Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1883-05-17
Death on the Ocean.

A terrible memorial Of the recent dreadful
loss of the steamship Navarro was fshed VI
few days ago by a smack. whose people
found in their trawl the bodies of man and
woman tied together, with their eyes band
aged Probably the mysterious deep never
yielded up a secret more shockingly suggcs'
tive than these corpses. Whether the man
and woman were married couple. or sweet
hearts, or brother and sister. VIC know not
but their bodies fastened together in death,
tell moving story of devotion, just as their
baudaged eyes convey most pathetic pic
turc of resolution and anguish. ln the
wreck of the Cimbria it will he remembered
that the survivors spoke OF seeing some o.
the cmigrants at the last moment cutting
their throats to shorten the final struggle.
Most narratives Of disaster at sea contain
passages Of this kind, telling how those who
seemed Of q shrinking and tImid nature when
all was we'll, stood forth mast noble aud per-
feet types of heroes when danger vas SUI
prcme how the swaggercr, the bully. the
tyrant proved an abJeCt cur. casting himself
down upon the deck in his terror. alter
nalciy praying and sh.icking in the agony OF
his fear; how some, unable to await the
approach of the last moment. destroyed
themselves, while others, with folded arms
and contracted brows, stood motionless upon
the sinking null, going to their death like
men lost in thought.
One of the most pathetic stories in the
language is tho account OF the loss of the
Kent East Indiamap by fire 10 1925. for the
reason that hundred particulars arc intro
duccd by the writer relating to the behavior
of the people when all hope was abandoned
and death seemed inevitable. We read OF
the little children who. when the flames had
mastered the ship. and all was uproar and
horror on the deck. continued to play rs
usual with their toys in bed. or to put the
most innocent and unreasonable questions TO
those around them :" OF 4 young military Of
ticcr removing from his writing desk lock Of.
hair and placing it in his bosom, that he
might die with that sweet keepsake upon his
heart; of another writing few lines 10 his
father; ari ,FiCi0SIii45 II iii Il iI0ti.'a, nf.m1
hope tina; it might eventually reach its Gestl-
ualiOu, with tho view. IL he stated, OF rcllCv-
in. him rom ~; iun-; years d ffuiiicss
anxiety and suspense which our mClanchui y
fate wou!l awaken; - Of the Older soldiers
and sailors seating themselves over the fore
hatch under which was the magazine. so that
they might be instantly destroyed when The
powder caught fire; Of towards drinking
themselves lnscEsi5lc or writing in their
terror upon the decks Of young girls pray
ing calmly amid 4 kncci!nG crowd OF brave
men standing colrctcdIy with their eyes on
the setting sun. whose light they never hoped
to sec again. 1t IS u wonderful and thrl!!n:
picture, and how often has It been repeated
since in other ways and amid other seas !.
The last IS not, indeed. the worst. Int it -
among the worst. The Navarro - bG! one Of
scores OF ships which have gone 10 their
dDoms Offering. before they took the final
plunge the most dreadful Of all pictures ri
human anguish; but The suilnrinss she en-.
bodied seem to survive yet. even n her dead.
when we hear Of thnSc two corpscs tied to.
gelhcr coming to the surface. with their eyes
bindfO!dcd, and when NC cndeavor 10 realize
by those devoted silent witnesses from the bed
OF The ocean something o: the terror and tho re.
solution, the fear aud the courage, the wild
despair and the passionate supplicatOn to
Heaven which made up the picture 0! that a.
of all other wrecks OF similar mature. -Lon-
don TeIeyraph.