The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-11-08

arter the spanker and Jh had been set, will
ID whole canvass and singlereeted topsails, sh
had as much onto her as she'd bear, no matte
what was the circumstances. We let her %
TIL the light, which was now clearly seen 70
To be q vessel on fire had got 10 be II couple q
pints abaft the starboard beam, and then th
word was passed to tack ship Yon may I'M
agInc the way she had on her when | tell you
she went round without balk, although "A
she came TO the wind with whole mainsail OntC
her it seemed As though the sticks would q
cut Of her But it's no use talkin', sir; Nv,
been in a many ships and with many men
y jackasses and otherwise, but I've never yc
been with sailorman but what he wout
? work his mainSail tackn' ship IN an cmcr
: gency. As rule II may be said the fust sail
As gets aback are the foreto' gallan sail, the last
to shake are the lee leech of the malnsail, ami
, always in workin' ship them two sails should
be kept onto her. OF course You can't always
keep your to'gallan Sail set, but there's no cX-
cusc for the malnsall under any circumstances
i | know there's lots OF folks, even pilots that
haulsi il up; don't never let 'cm do it no more,
no matter how short the work or how few the
hands, and always remember if you've got
enough hands To haul your mansail up you've
got enough to work it, and in short or long
work remember that in square riggin' this
| is, AS is justly called, the mainsai
This here man that | were with IN the Silas
Wright were II sailor right up to the hub al
though up To this time we chaps aiOrc the
mast hadn't knowd l., but afore we got the sail
onto her he had been fore ana aft of the ship,
and all of Us COgniZed that he we're a man rs
mustn't be played with. At one time in his
| life, rs we learned afterwards, he had been into
a ship As had been on fire, and that made him
more and more anxious for to get up nigh
enough tor to render some assistance. I've
seen sail carried aiore now, but that night it
weren't carryin' sail, it were drlvin' As she
went into II forard she'd bury TIL evcrythin'
went completely out of sight, forecastc, lib
boon aud all, and only that everythn' was
strong as wood and iron could be made, II
couldn't have stood that strain But here's
where it were: Here were ship on fire; there
weren't no time to waste; it were Just this
from all parts of the compass all ships that
seen it were hastcnin' to it, and our old man
cared not rap; he were wIllin' to take all |
sorts OF risks TO GIT there fust We never stood |
furdcr than to git the light couple of p'ints |
abaft the beam, and then we went around. As
we drawd up nigh enough for to make her out
we seen that she were u tull-rIggcd ship and
in the sharp, crisp clear northwest air we
could make out her outlines perfectly, full. |
rugged ship with three royal yards across;
mass of flame against the back ground of the
clear, blue, starlit sky. Her togallan sails and
courses was hauled up snug her royals flrled
her jib hauled to the boom end, and her
spanker hangn' loose in the brails. This
much we could see as we passed back and
forth to ee'ard of her, strainin every nerve
to git nPh enough to rescue any that may
have been on board of her, and the day were
nigh brcakin' afOre this took place. ;
ITS hard, sn for me to describe to YOU all Il
that we felt, seem this ship to windard of us,
KNOWN that we was a strainn' every nerve
for TO come up with her, and yet seein' her {
every tack furdcr and furdcr away from US, as [
it seemed, although, of course, each stretch t
brung us higher and higher. At about two I
o'clock IN the mornin' bright flame shot up t
in the heavens, and all Of her three masts went |
over the side, the flame from the hull busting 4
up clearer and brighter than ever, and this S
rs the night wore on we meanwhile {
maxim ,hWt lacks ana workln' up to'ards the +
burnin wreck. GittIn' up pretty nigh hand |
unto her the old man called all hands, and Z
says he /
"'My lads, there aint goin' to be any time to {
osc here, and | want every boat we've got put
n the water, and put in the water right n
lint man rs stands any nonsense, and If any l
nan disobeys my orders in the slightest degree h
shall put bullet through his head with as il
little remorsc as I'd shoot n dog "
lone properly. Runnin' along to lee'aId of 81
he wreck we hauled up the courses, clewed C
Town the topsaIls and hauled out the gear and ii
while reachin' to the westard we put the two ii
'ort boats into the water rs neatly rs such fl
OBJ was ever done, keepin' the nainyards e
quare and the maintopsail aback As soon Il
IS we was clear from the boats we wears her a
round on her heel ettln her come to with her o
read up to the BASTARD, with the head yards r,
back, and as soon as she lost her way the two e,
tarboard boats WAS dropped Mind you, she b.
ad no davts on either side, and the boats had st
0 be put over by tackles; but 1t were all done N
veil, and when them boats was afoat all the -
len there were left on board of our hooker
'cre the old man, five sailors, cook and a
toward
II was one OF them times, sir, when man Il,
,ustn't stand on trif1es; "A ship ahre won't
'ait for to have men took out Of her in detail, w
nd what you do you've got to do quick. | ~
'as in one Of the last boats launched, and We T..
eadcd her for the wreck. The wind still blew ~
gale and the sea were high, but our boats j.,
'erc bullt of seasoned cedar at Sag Harbor :,
harp at both ends and light as corks With ~
ie exception of little spray once in while l.,
e didn't ship spoonful of water as we pull H.
1 to wlnd'ard. just atore we got to the wreck, y,
owever, which was still burning brightly. "
lere famed up bright light for second or 50
,, and then all was dark, save the twInkhn' Il
the stars. :,
Give way, my lads says the third mate as Of Of
',d charge Of our boat; therell be some of ~
lem poor devils toatin', and every life you !; !,
I'VE Is worth fortin.' We bent to our oars ~
18th oil our might but all our endeavors were -,
uitless Over and over the spot where we A,
ldged the ship had gone down we pulled, and ~,
ack and forth We passed, but not = trace OF ~ ~
ie was seen. Floatin spars there were, and H.,
rcck stucif of many kinds, but nothing that y,
as animate, till just as the day was breakln' "
nr boat passed close to the top of what had
cen her cabin, and attracted by . faint cry
ulled alongside and took from it a dog of the W
ewioun' land breed. He was miserable el
hen We took him on board, his hair being nj
nged off and his flesh burned and scorched al