Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-26
THE MAN WHO LAUGHED.
a Sense ofthe Humorous In n Moment
ofSupreme Peril.
New y DIRK post

New York Post.
Shakespeare shows us how the pres
sure of tremendous danger or even
gricfsomtimes drives men to bursts of
understanding and to some super
fetal observers impossibleas seems the
incongruity. 1t is curious and pro-
foundly interesting to note how in real
life an event will now and then occur
directly suggestiveto the great master i
treatment in this and in other methods
of procedures, aud demonstrating his
fidelity to nature Us if by flash Of CON
viction
An extraordinary incident in point is
related in the course Of narrative Of
Mr.. Silva, Il passenger by the lost steam
er City of Vera Cruz, of the wreck of
that vessel and his own subsequent cs-
cape. He has been telling about the
terrible scene that Immediately follow
cd the breaking up Of the ship. Many
were drowned Mt once outright, but
others who still lived and chung to all
manner of fragments, We're horribly
beaten by whirling wreckagc, often
dashed from the frail articles to which
they chung, and rolled over and over
by the monstrous waves. After de-
scribing n number of frightftll episodes
Mr.. Silva goes on To say:
1--WE ran across II sailor who was on
another part Of the steamer. He sand,
Hello, how are you making out?' We
said, Pretty well under the cir
cumstanccs, The next moment We
were whirlng through the air and wa
ter, and MS we came up the sailor was
laughing ut us; for the wave had not
broken until il had passed him. We
kept together until after dark, fighting
for life until about7 o'clock. 4 heavy
sea knocked us oil our raft, and saw
no more of it. | shouted and called
the others, but no reply came, |
was alone with nothing but my life
preSeryer.
This extraordinary picture Of man
laughing rs if ut II political joke, in the
midst of carnage agony, and desolation
is wonderfully impressive, and the
more so because of the directness and
simplicity of the sketch, which pre-
ludes MI thought of generalization,
Thomas Drumgoold, the fourth assist
ant engineer of the ship. who was also
among the saved, furnishes also II
piece of testimony which in 4 manner
allirms the sugcgestivcness of the fore
going quotation. and bears witness To
to the possibility Of ludicrous effect
being wrought amid the EXTREMIST SUR
rounding horror Mr.. Drumgoold says
that 'thc water around us was full Of
human beings. most of whom had been
injured by pieces Of debris, and were
bleeding profusely The waves moved
up to n tremendous height. 1 would
see II man said he, 'clinging to some
object suddenly shoot up above me in
the air on the top of one of these
waves and the question would pass
through my mind, Where is he going
to?' Later ON he saw piece of
wreck, which proved to b. n side of the
captains house. He left the barrel,
saying to himself, "Now have done
with you" and chung to the piece of
wreck. The waves playfully tossed
this over several times. but still he
clung 10 il. We have thus two bits of
proof, corroborating the other, that
show how there may be room i'll the
mind. among the most appalling cir
cumstanccs, and even in the presence
of almost certain death, for The per
ccption and enjoymento Of grim humor.
The incidents instantly convey to Us 4
feeling of something Shakspearean,
and although those acute analyses re-
quircd no such confirmation Of the
masters truthfulness, either Coleridge
or Schlcgcl might have been glad to
enrich their commentaries by events
So foreibly illustrative of one of the
lramatistS boldest and most striking
dcveesa device repeatedly stigma
TIED MS cxtrayagant and unnatural,
but which experience shows 70 be
Stickly conSonant with fact