siuns and pr0mptings. There is nn record
the case of the London. which fnundered
in 1866 IN the Bay of Biscay, where the
seaman undertDok tu save themselves and
departed in the only bnat-three engineers,
one fireman, one mi1shipmau, nne carpen
ter. eight sailors, a steward aud boy
taking three passengers, friends of their
number, ald leaving to 90 Gown Sith the
fated craft 250 men, women aud children.
There is a much IL and more local in
stance. in our own Southern waters, where.
vessel taking fire, the cooks, walters and
StOkers seized the boats and escaped. Bu.,
on the other hand. there are to the full
many Instances recorded where discipline
sternly commanded and Loyalty DnSrnte6
to. or manly obedience to heroic instincts,
has proved the salvation of the helpless.
1t was at o'clock on the morning of the
Goth of FehIuaIy, 1852. tha: the troopShip
BUkenhead, having ON board large num-
Der uf soldiers, with the usual proportion of
women and children. 631 souls in all. struck
rock near Point Danger, Cape of
Good Hope. and filled. Captain Salmond
was in comm md of the vessel Lieutenant
Colonel Seton. of the Seventy eighth High
landeIS, OF the soldiers. OF course the
pius of ihe daviiS bad ruSted aud the
larger boats conld not be launched, but
two cutters and gig were got ont and
manned, and the women aud children
placed in them. The Colonel summoned
his officers Ia a consultation and impressed
T,I,on them the necessity of compoSure aud
of preserving discipline among their men
. to the veIv last" At this moment the
ship parted, and .he fore part went down.
and the word was passed that further effort
was in vain let each do the best he cOnld
to secure his individual safety, few
men jumped overheard, but she remainder
collected ON the pOnp, soldiers and seamen
alike, steady, quiet and resnluie." The
captain retained his post, cool and cullecr
ed, as if there were still ship under him,
and Colonel Seton, with his drawn sword
in hand, stood in the Gaugway to cut down
any one who might endeavOr to fnrce his
way towards the boats. When the ship
reeled aud quivered ere going down, Capt.
Salmond shouted. Let all who can swim
uow try to save themselves One man
exclaimed, ''Make for the boats y as he
threw himself into the waves. but 1.-THE
colonel and his officers eutreaied their
nen-aud not in vaiu-not to attempt an
entrance iutn the boats, which were al
ready fully loaded with women and child
ten. The officers new shook hands and
took leave of one another, when, on
sudden. the vessel nroke again croSswise
abaft ,he mainmast, aud ihe poop, heeling
over with a lurch, plunged beneath the
water" only twenty minutes from the
.ime she struck. The captain was Drained
by falling spar the Colonel was drown
ed, and of the hundreds so rudely awaken
ed only 1S4 lived Ia tell the story of the
Birkeuhead, but among them we're all the
women and children. This splendid tale
has been put into verse 10y soldier poet,
the late Sir f Hastings Doyle:
our good Colonel gave the worl, and there
Formed uS IN line-tO die.
There rose no murmeT from the ranks, no
BY sharnefuI strength unhonored life to seek;
Our post to quit we were not trained nor
To trample down the weak.
So we rrade women with their children go.
The oars piy back again and yet again;
Whilst, inch 10y inch, the drowning ship sank
Still under steadfast men.
What followed why recall2 The brave who
Died WITHOUT nnchng in the bloody surf.
They sleep as we'll hpneuth that purple tide
T As others under turf.
Wearing their wounds like stars, shall rise
joint heirs with Christ, because they bled to
His weak ones, not in vain.
In the other instance 10 be recorded the
men who dieu lacked the example of SUI
perors who had long commanded them,
and to obey whom was second nature, but
the circumstances were ever more tragic,
she agony was infinitely longer. and the
heroic trump pin perhaps even greater. The
story of the Central America was once in
tveIybody's mouth yet how many folks ni
this generation dues Herudons name re
: call lleIEdou's deed
The Central America sailed from Havana
= for New Yok, September s. 1857. with n
crew of 101 men, besides 491 passengers,
many Of them miners returning with theii
gold or for their families and many of them
women and children. Many were owners
of large sums; and there were but few whose
/ gold did hot number hundreds. while many
reckoned their wealth by thousands of dol
lars" When size Was twenty four hours out
gale sprung up that soon increased to a
hurricane by the morning of the / 1th the
captain was apprehensive soon after The
vessel spIung - leak and though all hands
we're set to work the infiowing water put
out the fires aud the ship fell helpless into
the trough of the sea. Once again 10y
2
: start tine fires, but the pumps became dis
: arranged and the water gained on then
: terribly. The captain cut away the fore
mast SO as 10 make "a drag, but when it fel
+ it was dragged beneath tie hull, an'
pounding the ships wounded sides made
the leak worse. by paying out n hawse
they extemporiZed drag au6 brought th'
shIp head on, but it soon parted and lei
her at the mercy Of the waves. The waite
had gained till the women aud children
were driven TO take refuge in :he men
cabin IL ere were snch scene a. not evei
: the annals of shipwieck eau parallel
Gold lay about, miuted. in dust. in ingots
i by thousands and thousands Of dollars
t Some men bound it round their bodie
with belts and in haudkerchiefs Ia carr
them down more swiftly when the taia
{ pInuge came others. unwilling TO b
t weighted in The struggle by theiI burde
/ Of dross, were scattering it wildly abou
the cabin floors. Full pouches lay III