Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-11-01
OLD COOL.
GY ROSE TERRY COOK.

hundred and scvcnty-ivc pounds il
he did M ounce, and answered to the
name OF Joseph Cooley. We all called
him Joe, TO begin with, and this yarn is
TO tell how he got his other name
We shipped aboard river steamer at
New York for Ship Island, fifteen hun
drcd OF us; maybe you boys don t
know what that unconstitutional of Il
river stcamcra II means that every
birth had two men in il, lynn heads
ana p ints, and glad TO get one at that;
the unlucky ones lynn side by side on
the floor, like herring in box, thick ms
they could lie.
Lots of EN- were dreadful sick, to
begin with, some for ona day, some for
two, some all The way. You can guess
If TWAS pleasant.
We were all in for it, goiu' to fight.
We'd hoilcrcd, and waved flags, and
had speeches made TO us, and felt con-
siderable good about it; that was the
top-dressin'. Now we began TO strike
hard pan,and | tell you We didn't think
about our country every minute, not
much.
Well, Joe he wasn't sick minute;
he'd go s;cppin' round amongst the fell
lcrs as softly rs Il girl, GRIMM ut one,
sivin' water to another, nxin' this ones
head up onto knap,ack, AMI proppin'
tina, one up ag' inst mast, as cf he Il
been hospital nurse nj! his days.
When some of the men would croan
he d say, cts ruthcr unpleasant, ant
i' Scold away; it'll do We good 10
spit it all OUT and they'd have to
grin.
When VIC d got about abreast of Hat
ieras, there come up abou, five o'clock
one of the high old reg lation kind of
storms, buster. cant begin 10 tell
how the wind blowcd; it come solid, as
If you was struck with something steady
that pressed You down; We couldn't
stan Up against it. The: talk about
waves roliin' mountain high, that
poetry; but I'll be within TO make m;
affidavit i'll court that they did run all
Of sixty feet high each silc of III.
The steamer couldn't make mite Of
hc,u u..,r NOR ,,..,,ll,'. ..... =,
hcl um, and there We lay, side on, in
the trough OF the sea, like ily in Il
hammock, swingin' 10 an fro sideways.
Every now and then big sea Il come
slap down, Ike close to thunder, onto
the deck and sweep everything of her.
There was Il hundred barrels Of beef
went TO feed he iihc, that night.
/ lay in my berth Il .lookin out OF the
windcr- five of us lad that statc.room,
four in The hcrths, one on the floor.
Joe Cooley had the floor; right outside
there was lifeboat lying gearcd onto
the dccl, and ali around il was thick
row OF men holdin' on TO her gunncl
with both hands, SOS to get tho first
chance.
"Wcll' says 7, kind of Disguised.
whats up?" says Joe, lookin' up at
Inc. So told him.
elm" says he. al guess Id lest
as lives be drowned in bed MS out
doors" So if he didn't draw up his
blanket and so to snorin' ag'n!
You see, just minute before, the
cap'cn of the boat had come through the
deck cabin where we was, and ono Of
the fclicrs sung out 10 him, "Cnl! Iii,
n onsider' bic of storm, don't We,
capcn:'
lie ripped out some big words, l tell
ye, the sense of en- being that We was
going TO the bottom inside Of an hour.
and Joe hccrcd him.
Sure en- ough, there was no chance 70,
Inc men hangin' on to that boat, theil
faces while as death, and their finger,
gripred into that gunncl ill they blcd
for if the ship had gone to the bottom,
that boat would have cracklcl Ike M
cgg-shcli the first wave that gin it
blow. 1t was scary time for all of u,.
Some of the fellc,s took it ono wa,
and some took it another; people ain
jest alike. Some prayed, and some nri
their teeth and kept still. Joe was tho
only one that went to sleep and slcn
through.
However, we didn't ga down, for
about Two o'clock in the M 7rninc Their.
come the biggest kind of thun der
storm against The big blow, and In,
wind and rain out of that killed thos,
great waves fiat. In 90 minutes after
it set in, TIC sea was ordinarily peace
able, the boat got soft the hcllun
stored her, and we went right along;
and come morning, Joe got up from hi.