The Russellville Democrat., 1889-11-28

dashed against the wall, 1t SpranR half
way up to the ceiling, Rushing through
the sl1ylights as it came in with such
terrific roar, there went up from tho
cabin shrek OF horror which pray
God ] may never hear again. / have
dreamed the whole scene over again,
but God has mercifully kept me from
hearing that one cry. Into 1t seemed to
be compressed the agony of expected
shipwrecl. 1t seemed to say. II shall
never get home again My children
shall be orphaned, and my wife shall be
widowed | am launching now into
eternityl In two minutes ] shall meet
my God!e
There were about five hundred and
| fifty passengers in the Storage, and as
the water rushed in and touched the
furnaces and began violently to hiss
the poor creatures in the storage inn
agined that the boilers were giving
away. Those passengers writhed in tho
water and in the mud, some praying,
some crying, all terrified. They made
rush for the deck. An officer stood on
deck and beat them back with blow
after blow. 1t was necessary. They
could not have stood an instant on the
deck. Obi how they begged 10 get ont
of the shipl One woman, with child
in her arms, rushed up and caught holi
of one OF the officers and cried: do let
me Quit / will help you'll Do let me
out / can not die hereY" Some rot
down and prayed to the Virgin Mary,
saying: 80, blessed motherl keep us!
Have mercy on usl" Some stood with
white lips and fixed gaze, silent in their
terror. Some wrung their hands and
cried out: 90 God what shall | doP
What shall do?1
The time came when the crew could
no longer stay on the deck, and tho cry
of the officers was: s'Below all hands
belown Our brave and sympathetic
Captain Andrews whose praise l shall
not cease to speak while I liye-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 wing. try-
/ ing; This ship is minel l have capt
ured It'll la! hal l will command It'll
If God will permit, will sink it here
and nowi BY thousand shipwreckN I
swear the doom of this vesseln Thefs
| was lull in the storm; but only that il
might gain additional fury. Crash
went the lifeboat on one side.
crash went the Hfeboat on
the other. side. The. great booms
got loose, and, as with the heft of a
thunderbolt, pounded the deck and beat
the mast-the jib boom, studding sail.
boom and square sail boom, with their
strong arms, beating time to the awful
march and music of the hurricane.
Meanwhile the ocean became phosphor-
escent. The whole scene looked like
fire. The water dripping from the rig
ging, there were ropes of hre;and there
were masts of fire; and there was a
deck of fire. A ship of fro, sailing on.
a sea of fire, through a night of fire.
May never see any thing like it againl
Every body pray ed. A lad of TIVE I've
years of age got down and prayed for his
mother. "If should give up he said,
II do not know what would become OF
mother" There were 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 might. All-of our
sins and shortcomings passed through
our minds. My own life seemed
utterly unsatisfactory. / could only
say: "Here, Lord, take me as I
am. I can not 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 east
myself, and in this hour of shipwreck
| and darkness commit myself and her
whom l hold by the hand to Thee, o
Lord Jesusl praying that it may be
short struggle in the water, and that at
| the same instant we may both arrive in
glory" OH l tell yeua man prays
straight to the mark when he has
cyclone above him, an ocean beneath
him and eternity so close to him that he
canfeel its breath on his cheek.
The night was long. AT last we saw
the dawn looking through the port holes.
As in the olden time, in the fourth watch
of the night, Jesus came walking on tho
sea, from wave cliff to wave cliff; and
when He puts His foot upon a billow,
though it may be tossed up with might,
it goes down. He cried: 'Hush!s They
knew His voice. The waves knew His
foot They died away. And in the
shining track Of His feet I read these
letters on scrolls of foam and fire: THE
earth shall be filed 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 morning
out the sun threw round about us a
glory such as l never witnessed before.
God made pavement of mosaic, reach
ing from horizon to horizon, for all the
| splendors OF earth and Heaven to walk
upon-a pavement bright enough for tho
foot of a seraph-bright enough for the
wheels of the archangel's chariot As a
parent embraces child and kisses away
its grief, so over that sea, that had been
writing in agony in the tempest, the
morning threw its arms Of beauty and of
benedietion, and the lips of earth and
Heaven met
As came ON deck--it was very early,
and we were nearing the shore---I saw a
few sails against the sky. They seemed
like the spirits OF the night walking tho
pillows. L leaned over the taffrail of
the vessel, and said: ''Thy way, o God,
is in the sea, and Thy path in the great
waters" 1t grew lighter. The clouds
hung in purple clusters along the sky;
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 OPP
I
rent and tinged with light, seemed like
a palace, with flames burning from tho
windows The whole scene lighted up
until it seemed as IL the angels OF God
were ascending and descending upon
stairs Of fire, and the wave crests,
changed into jasper, and crystal, and