River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-01-07
WRECK OF THE SALLY.
Story of a Staunch Little Boat and
Her Interesting Crew.

! am bne captain OF the me canal
boat "Sally-No. 452, " my wife is first
mate and our baby is the crew. The
''crew" isn't big enough to steer the
mules vet or throw stones at them
when they stop to due on the bushes
along the tow-path, but he can do his
share OF yelling, and as the mules
! think the yells are for their benefit and
start up little when they hear the
/ disturbance, the Grew" earns his salt.
The cargoes we carry are of coal
! from the mines, and our trips often eX-
/ tend to the seaboard, where we see the
ocean blue in the distance, while the
Sally lies moored to the dock.
Sometimes. in late fall, while an
chored that way in salt water, the
canal will freeze over so we cannot get
back, and we are then forced to spend
tine winter IN or on the edge of the
city. for we of course live aboard our
boat, as we own it
My first mate enjoys this hugely, as
she has been told it is quite fashiona-
BILE to spend the cold weather in town.
1t also gives her an opportunity to go
a-shopping, hear the opera, and attend
scientific lectu-es-same as city women
do.
/ take much pride in sailing our
mule yacht, and many a race I've run
and won with her on the canal by
sneaking past the boats ahead of us
while they were heaved to for the
night.
Folks think a canal boat sailor is
something to make fun of, and they al
ways like to get off their little jokes
about being wrecked in a storm on the
raging canal They take delight in
speaking of the larboard mule and the
starboard mule, and ike To ask if we
have spanker boom on deck when
ever they see the baby.
They like to call out Breakers
aheadl' when the mule stops to kick at
a fly, and Low bridget" and "All
hands to the pumps and Let go the
main sheetr' and weigh anchor!" and
other ridiculous things.
1t makes my first mate mad when
the Sally is treated with such disre-
spectful levity, and sometimes / lose
my patience, too, but the baby don't
mind it, so, after all, what difference
does it do?
If the small boys catching catfish out
of the canal think it smart to display
their ignorance of seamanship in these
| ways, or if the grown-up people at
tempt to show off their nautical
knowledge in such silly manners they
can. But if they knew that the Sally
had really been to sea in raging
storm and properly wrecked, and that
those aboard only saved their lives by
a thorough understanding of what is
required in such emergencies, the
laugh would be on them and not on
the captain, first mate and crew of
mule yacht
Two years ago we were spending the
winter on the Sally, moored alongside
one of the great coal docks of Jersey
City opposite New York.
Our small cabin was handsomely dec
Grated by my wife, and in it we were
as coy and comfortable as possible.
The baby was then about ten months
old. and in his hammock enjoyed life
immensely. The mules were snugly
stabbed in the forecast after the coal
had been taken out and extra planks
laid on the floor to prevent their kick
ing a hole in the bottom, and every
thing looked favorable to all hands
leading a serene and happy existence
aboard till spring.
But MAN proposes and God dis
poses" as the saying is.
About the middle of January ter
rife wind storm set in, blowing great
guns from the northwest and every day
getting worse.
The cold was intense, the mercury
I 4. "a 4
below zero.
Forty degrees below in the western
states was hot alongside of it, for the
damp, chilling air of the coast eats
right into the vitals and freezes the
very marrow in the bones.
Keeping warm was out of the ques
ton. If we could keep alive was enough
to be thankful for
The ever increasing and colder grow
| ing gales had ragged for week with
out lull and the fearfully angry
waves in the bay were leaping noun
tains high and causing destruction and
wreck all around.
Old sailors who had lived at sea for
years said they never saw the ocean
any worse. Ships were dragging their
anchors and dashing ashore by dozens,
and many lives were nightly lost in
vain efforts to save the vessels.
had stout and extra lines from our
fresh water boat to its dock, but in
spite of them our frail and unworthy
craft was wrenched and tossed till
began to feel we had no business to
risk staying aboard while the storm
lasted.
NV wife wouldn't listen to our leav-
ing the only home we had, and vowed
that if | talked of deserving the Sally
again she would head mutiny to pre-
vent it. So both of us, being only
fresh-water sailors and knowing but
little of the force of a saltwater
storm, settled down to remain aboard
in spite of the warnings given to US by
men on the dock
1t was on the fifth night of the awful
and almost unprecedented gale and the
chilling cold was at its lowest point.
BY stuffing all the crevices of our little
cabin room and keeping the stove red
hot, we made out to be comparatively
comfortable. Baby was sleeping sound
ly in the middle of big feather-bed
on the floor, and in his warm nest was
happily oblivious to the tempest and
arctic temperature outside.
BY and by, without undressing at all
and, ia fact, putting on overcoats and
wraps, wife and laid down and tried
to sleep and forget how the gale was
shrieking in the black night without
and how our boat was creaking and
straining and tossing on the rough wa
tiers.
The wind and the rocking of our
craft after awhile made us sleepy, and
soon we were slumbering as soundly
as the baby.
l was dreaming of shipwrecks and
drowning when suddenly ! awoke.
II seemed as if our boat was pitching
harder than ever and being battered
and knocked about frightfully.
The noise of the hitting against the
wharf and the CT saking of the ropes l
missed. | got on my feet and man.
aged to get to the little window and
peer out through the frosted glass.
The city lights had vanished and
nothing but intense blackness met my
gaze.
Some thing was wrong / knew
| Mounting the ladder stairs and open
ing our little hatchway door l looked
out. We had broken loose from the
dock and were flying before the shrek
ing gale and the huge waves to almost