Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-02-05

fallen, and when the captain came on
board 1T was blowing quite fresh. We
had just sent down our light yards when
the breeze increased to q strong gale,
and at noon, uSt as the great tidal wave
was due, the wind shifted to hurricane,
bringing with it the 'bore" or storm
wave from the sea. Then commenced
to blow such a cyclone as for destruc-
ton has hardly been equalled within a
century. In that cyclone twenty thous-
and people persisted, and one hundred
and thirteen villages were swept away;
and out Of a fleet of three hundred
of the finest ships and steamers in the
world, only one escaped without dam
age.
When the great wave came rolling
up, La Belle Helene, directly she was
struck, was dragged from her moorings,
while the force of the wind was so ter
rifle that we could not stand upright.
Two vessels locked together had drifted
against us, smashing our boats to
match-Wood and swapping our peaked
yards as though they were pine-stems.
The conclusion caused us to collide
with another vessel, reducing her to the
same state as ourselves, and thus four
vessels locked together were swept out
into the stream. We were carried
stern first with almost railway velocity,
the captain and Mr.. Cobb vainlv trying
to give orders, while holding on to the
mlzzen mast; when suddenly the vessel
was lifted up with tremendous crash,
as though her stern was stove If, and
IN less than minute her bow swung
around head up stream, and she lay on
her beam ends. We, had struck on
hidden wreck, and in addition to losing
our rudder, had stove large hole in
our quarter, through which the water
was rushing like waterfall, and we
were filling fast. This disaster, how
ever, cleared us of the other vessels,
which like chips in q mil, stream swept
past, leaving us complete wreck, with
bulwarks stove III and fore owermast
alone standing. As the vessel settled
by the stern, with great difficulty we
crawled and made our way to the bow
spirit, which seemed each minute to
stand more upright; while with roar
like the blast of q furnace the wind in
creased III force, or screamed like an
HOlan harp through what remained of
our wire-rigglng. The cyclone was
now at its height. and we had been
nearly four hours on the bowsprit, when
there was lull, ana as cattle, horses,
and the dead bodies of men, women
and children passed Us, besides native
boats and portions of wreckage, we
could make out that they saw us on
shore, and were getting the rocket APP
paratus III position; but such was the
force of the wind, that when they fired
the lines fell short, and after several at
tempts they desisted. They pointed
down the river, however, and to wind
ward we saw what appeared to be q
speck coming up with the tide,which was
running like a sluice. As the speck
approached we could distinguish that
it was man with the features of
Hawke, and he held up his hand to
show that he had a line attached to
him; and as he was carried toward us,
the captain dropped running tow-line
over him, and with great difficulty we
hauled him on board. To the line
which Hawke brought with him we
We're not long in attaching hawsers
spliced together, which they hauled on
shore land as they were dragging us
on G at time, on shore. Hawke came
to me for moment, and in an anxious
tone asked:
"Where is Helen?"
Married this morning to the cap
tain, and on shore"
"He turned away, saying:
.Then [ am Of no use to the world,
and the world is of no use to me-
Through Hawkes. gallantry we were
rescued, and when safe on shore both
the captain and Mr.. Cobb shook him by
the hand, as did numbers of others, and
admired him for a brave fellow. A
public dinner was given in his honor,
and a large sum of money would have
been sub. cribed for him; but the latter
he declined to receive, CURLY replying
TO the organizers of the subscription by
telling them that he could not take
what he was not entitled to claim: and
from this speech some of us inferred
that had Hawke known that the fair
stowaway Ito whom he had never
spoken) was not on board the wreck,
he might have acted, and we might
have Jared, differently.
The day after the cyclone the Hoogh-
iy was one unbroken mirror, and all
was peace and tranquility; and but for
Calcutta being in ruins, and the harbor
one mass of wrecks, there was no trace
in the yellow sky of the fearful scene
that had been enacted the day before.
High out Of the water, and standing
consplcuously among the wrecks, was
the full-length f1gurehead of La Belle
Helene, the flowing robe Of which was
painted cerulean blue, suggesting to
those belonging to the vessel that
Hawke, whose work it was, had it in
his mind to make it resemble his late
commanders wife. With the aid Of
steam-pumps and lighters, the vessel
was subsequently raised and towed into
dry dock.
One day, as the newly married couple
were about to Gloss the river en- route
to the vessel, they saw a crowd Of halt
nude natives staring at q EurOneaD who