Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-06-11

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| beach tho crew Jump out and dras her
1 up, clear of the succeeding waves.
| Leaving two men In charge OF the boat.
the rest, with many misgivIngs and fast
beating hearts. hasten To- the little tent on
| the opposite side OF the island.
SIX HuDDLED TOGETHER.
The officer quickly lifting up corner
| of the old sail that is doing duty rs "a tent.
discovers six men huddled together
| about the smouldering remains of fire.
| The tent Is filed with smoke, the men arc
| black and begrlmed. and brief examina-
| ton shows that all but three are too weak
10 stand. They are made TO understand
that help is at baud. bat that much de-
ponds upon their own exertIon. The
three whose vitality is at the low
| est ebb are carried down TO tue
| surf-boat aud placed in the stern
| sheets. wrapped up with coats and covered
with rain cloths" 20 protect them ~
much as possible from the bitter cold and
the ICY spray that will soon envelop the
| boat. The officer in charge decides that
| with the sen that is now running II would
| be imprudent TO overload mis- boat with
| tho rest Of the men. So. after assuring
| them that he Will not desert them and
| cautloning them TO blow fog-horn TO
guide him on his return, the surf-boat IL
| launched and starts for her return
| TO the ship. Guided by her steam
| the dense yapor render objects invisible
at more than boats length. they reach
| il in safety, the rescued men are put on
| board, a1d the boat starts again for the
island.
Nv this time it is pitch-dark, and the
difficulties and dangers of the op-
GRAFTON are enhanced ten-fold. Tho
wind is now blowing so hard that
it is difficult TO distinguish sounds
OF anv distance. so, steering by
compass az true course as the sea- VIII
permit. the surf-boat safely reaches the
shore. takes on board the remainder Of the
shipwrecked sailors. and starts to return
in the direction the cutter is supposed 70
be.
MUSIC OF GUN.
She has evidently been drifting away
since the surf-hoat left her. for after row.
ing some time and reaching the place we
had loft hor we can fear nothing. The
boats bow is brought head 10 sea. we lie
on our oars and strain our ears TO eaten
the slightest sound. After what seems 10
us long while there comes across the
water 20 ia the faint sound of booming
cannon. II IS the sweetest music 70 our
ears. Evidently the cuttcr has drittei
such q distance from US that those on
board fear we could not distinguish the
sound Of her steam-whistlc above the roar
of the gale and the swish of the waves.
I
steering directly for the sound. and we
are entirely out of lis range for a period
Of time that appears to Us To be many
times its actual length, but after half
hours hard row, during which oil hands
are thoroughly drenched by the ICY spray,
and suffer intensely from the biting cold.
the rescued sailors stand upon the cutters
decks.
or THE CUTTERS DECKS.
IL. f,'l I
have never seen. The last man 10 come |
over the side was the master Of the Ill |
fate1 schooner. lie was tall and heavily |
built. n splendid specimen of the -. John |
skipper. On his brOnZed face, mingled |
with that look or combined courage, de- |
termination. and recklessness 50 often seen |
on the faces OF men VINO earn their Iveii- |
hood by encountering the perlls |
of the sea, could plainly DO traced |
that look OF deep anxiety never |
absent from the face Of an experienced |
sea-captaln. try hard a be may |
II disguise Il. 1t was perhaps Gccentuctei |
in his case. because Of hls recent mistor- |
tune. cans NJ the loss Of his vessel AMI |
the narrow escape # five men especially |
under his care. lie was shown to the cap !
tam, ana a We slowly fcit orr way |
through the darkness INTO Southwest liar- |
Dor he told the story Of the wreck with !
tho babItual breyIty and frankress 81 the |
sailor. Out with an egrnestness and sad |
ness of tone that were IN uathcuc con- !
trGst with the sailors usually rolhcking |
manner.
HIS SAD STORY.
I'VE left St. Johns two DAYS AGO and |
have had nothing bu; succession OF gales, !
snOw-storns. and thick weather ever |
since. Observations We're impossible, but !
| kept run Of the vessel bv dead reckon !
ing a. carefully As l could, and when J |
LETT the deck this molnlng thought We |
were well OF shore. Before had time 70 !
lie down in ny bunk. ! was thrown |
OF nv feet by the vessel striking with |
tremendous force. Although stunned |
hv my fall. / quickly reached the |
deck. followed by such OF the
crew az were below. II was blowing a |
whole gale a tremendous sea was run
ning, and II was utterly impossible 20 see |
anythlng on account Of the binding snow
storm. Our sails were quickly blown out |
Of the bOir-ropes and the rudder was un-
shipped and smashed into splinters. The |
stern-post was rapidly breaking and enOr-
nous seas were breaking clear over Us,
not only making 1t hazardous 10 remain |
on deck, hut wrenchlng and shaking the |
Glen with such awful violence that II I
was evident she could not last long.
HAZARDOUS ATTEMPT.
~ had 10 idea where we were. but the |
/ was convinced we were near some out
living rock or island. Fearing every min
ute that the vessel would 60 10 pieces. or |
that the masts would go by the board and |
Kill some OF my men. | decided 10 make |
the attempt to abandon the ship, hazard |
oUs though II was. Slim chance We had |
for orr lives IN that sea. but 10 remain |
on board was simply counting death.
Hastily gathering few PROVISIONS, |
we at last succeeded. with much |
difficulty, IN getting our boat over |
the side. IL was smashed to klndling |
wood in an instant. IL was i'm
possible for any boat to live an instant IN
the SEA that was running, and We had to
abandon Tor the present the attempt TO |
leave the vessel. The Glen was fast break
Ing up, her hold and cabin were full Of
water: we had no boat left: our situation
was. indeed. desperate. We all realized |
that something must be done aud done
quickly. We went 10 work on a raft made |
OF what was LETT Of cur deck-lOad of lum-
Der. By the time II was finished day had !
broken. the storm had abated somewhat,
and the shore could be Llainly discerned. |
MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE.
Suffice it 10 say we reached the shore,
but We were more dead than alive and
were without q thing TO eat. The snow
was two feet deep. the weather bitter cold.
and our only protection from the bowling
gale piece Of sail used IN the construc-
ton of our raft Our situation was des-
perate in the extreme. 1t was only too
evident that We had simply exchanged a
quick death from drowning for a more lin
gering and painful one from starvation
and exposure. We had given up almost all
expectation Of rescue when we heard the
CHEEKY words of hope from your heute-
nRnt here and knew that we were saved.
We could never have survived another
night. and had you not saved US when YOU
did by morning We would all have been
dead"
One for Els SobG
TRUTH
II saw you drinking with Jackson to-
day."