The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-11-21

the vessel would fall off into the trough
of the sea and sink, and SO we prayed
that the screw, which three times since
leaving Liverpool had already stopped,
might not stop now. OH how anxious
ly we listened for the regular thump OF
the machinery, upon which our lives
seemed to depend. After while some
one said: ''The screw is stoppedl' No;
its sound had only been overpowered
by the uproar of the tempest, and we
breathed easier again when we heard
the regular pulsations of the over
tasked machinery going thump, thump,
thump. At s o'clock In the morning
the water covered the ship from
Prov to stern, and the skylights gave
wayl The deluge rushed in, and we
felt that one or two more waves like
that must swamp us forever. AS the
water rolled back and forward in the
cabins, and dashed against the wall,
it sprang half way up to the ceiling.
Rushing through the skylights as It
came in with such terrific roar, there
went up from the cabin shrek OF
horror which pray God I may never
hear again. have dreamed the
whole scene over again, but God has
mercifully kept me from hearing that
one cry. Into it seemed to be COM
pressed the agony of expected ship
wreck. It seemed to say: II shall
never get home againl MY children
shall be orphaned, and my wife shall
be widowedl I am launching now
into eternityl In two minutes | shall
meet my Godl"
There were about five hundred and
fifty passengers in the steerage, 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
way. Those passengers writhed in
the water and In the mud, some pray
| ing, some crying, all terrified They
stood on deck and beat them back
with blow after blow. It was neces-
sary. They would not have stood an
instant on the deck. Oil how they
begged to get out Of the hold of the
| shipl One woman, with a child in
her arms, rushed up and caught hold
of one of the officers and cried: ''Do
let me outl I will help you'll Do
let ME outi / cannot die herel"
Some got down and prayed to the
Virgin Mary, saying: 20 blessed
motherl keep usl Have mercy on
usp Some stood with white lips and
| fixed gaze, silent in their terror. Some
wrung their hands and cried out: 80
God what shall do2 What shall I
do2" The time came when the crew
could no longer stay on the deck,
| and the cry of the officers was: ''Be-
low all hands beloww Our brave
and sympathetic Capt. Andrews
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 wing, crying: '"This
ship is mine! / have captured it. Hal
hal will command It'll If God will
permit, / will sink it here and nowl
By thousand shipwrecks, | swear the
doom of this vesselw There was a lull
in the storm; but only that it might
gain additional fury. Crashl went
| the lifeboat on one SIDE Crash went
| the lifeboat on the other side.
| The great booms got loose, and, as
with the heft of thunderbolt, pound
ed 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 phos-
phorescent The whole scene looked
like fire. The water dripping from the
rigging, there were ropes of fire; and
there were masts Of fire; and there
was deck of fire. A ship of fire, sail
Ing on sea of fire, through night
of FIRE. May I never see anything like
1t againl
| Everybody prayed. A lad of 70 years
Of ago got down and prayed for his
mother. IF Ishould give up, :" he said,
Il do not know what would become of
MOTHER There were men who, I
think, had not prayed for thirty years,
who then got down on their knees.
When 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 shortcom-
ings passed through our minds. My
own life seemed utterly unsatisfactory
/ could only say, "Here, Lord, take
me as | am. / cannot mend matters
now. Lord Jesus, thou didst die foi
the chief of sinners. That's mel Il
seems, Lord, as if my work is done,
and poorly done, and upon thy in
finite mercy cast myself, and in this
hour of shipwreck and darkness com
NIT myself and her whom | hold BY
the hand to thee, 0 Lord Jesusl pray
ing that it may be q short struggle IL
the water, and that at the same in
{ slant we may both arrive in glory 7
Oh ] tell you man prays straight t.
the mark when he has q cyclone above
him, an ocean beneath him, and etor
nifty 50 close TO him that he can fee
its breath on his cheek
II The night was long. At last w'
saw the dawn looking through th,
port holes. AS in the olden time, in th,
fourth watch of the night, Jesus carn
walking on the sea, from wave cliff t.
wave cliff; and when he puts his foo
upon a billow, though it may b
tossed up with might it goes down
, He cried to the winds, Hushl The,
knew his voice The waves knew hi
! foot. They died away. And In tb
!. shining track of his feet read thes
letters on scrolls of foam and fire
,, 1.-THE earth shall be filled with tn
knowledge of God as the waters cove
the sea- The ocean calmed. TIL
! path of the steamer became NOR
' and more mild, until, on tn
, last morning out, the sun threy
| round about us a glory such as Ineve
; witnessed before. God made pave
+ ment of mosaic, reaching from hor
:, xon to horizon, for all the splendors c
! earth ard heaven to walk upon
: pavement bright enough for the foe
of a seraph-bright enough for til
, wheels of the archangel's chariot A
parent embraces child, and kisse
: away its grief, so over that sea, ths
= had been writhing in agony in th
tempest, the morning threw its arm
of beauty and OF benediction, and tn
! lips of earth and heaven met.
a As ] came on deck--it was yer
r early, and we were nearing the shol
q Il saw a few sails against the SIX,
r. They seemed like the spirits of til
q night walking the pillows. / leane
r. over the taffrail of the vessel, an
d said, Thy way, 0 God, is in the SCI
It and thy path in the great waters"
; It grew lighter. The clouds WEI
d hung in purple clusters along the SIX,
10 and, as II those purple clusters WEI
). pressed into red wine and poured o,
q upon the see, every wave turned ini
i crimson. Yonder, fire cleft stood O
4 posite to fre cleft; and here, clou'
Is rent and tinged with light, seemed Lii
,e a palace. With flames bursting fro
: AZ 1. Il. ~ d.