Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-11-29

have dreamed the whole scene over
again, but God has mercifully kept me
| from hearing that one cry. Into it
seemed to be compressed the agony of ex-
pected shipwrech. 1t seemed to say: Il
shall never get home again! My chill
| shall be widowed. l am launching now
| into eternity. In two minutes / shall
meet my God!
| There was about five hundred and fifty
passengers in the steerage, and as the
water rushed in and touched the furn-
aces. and began violently to hiss. the
poor creatures in the steerage mag
ined that the boilers were giving way.
| Those passengers writhed in the water
! and in the mud, some praying, some
crying, all terrified. They made a rush
| for the deck. An officer stood on deck
| and beat them back with blow after
blow. 1t was necessary. They would
not have stood an instant on the deck.
| hold of the ship! One woman, with u
child in her arms. rushed up and caught
| hold of one of the officers and cried:
| DO let me out! will help you! Do
let me out! cannot die here! Some
got down and prayed to the Virgin
Mary, saving: 80 blessed mother! keep
u.s." Some stood with white lips and
fixed gaze, silent in their terror. Some
| wrung their hands and cried out: 20
| God! what shall do? What shall do?"
The time came when the crew could no
longer stay on deck, and the cry of the
officers was: Below! all hands below!"
Our brave and sympathetic Capt An
| drews-whose praise shall not cease to
speak while live-had been swept by
the hurricane from his bridge, and had
escaped very narrowly with his life.
The cyclone seemed to stand on the
deck. waving its wings, crying: This
ship is mine! / have captured it! Ha!
hal I will command it! If God will
permit will sink it here and now! By
thousand shipwrecks, Iswear the doom
of this vessel" There was lulu in the
storm; but only that it might gain addi-
on one side. Crash. went the life boat
on the other side. The great booms got
loose, and, as with the heft OF a thun-
derbolt, pounded the deck and beat the
masts-thc iib boom, studding sail
boom, and square sail boom, with their
strong arms, beating time to the awful
march andmusic of the hurricane.
Meanwhile the ocean became phos-
phorescent. The whole scene looked
like fire. The water dripping from the
rigging, there were ropes of fire; and
l luGIe NCIc uluSlS vi HIC. (uclC WIS
a deck of fire. A ship of fire, sailing on
a sea of fire, through night of fire.
May 1 never see anything like it again!
Everybody prayed. A lad of u years
of age got down and prayed for his
mother. IF I should give up," he said,
Il do not know what would become of
mother" There We're men who, think,
had not prayed for thirty years, who
then got down on their knees. When a
man, who has neglected God all his life
feels that he has come to his last time,
it makes very busy night. All of our
sins and shortcomings passed through
our minds. My own life seemed utterly
unsatisfactory. l could only say, Here,
Lord, take me as am. l cannot mend
matters now. Lord Jesus, thou didst
die for the chief of sinners. That's me!
1t seems. Lord. as if my work is done,
and poorly done, and upon thy infinite
mercy cast myself and in this hour of
shipwreck and darkness commit myself
and her whom l hold by the hand to
thee, 0 Lord Jesus! praying that it may
be short struggle in the water, and that
at the same instant we may both arrive
in glory!' Oh! tell you a man prays
straight to the mark when he has Il
Cyclone above him, an ocean beneath
him, and eternity so close to him that
he can feel its breath on his cheek.
The night was long. At last we saw
the dawn looking through the port
holes. AS i'll the olden time, in the
fourth watch of the night, Jesus came
walking on the sea, from wave cliff to
wave cliff; and when He puts His foot
up with might it goes down. He cried
to the winds, Hush! They knew His
voice. The waves knew His foot. They
died away. And in the shining tracks
of His feet | read these letters on scrolls
of foam and fire. The earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of God as the
waters cover the sea-" The ocean Gained.
The path of the steamer became more
and more mild; until, on the last morn
ing out, the sun threw round about us
q glory such as l never witnessed be-
fore. God made pavement of mosaic,
reaching from horizon to horizon, for
all the splendors of earth and heaven
to walk upon-a pavement bright
enough for the foot of seraph bright
enough for the wheels of the arc hangel's
chariot. AS parent embraces n child,
and kisses away it's grief, SO over that
sea. that had been writhing in agony in
the tempest. the morning threw its arms
OF beauty and of benediction, and the
!, lips of earth and heaven met.
!. AS came on deck-it was very carly
'sAAs w "SAS lAS"1iL NuC SuOIe--1 siW IL
few sails against the sky. They seemed
: like the spirits of the night walking the
pillows. l leaned over the taffrail of
} the vessel. and said, Thy way. 0 God,
} is in the sea, and Thy path in the great
waters.
1t grew lighter. The clouds were
} hung in purple clusters along the sky;
J and, as if those purple clusters were
pressed into red Wine and poured out
} upon the sea, every wave turned into
crimson, Yonder, fire cleft stood oppo-
site to fire cleft; and here, a cloud, rent
} and tinged with light, seemed like a
, palace, with flames bursting from the
windows. The whole scene lighted up
: until it seemed Us if the angels of God
We're ascending and descending upon
stairs of fire. and the wave-crests,
changed into jasper, and crystal, and
amethyst, as they were flung toward the
beach, made me think of the crowns of
Heaven cast before the throne of the
great Jehovah. I leaned over the taft
rail again, and said, with more emotion
than before: Thy way, O God, is in the
sen. md 'Chy nafb -, <bo ,,,.,. ~,