The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1892-02-16

l-t-' N1ls anu TIE uecAs were almost de-
serted save by the few seasoned hands
who came up to smoke in the aIleys.
1t was not till the fourth day we had a
fine spell of sunshine. and from the
fore hatch to the spare wheel the deck
was crainlned with jostling lines OF
pale but cheerful people 1 did not
much like the appearance of our Liver
pool lot had an intermediate ticket.
but wandered among the steerage
company without much interruption
until l happened to stumble against
one of the English roughs. 1 begged
pardon, but the surly fellow said:
What be'est moochin round here fort
Say, Curly, see this blank swine ma
jorin rounds zif the place b'longed
tom III give you my toe, my joker,
fore you can say knife If you come
that aginl" said I've asked your
pardon, my man. and assure you it
was an accident As for your toe, L
advise you not to try it on l have a
full allowance OF toes and boots" He
was fellow with that type of snake
head which denotes the fighting man;
his iowl was vast; the point of his Jaw
was covered by the strained skin Which
showed how he was clenchino his
teeth, and his eyil little eyes looked
venomous under his rugged, bestial
brows- He said: tDo you know who
/ ann I'm Jim Cormick, and Fin
going out to spar with the Boston boy
l was not much alarmed, though saw
his fist would mark me if he got home.
His friends came around, and am
bound TO say that they were as un-
pleasant lot as you can meet There
was no sign of discipline among the
$50 steerage passengers, though it is
fair to say that the foreigners behaved
admirably. When vessel hove up
there was a nasty rush to the side
where she could be seen, and the
women had to get out OF the way as
best they could The officers uni
forms cowed the most offensive of the
rowdies, but / don't think the terror
was very deep seated. The after cabin
passengers were nice lot, and par
ticularly admired some of the ladies
who came out in sea rig and made
the deck gay. One EngIishman of dis
tinction attracted me strangely. He
had his wife and family with him, and
more beautiful group l never saw
The eldest girl was dark beauty
about eighteen years of age, and it was
a pretty sight to see her father beauing
her about The time went by pleas
antly enough with us all, but / did
wish that some sort of discipline could
have been established among the more
blackguardly males, for their games
were senseless and offensive.
''On the fifth night out the moon
shone beautifully, and we were sur
rounded by a fretwork of silver 1
could not sleep for the very delight of
living, and / walked up and down
grooming over old rhymes under the
glad mystery of the night. A sudden
freak prompted me to hoist myself up
from the alley, and / had look at
four of the boats. The tholepins were
laid ready, water casks were made fast
forward, oars lashed handily, plugs
out. counted the thwarts, and it
struck Inc that the other four boats
must be pretty big, for the four amid
ships were certainly small enough, At
the finish calculated that, by loadiI
all the eight boats down to the waters
edge and packing the children along
the bottom boards, we might accomo-
date 800 people. We were carrying
GIG altogether.
The next morning at 3 o'clock 1
felt restless, so / came up and found
that we Were lunging over long, true
sea, that moved in gray hlIlocks unde'
thick haze. 1t was not exactly a fog
but it was puzzling. The lookout man
sang shrilly: Vessel away on the star
board bow, SIR All right We
steamed OH and watched the looming
ship Shows his green. sir sAn
right A minute later the boatswain
ran swiftly aft, and said softly to the
officer on the bridge: He's going
about. sir. Did if l know what he
wants to do We lost sight of the yes
sells green just as we cleared the big
bank of haze, and then 1 saw that
big bark was standing right across our
bows. Distances are so deceptive that
/ still had no thought of nervousness
till the bark had suddenly shook out
her square mainsail and came surging
away till we saw the red light. What
could one make of thisl The officer
yelled of sudden, with an oath, Star
board, for Christ's sake, starboardi' and
then, as If by magic, the cloud of can
vas seemed to overtop us, saw the
officer hanging ON the rail, and as 1
jumped on the matches 1 noticed, with
a forlorn curiosity, that his knuckles
were white. I heard long scraunch,
and then the bark bounded back few
yards, while the steamer trailed on;
she came slowly into us again, and /
heard her bows crushing, for she had
dashed clean against the banks of the
stokehole.
Zone shrill scream came shuddering
up from the cabin-only one-then a
murmur, then a hoarse burst of yell
ing; then man came up and cried,
oh, my Godl' and then, in a wild.
remorseless, ferocious crowd, the steer
age men trampled up, struggling, tear
ing each others clothes, cursing, pray
ing Some of the women battered and
screamed, as they tried to force the
bolts of the doors; then the crowd
broke clear, and soon they were cling
L