The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-22
A CAPTAINS +" PETS. F"
How He Remembers His Daugh,
ter's Reseuer.
The Story Of Grave Deed Wrecked in the
West Indies-Afoat on Hatch-Cover
Surrounded by Sharks.

Hanging in the cabin of ship now In the
harbor is the portrait of little girl, and di-
rectly under it is a frame containing the
photograph Of man, whose bronzed feat
ures and style of dress show him to be a
sailor.
Il see you are looking at my pets" said
the captain of the vessel to CALL reporter
last night. 'The little girl is my daughter,
now grown to womanho0d, and the man
whose picture hangs below hers saved her
at the risk of his own life and lost his foot
in doing so.
at is now ten years since the accident
happened. I was master then of the bark
Abbie Walsh, sailing from New York to
Cardenas, Cuba. On the trip before / had
taken my Minnie down to Cuba to spend
month or so with some friends who were
very fond of her, having known her from
| childhood. After leaving Cardenas we got
into heavy gale, and one night. while
shortening sail. heavy sea swept the ship,
knocked me against the lee bulwarks and
broke my leg. Being thus incapacitated for
| duty my brother, who was with me as III ate,
took the bark 10 New York. OF course /
was not able to go in the vessel when she
sailed again. so Captain Wilson, whom l had
known for years. went in command, and to
! him left the care OF Minnie, who was TO
| come home on the return trip.
HoNEwARD ROUND.
'"The Walsh got down all right, and after
| dischargiDg her cargo loaded for the return
! trip. n innle went on board the morning
the vessel sailed, and with her was an old
lady, Mrs. Taylor, who was returning to
the States after visit to her son.
"Of course | was anxious when a month
! went by and the bark was not spoken, and
when, after two months, vessel came in
| W hich had passed SOME Wreckage on which
! was the name of the missing vessel / gave il
| up for bad job. At first we hoped to hear
| that some OF those on board we're saved. but
| when four months had gone and no word of
the missing ones came We mOurned our poor
| girl as dead. My brother was married
man, and the sad news so affected his young
| W ife that her mind became unbalanced, and
| she is now in an insane asylum.
Il was sitting by the fire one day about
| six months ago when the letter-carIier
| brought a letter. 1t was written in strange
! hand and bore the Brazilian postmark. To
| my surprise l found it was from the Amer
! lean Consul at ST GATHERINGS and contained
! the glad tidings that not only was my
| daughter alive, but she was safe and in good
| hands.
GOOD NEWS ARRIVES.
| at the time, but you bet | sent her the glad
news. The letter stated that Minnie aud
/ the second mate had been picked up by a
steamer and had been landed at st. Cath
crimes, and, what was more, would be in
New York by the next steamer from Rio de
! Janerio. | was OH the dock bright and
| early the day the steamer arrived. and soon
| had my little gil in my arms. AS soon as
! she could speak she led me to a chair In the
cabin, where Hiram Smart, the second mate.
was seated, and from him L heard the story
| Of the loss of the bark.
''Soon after leaving CRrdenas she began
TO leak badly, and all hands were kept at
| the pumps. Then the weather grew bad.
! and in the gale that followed the vessel
/ III ade water SO fast that the pumps were
| useless. In a few hours the bark was
water-logged, and only the terrible sea run
| ming at The time prevented the crew getting
| out the boats. Then the sea began to sweep
over the doomed bark, which was slowly
| settling deeper and deeper in the water.
| One of the TWO boats was smashed, and part
OF the crew swept from the deck.
STORY OF THE WRECK.
''Seeing that the vessel could not keep
| afoat much longer, Smart dashed Minnie,
! himself and a sailor TO large hatch cover.
/ This was done none too soon, as the bark
! gave a heavy lurch and then went down
| he ad foremost. The hatch-cover was very
| nearly carried down by the sinking bark.
| DQI tUH Two men uNtO kuGlI hulhtS anu 50
| got clear Of the ropes that threatened To
| drag them TO the bottom. Nothing could be
| seen Of any of the rest of the crew, and the
! chances are that none OF them csc aped from
the sinking craft.
The condition of the three unfortunates
| on the hatch-cOyer was a desperate one
| The night though dark, was not cold, but
| the heavy sea constantly swept over them.
| and but for the laShlugS they could not have
retained their position FIVE minutes. Min
! ME was nearly dead from fright, and, be-
| Sides was III her night-c1othes, and these
offered no protection TO the trail form OF a
| tweiYe-y eaT-Old girl.
! "W hen daylight broke Smart scanned the
| horizon, but no sail gree ted his sight, aud
then for the first time he realized the awful
| position IN which they were placed.
DREADFUL POSITION.
"He knew that unless soon rescued by
some passing vessel their days were num-
bered, as without food or water they could
not long survive, even If they had been in a
! boat and lashed as they were to a hatch
| cover, with scarcely room to move and the sea
constantly breaking over them their chance
! Of life was indeed slim.
'As the sun rose higher in the heavens its
| rays were some comfort to the thTea I'M
! fortunates, as II kept them from being
| chilled by the constant drenchings they got.
| The day wore on and the gale at last broke,
| but worn out and dsheartened as they were
| LIey cOIlIu 40 nOtniiB W Delt6I IntiE pO-
sition.
Smart took off red flannel shirt he had
| on and after Wringing il as dry as he could
wrapped my little girl in ii to keep her warm.
Jennings, the sailor who up to this time had
lain as If dead, now reused up and began to
| ask for water. The long night at last wore
| away and daylight broke. but no sail greeted
| the sight OF the poor castaways. Minnie
| uttered no word Of complaint, although like
the two men she suffered intensely for
! water. The poor child only asked the sec
ond mate to ease up the rope that bound
1 her to the hatch-coyer, as 1t hurt her.
DRIVEN TO DESPERATION.
''ln the afternoon Jennings staggered to
| his feet, and after long survey of the
ocean, said goodbye 10 his companions in
| misery and then plunged head first into the
| ocean. To the poor wretcheS on the hatch
| cover it seemed as If the best thing they
could do was &c follow his example aud put
| an end to their misery. The awful night
| that followed will never be forgotten by the
two, VINO, dashed TO their frail support crept
| closer together as if for comfort Death
stared them in the face in the most horrible
form, as long before daylight broke Smart
saw the cleaning sides of several sharks. as
they swan around the hatch-coyer in antici-
patton of the feast that was being prepared
| Tor them. Poor Minnie also saw them and
| at once guessed what they were, for with a
shudder she crept closer to her companion.
| Daylight came at last, ana 10 their ulsmay
the wind increased, and a nasty sea began to
break over the frail support, drenehing the
nearly dead pair to the skin.
| Poor Minnie now began calling in feeble
voice for her mother aud talking of her little
friends and paymates The faithful sailor
did all lie could to cheer her, but her mind
was beginning to wander and Smart knew
that unless help came very quickly he would
| be left alone on the ocean. Tears filled his
eyes as he watched the frail form lying at
his side, and he began to wonder how long
he would last after his little friend was
| gone.
| SHARKS SCENT THEIR PREY.
The wind increased to gale and their
| condition was pltiful, while the number of