The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1879-01-26

tween two immense fields Of ice. which are closing in
on u.s. Never mind the cold now, but clear the doe
If you pull your arms from their sockets" For the
first time in the trip the great swimmer began to
show signs of uneasiness. and we went against the
tide with significant energy. But 1t was useless.
In less than ten minutes We hemmed in by foat
ing masses OF ice that ground against each other
s wisn narsn, vicious noise anpiea Tn sds
became temporarily caught among the cakes.
and and , on attempting TO release it my hand
was drawn between two pieces, and, despite the pro-
teton afforded BY the, rubber glove. the skin was
scraped on the back. Nothing could be seen. as the
zee rose IN the water around us aud obscured our
vision Added to this was my separation from my
alus,ie chaperon. an immense cake of ice having
kind of man VINO deserts friend in danger.
you get hold of the cake of ice to your left?"
IN try
SIGNALS OF DISTRESS uNHERpEp
And IN another moment saw him looming above
me in his dripping suit with one hand outstretched
10 assist me to place of safety. Now YOU'RE all
right said he land III try and wake ND the folks
on Shore So saying he drew a marine signal laht
OF distress and set It on The effect was plescribafle
The powerful blue light lit up the whole bay and re-
vealed large field OF ice all around us which elit
tered and sparkled. assuming all manner of radiant
hues under the illumination of the signal light
The light also showed that we had eriftei
past Stapeton and were being carried down through
the Narrows. Not a response made to our
signal. except where a white light was flashed in
addition to the blue fambeau. rocket after rocket
was sent up in appeal Finally. as the situation was
growing molnentdrlly more uesperate Boyton gave
the order to fight our way out. Then began jour-
ney over ice and through water until was sore in
svsry part Of Hy body The Captain stu bears the
Fortunate. and was simply pounded and squeezed
about the body.
On our way out we would mount one cake walk
two or three steps and then suddenly be plunged
into the icy stream the water beginning to freeze
upon our faces ..Baby Mine had hard time of it,
and was alternately tossed the heavy going
out or carried under the arm of her owner. But at
last huge cake Of the foe cut the zinc deck that
1t leaked. Boyton produced some beeswax and at
tempted to repair her, with but partial success
When opposite Fort Hamilton rocket was sent
up current of the flood tide. The slack water al
lowed the ice TO be separated without much trouble.
clear water. with fair running food tide.
TIRED OUT.
Up to this time had padded my own canoe"
but began to feel very sore and exhausted from the
effects of the continued strain in padding and the
struggle in the ice. 1t was at this point that Cap
tain Boyton began to show his metle. Placing my
head between his feet he drove me ahead of him tow
ard Stapeton. his paddle moving with the regularity
and time OF the screw Grew OF ,s propeller. while
neared the landing some OF my strength returned.
and l took the paddle again independent of
Boyton. Suddenly heard cry Of "Baby's gone to
the bottom!" and looking around found that the
boat had sunk with the lantern leaving in perfect
darkness and liable to be cut down at any moment
the line to which the little craft was attached. An
effort made to raise her to the surface as she
contained money valuable gold watch, rockets &c.
and. most important of all, the brandy flask. Boy
ton soon succeeded in bringing the sunken boat to
the surface. The thermometer was missing and
q fine revolver The boat then placed on Boy
ton breast and towcd into private dock. We had
boat was also lifted to the wharf. The landing
made at six o'clock. when We had been seven hours
in the water.
THE SWIMMERS GET WARM RECEPTION.
Stiff and sore, we were making our way along the
pier to the main shore when found our way sud
denly blocked by the watchinan at the dock On see
ing MS he jumped back for moment, unable to un.
derstand the situation On explaining his errand to
the officer the latter said referring to the HERALD re-
porter "What in bazes is that thing there?'
.Oh, it's only friend brought along with me for
a little trip down the Bay. Will you be kind enough
to direct us 10 Stapleton village?
eve good mind to show You to the station
house; yees have villanous looking faces, both Of
ye."
A judicious amount of cajoling induced the sus-
pcious Waterman to show us the way to Stapleton.
which found in complete darkness. Our
teeth chatterlng in our heads. how
ever and determined to find some
position in front of the Bay View House and blew
his bugle Justify but without any effect, and we went
away dIsgusted. A small coffee saloon found
open but the proprietor viewed us with evident
plcion and informed that he had no coffee
other eatae drinkable articles. Grown desperate
by exposed position. sat down In the place
and took forcib.e possession.
As the suits were inflated we presented gigantic
appearance and left in undisturbed possession
until nine o. clock, when took the Staten Island
ferry boat for New York. At the Battery thousands
persons had assembled to witness sail down the
bay on our return but the ice prevented us from
availing ourselves of the food tide they were disa
We drove from the ferry TO BOTTOMS hotel in Uni
ycrsity place,