The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1880-07-01
Heroic Men and Women.

ASs AS Voo AO0ao III ~
Nc. 65 at Earle's Hotel. yesterday. She
wore an embroidered night-dress, which
still bore the marks of salt water, and a
shawl. Her eyes were wet with weeping
for her two-year-old child Dora, who was
washed away from her while struggling in
the water. She told her story in a tremul-
Gus voice, frequently breaking into tears. She
said: eve were in our stateroom when the
boat struck: the shock was terrible; the
We rushed into the cabin where men were
at work throwing down life-preseryers from
above | got hold of one, and made my
husband take it and buckle it around him.
Then he got another and gave it to me |
held the child IN my arms-pOOr little thing,
she didn't cry or scream at all just held
her eyes vide open. | sprang off the deck
first and went down under the water | had
flung a chair overheard to hold on to in
rising l caught hold of the chair then Ed
ward lowered the baby down to me, and
jumped off himself-a wave swept him off.
There were people all around us struggling,
and screaming, and crying to God for help
the smoke and flames were rolling up from
the steamer, lighting up the water with the
dark heads and forms of the people on it;
some cling to RATS, some to chairs and life
preserverS, oars, anything they could get
hold of. The water swept over me, and |
went down, holding onto the baby, | rose
again. Some one caught odd OF the chair
and pulled it away so sudden that [ lost
my hold Of poor little Dora, and the waves
carried her off. Here the mother broke
out sobbing afresh.l Oh. | can never rest
when [ think of it. I could see her hair
drifting off and couldn't reach it though |
struggled like one insane. | drifted along
side of a mattress. There was a man cling
ing to it. and the mattress was borne slowly
in toward the burning boat. The flames
made the man wild, and as we got nearer
he let 90 his hold and was sucked in by
the current, shrieking, right into the blaz-
ing fire and smoke. 1t was horrible. |
thought my face would roast with the heat
it was so intense. Just as thought | was
going to follow him, the mattress swung
around a little: and finally aoated past the
stern just clear of the fire. There was a
gentleman floating alongside of me on a
bed. He looked up and tried to encourage
me, and said: "The boats will come soon,
you're getting along WE'LL" thanked him,
though I'm sure | was so weak 1 could
hardly, keep hold of the mattress. At last
/ saw a life-boat coming from the City of
New York. | had already seen it going
about picking up people, and cried out as
loud as [ could, "save me save me 2" The
young man who was standing in the bow
God blessed him saw me and rowed up.
He was nothing but a passenger, but he
saved more lives than any other h~alf-dozen
men put together. He directed everything,
and the men obeyed him implicitly. One Of
the rowers was dragging me out of the wa
ter roughly, but he stopped him and ham
ded me in tenderly, and got a handkerchief
from one of the men (he had used his own
the same way BEFORE and tied it around my
neck, and laid me on the bottom of the
boat. He saved three other people one Of
them a lady. Immediately after. One of
them was colored, and somebody in the
boat cried out, os"'Don't save him, he's a
Niger" white or black he said, IN
save him. And he did save him. Oh his
conduct was most noble. He was from
somewhere in Massachusetts,, and gave
me his name on . card, but the water
washed it out. He headed the first boat
for the Stonington, and if it had not
been for him l believe there would have
been no boats put out for her at all, her
crew, like that of the Narragansett, were so
demoralized. When this young man saw
the cowardice Of the crew, and that none of
them would lower a.boat, he threw off his
coat and vest, gave his money and watch to
man standing by, and said: I've got q
wife on board here, but I'll head the frso
boats crew; l ant see these people
drown" And he and one or two others
rushed to one of the boats. This shamed
the S%tonington's people into doing some.
thing. A Gfe-boat was lowered at last, and
the first to throw himself into it was q
drunken man. One of the officers cut the
rope at the stern too soon, and boat and
drunken man tumbled into the water, when
Nh. n, the young. gentleman from hasss-
That was the first life he saved, and he
didn't save less than 100. If / had &c.
600 I would give it to him for what he did
that night. When he got back with the
last boats load of saved he found the man
he had left his coat and watch with had
gone off, and he had to come to New York
in his shirt-sleeves. I asked him for his
name, and he gave me this" Mrs. Null
holland displayed a paper-soaked card with
the letters james N, CHI, Mass" just
visible. The reverse of the card bore an
advertisement Of e.. T, Parker,s rostaurant