The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-12-22
Dead ahead, sir. 1 think it's the

WY btdIb Wtub up III NY IlOulu3
but | tried to appear as cool as an ice
berg. OF course everybody else was all
excitement, and that was the more rea-
son why | should not be. Besides, l
was captain, and nobody else was, as |
had shown them by sticking to my
course.
1.-THE night came on clear and beau
tiful, and we kept straight on. We
lost sight of the boat as the daylight
faded, but in half an hour or so we saw
her again, and we still had her right in
line. AS we neared her | kept the ship
up little so as to bring the boat under
our lee, and put men in the fore-chains
and along the sides with plenty of
lines, and made all possible prepare
tons to make fast. ] knew the men la
the boat would be so chilled with the
cold that they would be nearly help
less, and whatever was to be done
would have to be done by ourselves.
We got them out all right, and it
was as | had surmised-they were
most of them too benumbed to climb
up the sides and had to be helped.
When they were all safe on board we
tried to hoist the boat in, and she
broke in two with her own weight;
how she ever lived as long as she did is
a mystery.
"Captain Hitchcock told me they
rowed as long as they could after leav-
ing the ship, with the intention of get
ting into the smoother water beyond
the Gulf stream, and he had thought
that in case | fell in with the other
boat would do just as | had done,
The two cabin passengers took their
share of the labor with the rest. They
were both young men, with differ
ence of perhaps five or six years in
their ages, and had been travelling in
Europe-the elder of the two being
tutor for the younger, who was the son
of prominent citizen of New York
and when their turn came to enter the
long-boat they had done so without
complaint, and had borne the priva-
tons of the night and day as cheer
fully as any one else.
AN day they had watched and
hoped, hoped and watched, but there
was no sign of a sail. The night
! threatened to be cold, and there was
little expectation that any of the party
would live till morning, even if the
| boat continued to float.
the waves the elder of the twain said
to Captain Hitchcock that, with his
permission, he would offer prayer. OF
course it was given at once. And l
never, in all my life said Captain
Hitchcock, heard a more beautiful
prayer from the lips of mortal man.
And as he said Amen" and | said
" Amen too. | raised my eyes and saw
your sail
" Perhaps said Captain Raymond
to his group of listeners" perhaps
you'd like to know the names of those
two passengers? They are familiar to
you all, and you'll find them at the bot
tom of this letter, which received, with
a silver pitcher, few days after we
reached New York. | haven't seen it
for some time, until it turned up to-day
while | was overhauling my desk. 1t
is an old letter, you see, and was writ
ten before the envelope was invented"
The letter was passed around and
handled with great care. 1t was then
read aloud by one of the group, and
ran as follows:
New YORK. December 49, 1874.
Dear Sr:-Desirous of testifyng our
grateful sense of the noble DISTINGUISHED
ness with which you steered from your
course on the 18th of December in search of
the captain, passengers and crew of the
ship Alabamian, which foundered on that
day at sea, and of the kindness we received
at your hands while your guests, we beg your
acceptance of the accompanying piece of
plate,
We know that no Offering of ours can add
to the proud feeling of satisfaction which
must have animated your bosom when upon
your own deck you saw the eighteen human
beings whose lives you had saved; but We
wish you to possess some slight token which
in after days may serve to remind your chill
dren and your friends of how nobly you did
your duty to your God and your fellow-men
and we desire that other shipmasters, in
cited as well by their own humane impulses
as by the appreciation which SO noble an act
never fails to call down from the public,
may " 90 and do likewise"
In conclusion, we congratulate you upon
the opportunity you have enjoyed of graft
flying the most generous promptings of the
soul. We pray that heaven may shower its
choicest blessings upon you and yours, and
we beg you to be assured of the lasting
gratitude of, very truly, your friends,
A itDH ANS s. Cf HEWITT, Passengers.
: To Captain George b. raymond Of the Shil
4tdlanta Of Ne,c YORK.
"A day or two after receiving and
answering this letter." said Captain
Raymond, :" l received an invitation to
go to Peter Cooper's house, as the
family was very DESTROYS of meeting
me. | was so busy with the affairs of
my ship that 1 could not respond at
once, but sent word that | would call
on New Years day. When | called.
and my name was announced, they did
not wait for me to 90 into the parlor,
but all came out into the hall to greet
me; the ladies pressed around me,
and | assure you it was rather en-
, barrassng for a young sea-dog to re-
ceive so much attention. | had done
nothing more than my duty, and some
how felt that | was being thanked and
praised good deal beyond what
merited. | tried to tell them so, but
they wouldn't listen to me, and all the
, time | was there they made such a
hero of me that | didn't know what to
say, and wondered how | would be
, able to escape. "-Harper'S Weekly.