The sun., 1891-10-29
HEROISM OFF CAPE HORN.
CAPT. EDGETT OF The CLIPPER DEN-
MS has A CLOSE CALL.
Smashed sy . Hurrse..e, HE ship was
About TO Sink When the Belle OF Bath
Hove In Sight-Cspt EAgott the Last Maa
to Leave Uer-She rcc.aere In Hls Sight.

6nsshea by . Hurricane, HE ship Was
About to Sink when the Belle OF Bath
Hove h sight-Cspt. EAgctt the Last Msa
to Leave Her-She Fcc.sere In His Sight.
A stirring yarn Of the seq was spun yester-
day by Capt g. NJ. Edgett Of the Yankee clip
per ship Charles Dennis, which foundered OF
Cape Horn on Sept 5. Capt Edgett got hero
on the steamship Seguranca, from Rio Janeiro.
whore he and his crew were landed by the
American ship Belle OF Bath.
The Dennis left this port for San Francisco
with cargo Of coal on June g on the coast
OF Uruguay. on Aug. 10. she ran into the
O leak and shipped 80 much water that It
wns impossible for her men to get
at the donkey engine. which was on
deck. to start tho pumps. The seas
werc calmed somewhat by a liberal use OF oil.
and tho pumps were started. Nearly six feet
Of water was found In tho hold. Twelve hours
incessant pumping cleared the hold. The sea
moderated and the bravo ship sailed with
favorable wind until the morning Of Aug 81.
when the barometer indicated the approach Of
q cyclone.
Sail was shortened not a moment too soon.
The blast carried away the standard and truss
OF the lower topsail yard which. In falling.
struck the forestay and split the foresail. All
hands were called on deck to put the ship be-
fore the gale and clear away the wreckage.
The ship broached to. with thunderous
Tapping Of sails forced aback and sea after
sea broke over tho ships bows and roared
aft. Five men were disabled. one having both
his arms broken by being swept against the
bulwarks and deck house. Capt. Edgett mus
tered the crew aft for safety. It was not until
then that he found out that tho five seamen
had been injured. The seas burst Off the
matches forward and flooded the hold.
The fury Of the hurricane was spent before
daybreak. but there was still heavy sea on.
The ship was hove to. In the afternoon the
crew cnme aft ard asked the skipper to put the
vessel before the wind and mako for the near
n0F e SsSsH SseE sc s0
donkey engine was leaking badly. and
The Thess skcr sdp1s ssoesa to ha the
was brought around before the wind and
fsfsnd 0 fsand Se the the se
called the men aft, and announced that tho
a condto Of sh h bad % she
would be to Keep in tho course Of sailing yes,
ase Bss Sath
Of e haSss SSss sewc YET S s sn sna lie wind high
other Capt Curtis OF the Belle OF Bath shouted
1S sary. ' Wou! dc take Ike bis mem or The Den
DOWN d IL Sens s usS with thss
seS, First Nate S Slaves and six seamsn, in in.
Guiding the one who had both his arms broken.
Of Bath. when wave struck the boat smashed
s s.s ds4Ss h
men managed to reach the Belle OF Bath, and
Capt Curtis called for volunteers to make an
effort to rescue TIE rest Of the crew Of the Den.
o which el s s tSs
i rowsd within ift1 fees q the sinking ship. One
sssa ls aaS sea
hs n s se
ds Saa ss rs shs ssf y o. sd
ts@ SarHs sf ba sst
Bee Of wtheut msSap Then the blue @
lights ceased to burn. and Capt Edgett and
sx xod ae
hands went TO the pumps and worked until
Bee OF Bah se"Yo sa was sae vsbe hIf ana nd dee
the topsails Of ship were. deserted on the
the ship materialized. and more gradually
so it seemed to the men on the Dennis
derclict. The ship was the Belle Of Bath. A
man had been alUft on her since dawn anx-
iously looking for the Dennis. Capt Curtis
thought she had gone down during the night,
but he determined to cruise around day at
least to make sure.
ss q Rsfs s Bs s,ss RsR'a h ts
time. Fearful that the Dennis would sink and
swamp the boat. her crew. dared not
Edgett and bis men had to jump into the sea
and trust to being picked up by the boat. All
to leave the ship. which went down bow first
before the Belle Of Bath resumed her course.
Capt. Edgett and his men lost everything ex-
cert the clothes they stood in.
The Dennis was built at Richmond. Me-. in
1875. and measured 1,152 tons. She was
owned BY T. J. Southard Il Soma Of Richmond.