The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-07-30

as /; nt,ed pretty ught- We didnt thtoA
II would let ia much wafer II d ship
INK that far. But over the top OF the
cabin stairs were a couple oil folding doors
which shut down horizontally when the
,hip was IN H. proper position. ani which
sere only used ia very a. cold weather.
These We pulled TO aud ta>Ieued tight,
thus having a double profession against
he water. Well, we dIin get thIs
lone any too Tor the water did come
IN to the cabin door, and a little trlckied
m from the outside door, and through
the cracks In the inner one. But we
went u work and stopped these up with
.trips from the sheets, which we
crammed We'll Ia with our pocket knives
Then We sat down on the steps, ana
waited I, see what would happen next
The doors of all the ststc-rooms were
open, aud We could see through the thick
plate glass window, IN them, which were
all shut tight, that the ship was sinking
more and more a. the water came IN.
Sam climbed up into one OF the after
state-rooms, and said the outside water
was nearly up to the stern ami pretty
soon We looked up 10 the two PORTFOLIOS
in the stern, and saw that they were COW
cred with water and as more aud more
water could be seen there, and as the
light came through less easily, We knew
that We we're sinking under the surface
of the ocean. Its a mighty good thing
said William Anderson. that no water
can get 10 here William had a hopeful
kind of mind, and always looked on the
bright side of things; but | must say
that | was dreadtully scared when | look
u l-o,.rI tbn,a Storn UinInyps nd Sau
water instead of sky. 1t began to get
duskier and duskier as we sank lower
and lower, b 1t still we could see pretty
well, for it's astonishing how much light
come, down through water. After a lit
tie while VT noticed that the hight re-
manned about the same aud then WI
liam Anderson he sings cut 'Hooray,
We We stopped sinking! What differ
ence does that make? says ]. we must
be thirty or forty feet under water, and
more yet tor aught | know Yes, that
may be, said he; but it is clear that all
the water has got into that compartment
that ca get in, and We have sunk just AZ
far dow as we are going. But that
don't help matters, said thirty or
forty feet un Ter water i ust as bad as a
thousand u "a drowning a III ~ Drown
ing : said William how are you going
to be drowned? No water can get III
here Nor no air, either, said /; and
people are drowned for want Of air, as |
take it, 1t would be a queer sort Of
thing said William, to be drowned in
the ocean and yet stay as dry a chip
But its no use being worried about ali.
We've got air enough here to last us for
ever so long. This stern compartment is
the biggest in the ship, and it's got lots
of air IN it. Just think ofthat hold it
must be nclriy full of air. The stern
compartment Of the hold has got nothing
in it but sewing machines. | saw 'em
loading her. The pig iron was mostly
amldships, or at least forward of this
compartment. Now, there's no kind OF
acargo lhatIl accommodate as much air as
sewing machines. They're packed N
wooden frames. not boxes. and dou't fill
up halt the room they take. There's air
al through aud around en-. it a very
comforting thing to think The hold isn't
filled up, sniii with bales of cotton or
wheat in bulk Itnlight be comforting,
but | couldn't get much gojl out of it.
And now Sam, who'd been sclambling
ali over the cabin t. see how things were
SolbS pi' sohS CdO t-tdt thC HdDC was
leaking in a little again at the cabin door,
and around some of the iron frames of
the windows. It's a lucky thing said
William Anderson, that We didn't sink
any deeper, or the pressure Of the water
would have burst in tn Sc heavy glasses.
And what we've got 10 do now is to stop
up all the cracks. The more we work,
the %livelicr we'll feel We tore off more
strips Of sheets and went all round, stop
ping up cracks wherever we found them.
It's Fortunate said William Anderson,
that Sam found that ladder, for we
would have had hard work getting to the
windows ofthe stern state-rooms without
it; but by resting it on the bottom step
of the stairs, which now happens to be
the top one, we can get to any part of the
cabin | couldn't help thinking that if
Sam hadn't found the ladder it would
have been a good deal better for us but
L didn't want to damp Williams spirits,
and | said nothing.
We made everything as tight as we
could, and then we got our supper, hav-
ing forgotten all about dinner, and being
very hungry. We didn't make any tea,
aad we didnt light the lamp, for we knew
that would use up air but we made a
better meal than three people sunk out of
sight in the ocean had a right to expect.
What troubles me most said William
Anderson, as he turned in. lis the fact
that If we arc forty feet under water, our
tlag-pole must be covered up. Now, if
the flag was sticking out, upside down, a
ship sailing by would see it and would
know there was something wrong If
that all that troubles yor,' said |. 8.
guess you'll sleep easy And if a ship
was to see the flag, | wonder how they'd
know we were down here. and how they'd
get us out if they did = oh, they'd
manage it, said William Anderson trust
those sea-captains for that And then
he went to sleep. The next morning the
air bean to get mighty disagrceabIe in
the part of the cabin where we were. and
then William Anderson he says What
we've got to do is to climb up into the
stern state rooms, where the air is purer.
We can come down here to get our meals,
and then go up again to breathe confer
And what are we going ID do
when the air up there gets foul?' says |
to William, who seemed to be making
q engagements for spending the summer
III our present quarters. oh, that'll be
all right said he. Ii don't do to be cx-
travagant with air any more than with
anything else. When we've used up all
there is in this cabin, we can bore holes
through the floor into the hold and let in
air from there. II we re economical.
therell be enough to last for dear knows
how lorg.' We passed the night each in a
state room, sleeping on the end wall in
stead of the berth. and il wasn't till the
afternoon of the next day that the air of
the cabin got So bad we thought we'd
have some fresh; so we went down on the
Dulkhead, and with an augur that we
IN the pantry we bored three
loles, about a yard apart, in the cabin
1oor, which was now one of the walls