Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-02-12

not 70 h. s.,i'c shasta was 4 chanoa
no. 70 DC missed; and the weather was
very me and settled Mrs. Hood WITH
;n N%uaughters came down to the wharf
~ view iork to see the steamer off How
last WORDS TO her husband were: ..Re.
,heiiloer, II you don't bring jack soto
nome 0 needn't come without him -
Inc captain remembered these words
later. He replied: "Au rioht Gtt1o
woman; We'll be back with Won fnr
breakfast some fine morning in less than
Durlng the voyage to Liverpool all
went well: The chief stewardess tooh ~
JACK under her special care. and bo
slept IN her cabin. He had become
quite friendly with many of the sailnrS
and he had not the least objection to -
confidential chat with some of the ori,nn
ana half-naked stohers, most of them
lrishmen, who came up on deck when
they could from the depths of the stoke
o to get q breath of fresh air. The
solemn old Scotch engineer was his nar-
ticular favorite. NO p"A-
Jack Hood was rolling his great ball
n rushing about after it SCREAMING
with delight, when suddenly after =
strong throw it fell on the rail and then
With a bound into the sea. The child
stood still a second, and then. %runnino
to where his ball had disappeared, he
climbed on the rail to see what had be-
come of it, and before any hand could
reach him he had fallen over into the
waves. The terrified passengers saw
him rise to the surface and stretch ont
his arms, while the seething foam from
the ships propeller turned him round
and round in the water, and the shin
rushed on, leaving him behind. The
P~lerrepoints were not very near the
place where little Jack fell over; they
were at the other side of the deck; but
Mrs. Pierrepont, when she saw him
climbing, laid her hand quickly on her
husbands shoulder. He looked up in
stantly, and following her eyes to the
spot saw the boy just as he fell. In one
moment he was on his feet, kicked off
his canvas shoes, threw his hat on the
deck, and turning his face toward the
bridge, where he knew some of the ships
officers were always stationed, he called
out in a voice which rang like a trum-
pet-call over the ships .Man over
board!' Then, with q quick run md
leap, he had cleared the rail, and the
broken, twisting water of the ships
track had closed ovcr him. He was on
the surface again in q moment, and,
taking a glance back at the ship to know
his position, stretched out into a long,
steady stroke in the direction where he
knew the child was.
Great confusion and excitement fell
upon the passengers, but not upon the
officers of the ship. Captain Hood was
standing OF the bridge talking to the
second officer when he heard the cry of
"Man ovcrboard!' He looked aft and
and saw a man disappearing over the
stern; then he sawin the steamers wake
two heads, one dark and the other small
and fair, and farther away, floating
high, the colored ball. A sailor who
was cleaning some brass-work near the
stern ran forward, calling out to the
Captain: "Your son has fallen over
board, sir, and a passenger has jumped
after him. The Captains hand was
on the cngine-room telegraph, and down
into the depths of the ship went the sig
nails. The engineer and some of his
subordinates We're sitting about in front
of the great engines in the mixture of
lamplight and dim daylight which per-
vadcs that region. Some of the men
bad stretched themselves out on tho
floor of checkered iron plates. 1t was
an idle time. The engines were going
full speed and working well; one man
was telling a story, when, to the aston
ishmet of them all, the telegraph bell
rang, and the index, which pointed to
''Full speed ahead,n moved across the
dial to ''Stand by" There was a gen
eral cry of whats wrong?" The en-
gineer was close to the wheel which
controlled the engines, and his assist
ants stood by. Again the bell rang, and
the index pointed to "Stop," The en-
gines came to q stand, the revolutions Of
the propeller stopped, a strange quiet
fell on the engine-room, and the tremor
all oycr the ship ceased. They all
watched the telegraph. The bell rang
again, and the index moved to Eastern
slow; and again in q minute Oh two
to "Half."
The engineer now had time to speak:
s'What's wrong on deck? One OF you
run up and bring down word, quick"
Mickey. a fireman with bare feet and
bare shoulders, was standing at the foot
of the almost perpendicular iron ladder,
and at the engineers word he raj up as
nimbly as a monkey; but he did not re-
turn, and in a few minutes another man
went up who returned Immediately, all
%breathless, and told the others what had
occurred, and that he had seen the first
messenger, Mickey, in the boat which
had been sent off to the rescue. All
who could then went up on deck to see
the result The head engineer could
not quit his post. The reversing of the
engines had now brought the steamer
to a stand. The next signal came
down, "Slow," and the good steamer
moved slowly backward on her track:
When the first alarm was given, and
while the Captain, who lost his
presence of mind for a moment, was
communicating with the engine-room,
he made a sign to the second officer,
who called out: s.Man overheard! Stand
by to lower away the gig" The sailors
who were on deck ran to obey this or
der. A boats crew of four hands and
q coxswain were at once ready. The