St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-05-02

| the rescue of all her souls by the
Missouri forms chapter of extraor-
binary interest in the annals of the
sea, none the less because the issue is
not one of tragic disaster Such a
tale must have been told, moreover,
if indeed anything had been discov-
cred to tell,-had not the Danmark
in her need met another ship at the
right time and commanded by the
right man. Many a great ocean
steamer, floating city, has gone
down without leaving a witness to
her fate, for the lack of such fortune,
| and the unwritten tragedies of ocean
are more numerous than those whose
record has been made. There was
shown III the calamity of the Danish
ship the best qualities of human ma
ture. We read nothing of that in
sane excitement that so often makes
a pandemOnium in sudden shocks
like that of the breaking of the Dan
marks shaft, nothing afterward of
cowardice and selfshness even in the
despair that fell upon the hundreds
of poor people when they fully real
lied their danger.
The shaft had snapped in two like
a slate pencil, as the vessel plunged
down a great wave; the part that
led to the engine had smashed
through into the bottom of the ship
and there had beaten open the stern,
the vessel was aleak; and the pumps,
though set going so soon as 1T was
seen nothing could be done to mend
the shaft, could but relieve the hold
of small part of the water that
came in. The engineer was crushed,
bleeding and dead in the engine-room.
Some talked of suicide, but it seems
sure that he was killed at the post of
duty. And the ship with 1873 human
beings in its charge rolled helpless in
an angry sea, drifting as it would.
There was no sleep aboard that YES
sci, except where little children yield
ed to its spell. A Swedish preacher
talked to his Scandinavian fellows !;
some Sisters (who were perhaps Mo
ravians) also gave religious comfort.
And the officers were all alert for
duty, the captain from the bridge
surveying the hay field of ocean for
the help that must be quick if all
were not to be lost.
1t was nearly "a hours after the
shaft broke that Capt. Knudsen's
search was rewarded, when the Mis-
souri, came into view. 1t was a
smaller steamer than the Danmark,
loaded with goods, with small
crew and only few passengers, bnt
it had commander who was a host.
This young man, who had been seven
years a captain and yet was not 20
years old, won fame in the most en-
viable way by doing his duty, but it
was because he had the cool brain
and steady nerve that enabled him to
see how to do it. No weak man, nor
even an ordinarily capable man, could
have accomplished his task. His
portraits in the Philadelphia papers
remind one of Grover Cleveland His
problem was first to approach this
vessel in a heavy sea, and the wind
blowing a gale. Oil was brought in
use to quiet the seas, and after two
hours of work a tow-rOpe was got
aboard the Danmark and the Mis-
sour headed for Newfoundland, the
nearest land. Even now how little
hope could have been felt aboard
either vessel that stormy night, with
the worse than dead weight of the
Danmark hanging astern of the Mis-
souri,, the sea and wind striving in
tensely to tear her away, and no as
surance that the cable, stout though
it were, would hold till day. This
contest was given up the next morn
ing, and the winds will yielded to SO
far as to turn about southeastward
instead of northwestward and make
for the Azores But then the further
test came; the Danmark' S shaft had
enlarged the leak, the water had put
the fires out, the engine must stop,
the pumps cease their labOrs, and
there was nothing for it but to leave
the ship to her fate and turn to saw
ing life.
Perhaps there was never a more
splendid piece of seamanship in stress
than the transfer of these 700 people
in tossing sea by boats without the
loss of life. 1t could never have
been done but by the utmost perfect
ness of discipline on both vessels, and
the most absolute herOism besides on
the part of captains and crews. Her
oism is modestly put aside by Capt.
Murrell he was only doing his duty,
he says; but that is the essence of
heroism,-to rise to the pitch of duty
on the demand of danger, and to be
master of the occasion and even of
the elements themselves. Everything
was done in that emergency, with
the great vessel settling momentum
with perfect GOODNESS Not a man,
sailor or officer, failed, not a woman
or child among the passengers made
any trouble. The crew took their
details and performed their duties
without confusion. Capt Knudsen
and his officers staid on their lost
vessel till all the souls for whom they
were responsible were safe. Then
they left her to her fate, and if the
brave Danes wiped away some tears,
they were manly ones.
Once OIL the Missouri the occasion
for the heroic quality was still pres
ent. There were over 700 persons
to bestow on ship never calculated
for that service, a merchantmen,
stored to the deck with goods. Capt.
Murrell was equal to the occasion
here also. Without hesitation he
ordered the cargo jettisoned. What
if it were somebody's property? 1t is
a part of the law of the sea that
DrODerty must 90 when life is in dan