The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-11-27

lcavlng iIvcrpOOl 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 stopped!'' No;
its sound had only been overpowered
by the uproar Of the tempest, and we
breathcd easier again when we heard
the regular pulsations of the over
taskcd dmachincry going thump, thump,
thump At o'clock in the morning
the water covered the ship from
Prov to stern, and the skylights gave
way. 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 tsprang half way up to the ceiling.
Rushin" through the skylights as it
came in with such terrific roar, there
went up from the cabin a shrek of
horror which I pray God may never
hear again. I 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 Ny children
shall be orphaned, and my wife shall
be widowcd I am launching now
into eternity! In two minutes I shall
meet my Godl'
There were about five hundred and
fifty passengers in the steerage, and
rs the water rushed in and touched the
furnaces, ard began violently 10 hiss,
the poor creatures in the steerage I'M
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
made a rush for the deck. An officer
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. Obi how they
begged to get out Of the hold OF the
shipl One woman, with child in
her arms, rushed up and caught hold
of one of the officers and cried: "Do
let me outl I will help you! Do
let me out! l cannot die here!"
Some got down and prayed to the
Virgin Mary, saying: 20 blessed
nother! keep US! Have mercy on
us!' Some stood with white lips and
fixed gaze, silent in their terror. Some
wrung their hands and cried out: 20
God! what shall do9 What shall /
doz" The time came when the crew
could no longer stay on the deck,
and the cry OF the officers was: BE
low. all hands below! Our brave
and sympathetic Capt. Andrews
whose praise I 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! l have captured it! Hal
ha! I will command it! If God will
permit, will sink it here and now!
By thousand shipwrecks, I swear the
doom of this vessel" There was lull
in the storm; but only that it might
gain additional fury. Crash! went
the ifeboat 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-
phoresceut. 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 q deck OF fire. A ship of fire, sail
ing On a sea of fire, through a night
of fire. May I never see anything like
1t again!
Everybody prayed. A lad of 12year1
of age got down and prayed for his
mother. ''If Ishould give up" he said,
II do not know what.would become OF
mother" There We're 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 aurne to
his last time, it makes very busy
night. All of our sins and shortcom-
ings passed through. our minds. My
own ifeseemed utterly unsatisfactory.
1 could only say, Here, Lord, take
me as I am I cannot mend matters
now. Lord Jesus, thou didst die for
the chief of sinners. That's mel 1t
seems, Lord, as if my work is done,
and poorly done, and upon thy in
finite mercy I cast myself, and in this
hour of shipwreck and darkness COM
NIT myself and her whom hold BY
the hand to thee, O Lord Jesusl pray
ing that it may be short struggle in
the water, and that at the same in
slant we may both arrive in gloryp
Oh! tell you man prays straight to
the mark when he has cyclone above
him, an ocean beneath him, and eter-
nifty 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 in 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
upon billow, though it may be
tossed 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 track of his feet 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 glory such as Inever
witnessed before. God made pave
ment of mosaic, reaching from hori-
zon to horizon, for all the splendors Of
earth and heaven to walk upon-a
pavement bright enough for the foot
of q seraph-bripht enough for the