The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1889-12-04
some praying, some crying, all terrified.
Thev made a ruah foP tho AArk


They made rush for the deck.
An officer stood ON the 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 to get out Of the hold of the
ship! One woman, with child in her
arms, rushed up and caught hold of one
Of the officers and cried: do let me
out! will help you'll Do let me out
l can not die here!" Some got down and
prayed to the Virgin Mary, saying: 20
blessed mother! keep usl Have mercy
on us!" Some stood with white lipg and
fixed gaze, silent in their terror. Some
wrung their hands and cried out: %
God! what shall do? What shall dor
The time came when the crew could
no longer stay on the deck, and the
cry Of the officers was: "Belowl all
hands below!'' Our brave and sympa-
thetic Captain Andrews-whose praise
shall not cease to speak while live
had been swept by the hurricane from
his bridge, and had escaped very mar
rowly with his life, The cyclone seemed
to stand on the deck. waving its wing,
crying: This ship Is mine! l have
captured it! Ha! ha! I will command
it! If God will permit, will sink it
here and now! BY thousand ship
wrecks, swear the doom of this vesselw
There was lull in the storm; but only
that it might gain additional fury.
Crash! 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 the 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 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 a sea of fire, through night of
fire. May never see any thing like it
again!
Every body prayed. A lad of 10 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
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 short
comings pass through our minds. Ny
own life seemed utterly unsatisfactory
could only say, "Here, Lord, take me
as am. can not mend matters now,
,, Lord Jesus, Thou didst die for the CHIEF
of sinners. That's me. 1t seems, Lord,
as II my work is done, and poorly done,
and upon Thy infinite mercy cast my.
self, and in this hour of shipwreck and
darkness commit myself and her whom
hold by the hand to Thee, o Lord
Jesus! praying that it may be short
struggle in the water, and that at the
same instant we may both arrive in
glory!" "Oh! tell you man prays
Lsthight to the mark when he has {
|. cyclone above him, an ocean beneath
,, him. and eternity SO close to him tia,
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
y 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
: 1t goes down. He cried to the winds
: Hush! They knew His voice. Tit
= 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 fllet
!. with the knowledge Of God as the water
y cover the sea-" The ocean Gained. TIL,
= path of the steamer became more ant
- more mild; until, on the last morn
ing out, the sun threw round about us
;. glory such as l never witnessed before
. God made pavement Of Mosaic, reach
ing from horizon to horizon, for all tn
- splendors of earth and Heaven to wall
. upon-a pavement bright enough for tn
y foot of a seraph-bright enough for tn
y archangel's chariot. As parent EN-
~ braces child and kisses away it's grief
8 so over that sea, that had been writing
- in agony in the tempest, the morning.
y threw its arms of beauty and of benedic
:. diction, and the lips of earth and Heavel
- met.
!. As came on deck-it was very early
II and we were nearing the shore-I saw
q. few sails against the sky. They SCENE
~ like the spirits of the night walking tn
70 pillows. I leaned over the taffrail O
70 the vessel and said "Thy way, o God
70 is in the sea, and Thy path in the grea
40 waters"
" It grew lighter. The clouds were hun
W in purple clusters along the sky, and
ar as if those purple clusters were presse
II into red wine and poured out upon tn
a sea, every wave turned into crimson
is Yonder fire cleft stood opposite
ID fire cleft, and here a cloud, rer
,e and tinged with light, seemed lik
ID a palace, with flames bursting from tn
We windows the whole scene lighted u
10 until it seemed as if the angels of Go
D, were ascending and descending upo
,e stairs of fra and the wave-crest
to changed into jasper, and crystal, an
,e amethyst, as they were flung toward tn
ne beach, and made me think of the crown
~ of Heaven cast before the great Jehoval
k l leaned over the taffrail again, an
I'd said, with more emotion that befor'
If "Thy way, o God, is in the sea, and Tn