Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-06-20

INV IL L - nv 4 -
We took in l5S mail bags and 342 passen-
gers al Queenstown, and there was good
deal o. coIfusiOn ~ the ship headed away
for thr ", ,t, for We had shipped so pass
enEer in all at Liverpool, and il WAS a
prett, tight lit in the SteeraEe. ! stayed on
deck un:,. after II al night. shes going
IT. ! >aIi hy way opening "A conversation.
Yes. toy The hukeN, she : doing slNteenS
now, ami if the wind only comes round
she n core eIghteenS like winkiuC." Its
raider thick to drive her. isn't il" Thick
be hlUGed. We amt got 10 mind that
mu,h. We shall slow her down a bit if
We hlunier into n regular fog, but she
can spare yard ReCkon she II average
seventeen right across" Our talk went on
unit. the curtain of midnight was fairly
folded round U.s. and then | went aft TO
lend hand with the log. Sure enough.
We We're going "siNteens,' and our progress
was more ike that of mackerel than r
ship.
On ne fifth night out the moon shOne
beau, .ully, and We were surrounded by n
fretw rE of silver. | could not sleep for
the v delight of living, and walked up
and dc wu. Grooming over old rhymes, un-
der IT, glad mystery of the night. sud
den ( rak caused me to hoist myself up
from I Ie alley, and | had a look at four of
the bn is The thole-pins were laid ready,
water casks made fast forward; oars
dashed handily, plugs out. | counted the
thwarts and il struck me that the other
four b + must be pretty big. for the four
amidsi p were certainly smal! enough.
AT the -nIsh | calculated that by loading
all the eight boats down TO the waters
edge, aid packing the children along the
bottom boards, We might accommodate
$40 p,r.rle. We were carrying GIG alto
gether
The next rorninC at o'clock felt rest
less. 50 ! q: lr up and found that We were
luncin- oy,. a long true sea that moved
In gray hiliU, ks under thick haze. 1t
was no exactly a fog, hut ii was puZZllng.
The luuAou, man sang shrllly, Vessel
away O. the starboard bow, sir "Au
right We steamed on, and | watched
the looming IIp. shows his green, sir
All right 4 minute after the Ooatswaln
ran swiftly ait and said softly 10 the of.
ficer on IAe bridge: Hes going about, sir.
b if know what he wants To do" We
lost sight o. tie vessels green just as we
cleared the biz bank OF haze, and then l
saw that bIs bark was standing right
across our bows | glanced at the mate
and saw him compress his lips, then | saw
that We wer@ edglng away 10 port, and l
knew that our man was going 10 shoot
across the bark's bows. Distances are so
deceptive that had no thought of nerv-
BUSINESS till the bark suddenly shook out
her square mainSaIl and came surgIng
away till We saw her red light. What
could we ma le Of this. The officer yelled
of a sudden, with an oath, -Starboard,
starboard'" and then, as if by magic, the
cloud OF can, Is seemed to OVert"P u'
saw the officer hanging on the rall- ana as
Jumped on the matches | noticed, with
forlorn curiosity, that his knuckles were
white 7 heard a long scrauuch, and
then the bark bounded back few
yards, while the steamer trailed on:
she came slowly into us again, and l
heard her bows crashing, for she had
dashed clear against the bauiks of the
stokehole. One shrlll scream came shud-
derIny up rom the Cablu-only one-then
a murmur then a huarse burst of yelling;
then a m. came up and cried, "Oh, my
God s- then. in a wild remorseleSs,
ferosIu rOwd. the steerage mel tram
Piled up. ,,ruggliny. tearing each others
women battered and screamed as they
tried to force the bolts of their door; then
the whole crowd broke clear. and soon
they We're clinging TO the men, praying
jabbering with notes of horrible pathos all
kind of incoherences. ran aft and
SAW the bark waver, lurch and then
sink
remember now observing how her
masts quivered, and heard a report like
tnst of a heavy cannon as her matches
were burst up by the air. A green and
white mountain CLEANED in the gray Of
the dawn, and then the ship was no more
seen The ladies from the cabin were
mostly in their night dresses and the men
also had taken no time to dress saw
white, drawn faces, and noticed particu-
larly my English gentleman and his
daughter. She was hanging on his arm
and | thought she was shaking cunvul-
sively, but she kept her lips tight, and
only the deadly stare of her eyes flashed
from the pallOr of her writhing
face told of her trouble The cap
tain rushed forward, buckling his
belt as he came. He was in his shirt
sleeves, and saw the butt of a Deringer
peeping from his Yankee pocket behind
him. From below there came n queer
sucking sound, with an occasional long
gurGIe. and | saw that the vessel seemed
to hang" as the seas met her. The second
officer, who was a smart man, had passed
spare sail over the side. and | knew he
wanted TO reeve it under her, but he
might inst as well have tried 10 stop the
middle arch of London bridge. The ell
giDes were still kept going, but the deck
slanted. slanted steadily, and the list to
starboard reached an angle that made it
diffiCU l TO stand at all especially as the
uneasy sta ,-ering lungs of the steamer
were takII- her anyhow. An awkward
rush Of u.ru swayed forward; a noted
prize light, and his gang made a desper-
ate attempt 10 get one Of the boats clear:
Cursiug and praying. they hacked at the
tackles with knives; some of them
swarmcd up and stood on the thwarts
tearing Slva--ely at the chains. but the
boats were made fast TO stand heavy
weather, and only skilled sailors could
launch them. a loud crack followed by
a wallOw ~ noise like thunder, rendered
all other sounds insignificant, and a cap
tain who VAS going to New York said:
The bulkhead's gone. We must take our
chances now The ship stopped nearly
dead and began to trrmble curiously. but
that was only the river of water pouring
aft. and We suOn saw the firemen driven
up like rats from a burrow "Stand by
the boats
The order was given and the boat
swaius call rose in "A long. tremulous
screcCh. The sailors tried 10 get to their
quarters. and | observed that their Occa-
sional drills had done them good. But
then the drills had been carried on while
the passengers stood aloOf. 80 that the