The Republican., 1892-08-05
THE CASTAWAYS.
Eight Shipwrecked Mariners and
Their Unvarnished Tale.

Their Unvarnished Tale.
On a December morning. in the year
hSs5, a mail steamer. homeward bound
from a New Zealand port, was ap-
preaching the meridian of the Horn,
but on a parallel more southerly than
NJ is now the custom of steamships to
take in rounding that stormy, ice-girt
sarsolate and most inhospitable of all
hezdlands.
December in those distant regions is
gmid-summer, and the weather of that
1norning was as fair and still as a
oreezeless April day in this country,
bat the swell of tn vast tract of ocean
ran ceaselessly-reminis respira-
lions of giantess whose conflict with
The heavens is eternal. and whose
breathing pauses are very few and far
Asetween, indeed. Over this long, dark
11lne, westerly swell the great metal
Fabric went sweeping in long, floating,
Launching courtesies, whitening the
water astern of her with a mile of
awake.
The chief officer was on the bridge;
1ahe first breakfast bell had rung and
thc captain, smart as naval officer in
e~sttOns and lace trimmings, quilted the
chart room and joined the mate to take
\. hook around before going below. This
skipper was man of eagle sight, and
Instantly on directing his eyes over the
whips bow he exclaimed:
''What is that black object yonder?"
The chief mate peered and the cap
tain leveled telescope.
"A ships boat" said he, "and seem
Sngly full of people"
The boat, when sighted, was some
titree or four miles distant. and the
speed of the steamship was about thir.
hren knots. In a few minutes the
alarm in the engine room rang its re-
'vcrtseratory warning, sending a little
thrill of wonder throughout the ship so
rarely is that telegraph handled on the
high seas.
Il count eight men. SIR" cried the
chief mate, with q binocular glass at his
wye
Again the engine-room alarm rang
e ~out: the pulsing that for days had been
seaselessly throbbing through the long
fabric languished. and in few min
atcs to another summons of the metal
songue below ceased, and the great
steamship fioated along to her own i'm,
pctus slowly till the boat was within
rhe toss of biscuit off the bow, with
xhe passengers crowding to the side.
and sailors and walters and steerage
folk blackening the rail forward
The occupants of the boat consisted
of eight wild, hairy, veritablc scare
Grows of men, dressed in divers fash
sons-Scotch caps, yellow sou'westers,
SEA boots. toil-worn monkey Jackets,
and the like.
Boat ahoy" hailed the captain, as
she slowly washed alongside. What is
wrong with you?"
A fellow standing up in the stern
sheets cried back in strong Yankee
accent
For Gods sake, sir, take us aboard!
dur waters almost given out, and there's
nothing left to eat"
Look out for the end of line, -
bawled the captain. Are you strong
enough to get aboard without help?"
AYE, sir, we1l manage it,"
A rope was thrown, and one after an
other the fellows came swinging and
scraping and scrambling up the clean
side of the steamship The passen-
gers crowded around and gazed at
chem with curiosity and pity. Their
Sympathetic eyes seemed to find famine
painfully expressed in the leathern
s,ountenances that stared back through
mats of hair.
I'VE must let your boat CO." said the
captain.
Cant help it, sir; tn ankful enough
to be here, | reckon" answered the
fellow who had called from the stern
sheets and who acted as spokesman.
Anything belonging to you to come
out?"
Nothing, by the etarnal Let hel
$50, sir. If Nailors' sea blessings car
freight craft she amt going to noat
bong"
The boat was sent adrift, the engine
kell rang out, once more the great mai
steamer was thrashing over the long
tall heave Of Cape Horn swell.
How came you into this mess?" in
-.quired the captain.
The man who had spoken befor,
1asde answer:
We're all that's left of the crew o.
she Boston bark George Washington
She was whaler. one hundred anC
eighty-four days out. 1t were foul
days ago. | wsS the first TO smell ire