River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-03-26
RoMANcgs OF TIE SEA.


Some of the Reel life Affairs Arc Better
Than the Noselisss'. and of such IL This.
There is good bit OF romance which
occurs on shipboard which never finds
Tvs way into print. remarked a ship
chandler To a Philadelphia reporter re-
Gently. ] can remember wen m ifiei-
dent which occurred on board bark
built in this very port some one hum
dred and fifty years back, which will
illustrate the fact that truth is stranger
than fiction. The heroine of the story
is, or rather was residing in Boston,
Mass, mp to within couple of years
ago. for | am invited there on a visit.
The vessel | am speaking of was called
the True Love, and she is now act
ing as coal hulk on the
River Thames in England How
ever here's the story: Some
was ever thought of. a certain Boston
gentleman, whose name, if mentioned
it, would be at once recognized, took II
into his head to make a trip across the
ocean His health had been bad. partly
constitutional. but mostly caused by
grief and anxiety through losing his
only son. bright lad of seventeen or
eighteen. who had disappeared mys-
teriously some three or four years pre-
yiously. Well. he went to London. and
while there he made the acquaintance,
among others, of a captain, Samuel
Rodgers, who commanded the bark
True Love, which was then trading
between London, Hull and com
tsva.,4al fTl.A lsaA
recommended our Boston friend
to take as much sea air as
possible, and when. therefore, Captain
Rodgers offered him passage to Bre-
men just for company's sake he accept
ed it. Well, while of the Dagger bank
in the North sea terrific gale arose,
and they had as much as they could do
to weather il. II lasted three days, and
on the third night they heard signal
guns and saw rockets going up. evident
~ FROM vessel in distress However,
the wind came out fair the next morn
ing. and the vessel squared away for the
Dutch coast. Suddenly Mr.. s., as l
will call him. walked up to Captain
Rodgers and said: Captain, want you
To go back TO where we were last night.
'Why, my dear sir, was the answer,
''we have fair wind, and what is the
use of losing time?" ''Why, I'm think
ing about that vessel. "Oh, she's
either foundered or is miles away; il
would be useless hunting her now. :"
Well. To shorten the story, the old gen
tleman became SO nervous and anxious,
even going so far as to offer the captain
"A thousand dollars TO retrace his steps,
that at last ne consented, and the bark
was soon braced ON the starboard tack
heading for the British coast. "How
long will il take us to get where we
were last night?" asked Mr.. s.. "Oh,
about eight or ten hours" was the an
swer. Well along on the first dog
watch the lookout cried, BOAT ahead, :"
and then, Hard starbit, or wen be
over her" Sure enough, there was a
boat. and at first it was thought TO be
mpty, but the bark was hove TO and
her own boat lowered. On getting
alongside Il was found to contain the
unconscious forms of man and wom-
an. They were taken on board tenderly
cared for, and the next morning the
man was able TO give an account of how
AilNN NAAht w w dltOtiA III an OItti bbuA
ON the North sea. IL seems that they
were the only ones saved from the
foundered steamer Thomas. belonging
to Sunderland, which was lost on the pre-
vious night. Now came in the romantic
part. Mr.. s., wearied out by anxiety,
and having gained his point, had
gone TO his berth. so knew nothing of
the picking up of the boat until the
next morning. No sooner. however.
did he see the young man who was
rescued than My SON. Father" and
the two were embracing. 1t was the
old story. The son ran away with a
poor girl, married and took her to
England. The family discarded him,
and he tried to get along the best he
could with his young wife. He was GO
ing 20 accept "A position in some foreign
house when wrecked. OF course. ev sry-
thing went all smooth after that. - hi
ea0O Journal