The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1894-01-10

the Ellen to the Rescue.
And who that remembers can hear
without a thrill the name of the steam
snip Central America, which sank i'll a
great storm on Sept. II, 1857, with most
Of her officers and crew, nearly 400 pas
sengers and 81. 800. 900 in gold:
The Central America was crowded
with treasure laden people from Cali
fornia ON their way to New York. Aft
er leaving Havana on sept. s she ran
into a storm. The steamer began to
leak, and Captain Hernden called upon
the Passengers to form lines and pass
the buckets. Hour after hour the tenn
pest howled. and the huge vessel groaued
as the immense seas broke against her.
Hour after hour the men with the buck
cts toiled for their lives; slowly the wa.
ter gained on them.
The officers exho-ted the bucket gangs
not TO pause for if the ship
was to be saved. The wind roared and
the storm increas i in fury. Every pas
senger stick to / : post and worked I'M
iii he fell TO the eek exhausted. Then
the womep offe,a d to take the places of
their wornout fainting husbands and
brothers. hut J one of the men would al
low it. As tn horror of the situation
gradually dawned on the minds of tine
women and children the air was filled
with sounds of terror. but above the
raging hurricane and the cries of lamen-
tation rose the chorus of the bucket
men.
Heave, on. heave. oh, stamp and 90.
Well he jolly blather, oil.
All day long they sang this song and
fought for life against the steadily ris-
ing water, Mrs. Easton, a bride on her
honeymoon trip, passed bottles of wine
10 the heroic men TO strengthen them in
their desperate work. All night long
the struggle was continued. and still the
ocean gained inch bv inch. The women
begged, with tears in their eyes, to be
allowed to help. They cheerel the brave
fellows and wept when they saw them
fall 70 tn deck with white faces and
trembling limbs.
During the next day the peril of II"
steamer was increased hv the lack III foo.
and water. The hurriclra tossed rhn
sinking hu!l about aal shaJr-"-I hrr
spars and mas. While tire tired an.
sleepless men mex o. rIn brcker~ Tie
wonlen kuelt ami PRAYED "a Col for as
sistance.
About : o'clock in the AFTERNOON a -ail
was seen 10 winlward. Guns were fired
and signals Of distress hoisteI. The
strange vessel. which turned ont - he
the brig Marine OF Boston. answered the
signals and tried to approach, but the
gale blew her about three miles away.
Then the boats we're made ready. and
the women and children prepared them
selves. They hal 10 strip off nearly all
of their clothes and put on life preserv-
ers. Many Of the women had gold.
which they could not carry with the
them. Twoof them went TO their state
rooms and took out bags of SEQ gold
pieces. which they threw down in the
cabin. inviting the others TO take what
they pleased. The money rolled and
jingled about on the floor. while the two
weeping women explained that they were
returning home 10 enjoy the fortune
which they had made in California, and
that they would he beggars if the ship
was lost. None of the women dared 70
take more than two pieces of gold lest it
weigh them dssyn.
The men still remained at their work,
that they would remain on board
until another ship arrived, as the Marine
could not take all the passengers, and
the women and children must be saved
Among those heroes was Billy
the famous minstrel.
Two of the lifeboats We're smashed by
the sea, but three boats We're filed with
women and children, many of the latter
being infants. The last boat to leave
the chief engineer. He solemuly
promised the captain to return, but the
moment he got into the boat he drew a
knife and threatened to kill any one who
followed him. Later on, when the woin-
and children We're put on board the
Marine, the chief engineer, hke the cow
ard and liar he was, refused to return.
Now the sinking steamship was so low
in the ocean that almost every wave
swept her deck. Some OF the passengers
into the rigging, while others tried
70 build a raft. Night came on. The
storm continued to rage. The ship quiv-
cred and careened. Rockets soa1ed MP
into the believing, angry heavens. Slow
" the vessel filled with water. n the
doomed host clinging to her deck and
rigging prepared for death. There was
weeping and no shrieking. no wiring
ing of hands. The captain stood at the
wheel to the last.
All at once the ship, as if in an agony
of death herself. made a plunge at an
angle of 45 degrees, and with an appall-
ing shrek from the engulfed mass she
disappeared, and nearly 800 human be
ings were left struggling among tn
fierce waters. The scene was horrifying.
and man who were saved afterward
tainted at the mere memory OF 1t.
few held on to planks and spars all
through the wild night, and as the day
broke the Norwegian bark Ellen arrived
md picked up 40 of the men.