St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-01-01
LOST HIS NERVE.
Wild Proposition of a Timorous
Texan General

New YORK, Dee. 3l.-The conditions
that confronted the company Oh the
Umbria were not entirely gleefuI. In
the first Llace, the idea of reaching
home by Christmas day, which so many
cherished, was out of the question; and
then there was the possibility of drift
ing out of the ocean roadway and the
track of other vessels. so that it might
be even weeks before a port was
reached. The big steamship lay dis
abled in latitude 43.4S and longitude
SIT. about two hundred miles from
Halifax and 500 miles from New York,
with heavy gale blowing. Neverthe-
less, there was no actual danger, and al
most every passenger on board &C
cepted the situation cheerfully.
or course, there was an exception. 1t
came in the person of Iong-llmbed
man, with Dundreary whiskers and an
unusually large nose, which he used as
a subsidiary organ OF speech, as we'll as
for purposes of respiration, and who
had been noticeable on board before,
principally because he wore his wlfe's
fur cape when he pr0menaded the deck.
He uproSe at the end Of the smoking
room after a startled interchange of
views with some of the men about him,
and said in tones at once nasal and tear
ful:
"Gentlemen, we are in eminent
(here he is supposed to have meant i'm
minenU danger. We are drifting in
midocean, with every chance of a hurri-
| cane coming up at any moment to send
us to the bottom, and yet the captain
refuses to send up rockets. Why, i'll
the case of peril like ours. he should
be firing rockets all night. 1t is plain
| that his idea is to ec0n0mize for his
company, and | do not believe that he
would accept tow if it was offered on
account of the expense. Now, we have
| got to act for ourselves in this matter,
| and | will be one of t5n men to sub
scribe $4,000 each in order to put up a
bond to indemnify the captain on con-
diton that he engage steamer at once
to tow us to the nearest port"
A burst of laughter and misses greeted
| this Grafton, mingled, however. with APP
| plause from few timorous ones, and
| queries from several who were facetiOuS.
! as TO whether the speaker possessed
| $1,000. A voice with a very different
| ring in it, came from the other side of
| the room:
1--WE are in no danger at all, it said.
This ship would float through the big
gest hurricane that ever came up on the
| Atlantic. Our captain is one OF the best
that ever sailed the ocean. and has a
| great deal more at stake than any one
on board, and any one who talks about
subscribing hundred thousand dollars
to get him to do his duty isa damn fool"
The man who was thus designated
turned out to be, according to the pas
senger list, Gen. j. w. Kearney, of
Texas" and the one who informed him
was young Edward McVickar, of Bos-
ton. MIR. McVickar apologized in gen.
tlemanly manner for calling the other a
fool, afterward, saying that he spoke in
haste, and the general told somebody
else that if the man had not done so. he
should have made an example of him.
McVickar. who is staIwart youth, did
not seem to consider, however, that he
! had had Il very narrow escape. There
was very little commotion when the la
dies were informed of their situation
I hey took it as calmly as the men. The
principal anxiety of every one, indeed,
was OH account of relatives and friends
| at home.