Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-06-02
a SEA ADVENTURE.
How Fishing i,oat wa. p,o,,
htbanas to Etarfd.


Last FRIDAY morning about 4 o,c,ooL
heeper }. NJ. Hopkins. Of the CAM MI MI
oar mouse Of refuge, near here d.
eieu small sioop riding at anchor 49,,
niiie OH shore lie signaled the 30,
anu presently three persons-two my,
ana boy-emerged from the "a III ~
H. dihgey sculled slowly toward
lne shofe. a heavy surf was on And !,
e1eiiied impossible for the little hoot 80
i've III the breakers. Half the ti,,o 49,.
o"at ana Its crew were wholly hiddar
from sight, but it arose safely Ia tho croa,
vi tile Following wave every t;roa ,,,,,;i
"itiiih rod of the beach. when h,,,.a
, breaker lifted it up and threw il forward
~ rocket SO terrific was its sneed
.iiat Ihe persons were unable to hold an
W tne seats All three were throvn int,
the breakers. The oldest man manaoed
W grasp the stern of the boat as il sbo,
past MIN, and when the boat was throw,
, lsn vi t'e sands he rolled like ball
nan way up the beach.
Anticipating the trouble Keener Hon
Sins mad ran to the beach and wadad
OUT INTO the surf. When the three vvera
thrown out Of the boat Mr.. Honkina
plunged INTO the breakers and caught
the little boy and succeeded in drawino
MN safely to the shore. Then he ran
oack INTO the water and rescued tho
young man as the undertow seized him
nut Tor this prompt action the little bow
ana the young man would have been
drowned.
The old man was still living whare +ba
waves mad thrown him when Mr.. Hop
kins was able to give him attention. Al.
thou9h ne said his rough-and-tumble on
the beach had not hurt him any. he was
trembling violently and unable TO rise
ne was 100 weak to hold cup of coffee.
winch was at once carried to him but
after drinking it he revived enough tn
Tell that for four days they had been
without food. Then the poor old colored
man, with tears of JOY running down his
wrlnkled cheeks, poured out PRAYERS Of
thanksgiving to God for saving them
from starvation and drowning.
The young man and the little bow
walked to the house, but the old man
was so feeble that food was carried to
where he was lying on the sands. The
spark OF life in him was very low. but in
an hour or two the old man was able IN
walk to the house on the edge of the
biuf Later on he was able to give an
account of his experience, which was a
fearful one. He was what northerners
would call a typical Uncle Tom" tall
and venerable in appearance, simple and
religious in his conversation. humble
and polite in his actions. His age was
perhaps go, and he was born in slavery
at st. Augustine, where he was owned
by Daniel Role. His own name is Simon
Role and he is the father of fourteen
children, all of whom are living. The
little boy, aged about years, who was
in the boat, is his youngest son. The
other was an adopted son, about 90 years
old, named James Evans The following
Is condensation of the old mans story:
Il left my home in Nassau for a trir
to Courtney Key after turtles, taking
along a weeks provisions We had Just
got off the Bahama banks when a calm,
which lasted two days settled down on
us, and we drifted into the Gulf Stream,
which carried us along rapidly Our
anchor cable was only ten fathoms long
and we tried to row back to the banks,
but could not do it. The third day a gale
struck us. I've lived all my life on the
salt water, but never saw such a sea as
there was in that Gulf Stream. I've
seen more there in the last week than
my grandfather saw in all his life. The
waves rolled twice as high as our mast.
We gave up all hope but by the power
of God and a good understanding we
kept the boat from sinking. After the
gale broke headed the boat west-south-
west, thinking | d strike the coast some
where thought we were nearer St
Augustine and knew our provisions
would not last until we struck land, al
though from the day we were blown off
the Bahama banks we limited our food
to two crackers day and finally to one
a day. But four days ago Ben ate the
last crumb. We had plenty of water
though, and that kept US from getting
so hungry We sighted land last night
at o'clock. praised the good Lord
for letting me see the land once more.
But | was afraid that perhaps we
would be killed by the Indians or wild
beasts. didn't sleep any last night for
thinking about them. We sailed on I'M
til midnight, guided by two lights on the
shore. We anchored before the first one,
1t was the good Lord that ordered it.
He brought US safe out of that wild, raw
sea and to the very door of the good
keeper of your government house. lie
has done everything in the world for US
We would have drowned and died of
starvation but for him. As long as God
let's me live III pray for him. Mel
bourne (Fla.) News.