St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-03

little audience about the table was WIS.,
IDLY moved Jim Corbett, even If he Is
the champion fighter of the world,
never could have told that story as he
told it to us had he not been possessed
of intellect and a finer feeling.
The intense interest man ifest-
ed by "hs small but appreci alive
audience" seemed to inspire the cham
Dinn to continue and he graphically re-
lated an incident that occurred when
he was on his way to America from
England.
''rhe trip was full Of incident" he
said, as he leaned way back in his chair.
land shall probably never forget the
things that happened in London and
Paris and Ireland, but the incident which
impressed me most and remains most
vivid in my memory, occurred while we
were coming across on the magnificent
ocean greyhound, the Majestic. We
were perhaps two days out, or, to make
more clear. it was the second night
after we had left Southampton. Soon
after dark an immense fog set in and the
officers Of the ship could not see a hun
bred feet from either side Of the
steamer. While they hardly appre-
hended any danger, nevertheless they
were very careful and continually kept
the big whistle blowing. | was stand
ing on the deck trying my best to pene-
trate the intense gloom. The bells
struck the hour of in the morning.
Suddenly there was an awful crash in
front followed by the most agonizlng
Shrieis, which were lost in the distance
as the great Majestic flew by. We had
struck something. Instantly all was
excitement. The engines were reversed
and the big steamer was brought to a
Standstill.
I'VE have struck fishing smack
cried the lookout, and Phi never forget
how startlingly the words fell OH my
ear. The ship was in confusion. The
passengers rushed from their hunks to
the deck. The sailors hurried OH to
lower the boats and in the midst Of the
confusion we could hear the shrieks Of
the unfortunates away off down there
somewhere in the darkness below us.
III
own length and slowly crept along for
the spot where she had struck the
smack. Then when they thought they
had her III about haiilng distance
she was stopped again. Boats
were hurriedly lowered, and they shot
away in all directions in the gloom that
surrounded the vessel. All this time
the Chria},c ,ua.a heo rd continually 'Fha
excitement amongst the passengers was
intense. l stood near the port bow with
my wife, and eagerly listened for the
sound of the oars in the returning boats.
Suddenly within the glare of the search
light tloated a young boy clinging to
log. lie looked up pitifully i'll our
faces and mutely implored help. There
was a look of agony OH lis face,
and he clutched the log with
the desperation of drowning
man. We leaned far over The rail and
urged him to take courage and hold on.
We shouted to him that help was COM
ing and TO hold bravely Oh till it reached
him. We could see his face as plainly
| as if it were broad daylight. He was
| young boy. The women sobbed and
chung to their husbands and brothers
while watching the varied emotions
| playing on the face of the young sailor
down there in the water. He was
| slowly but surely drifting away from
us. l could see by the expression on
his face that he was gradually growing
weaker, and impulsiyely shouted to
! him:
For Gods sake. my boy, hold on"
| He shook his head in the affirmative,
and l fancied there was look Of sad
ness Oh his face. Just then. as boat
was about to approach him, the great
steamer swung around and the waves
from the screw began to sweep over
that poor young fellow.
Up through the darkness came his
agonzed pleading:
Don't wash me away, don't wash me
away"
Wave after wave broke over his head
and could see his hold relaxing. We
held our breath. We prayed inwardly
that he might be saved and some of the
ladies' prayers could be heard half way
down the boat. Suddenly larger wave
than the rest struck him full i'll the
| face. His hold relaxed. He gave us
one last DIES pairing glance, then in plain
view of US all he sank from view. Oh,
it was terrible. l buried my face IN my
hands add cried like baby.
| can see his face yet, and
suppose never will altogether efface
it from my memory. Then we heard
the sound Of a returning beat. AS it
hove within the glare of the search light
we saw that it contained only our own
sailors. Another came in view. There
were no unfortunateS in that. A third
boat appeared and to cur delight we be-
held two Of the unfortunate men. The
fourth boat contained the others and
all were saved except the poor young
fellow who was nearer to the steamer
| than any Of the rest and vet sank be-
meath the waves as he was about to be
rescued. One Of the rescued, middle-
| aged old fisherman, eagerly inquired
for Bill the young fellow, as soon
as he was carried On board. When
told of his tragic fate the old
man broke down and cried as if his
| HedlL WOulu DIeUh. 1t WIS hUuCHiuS III
the extreme. One of the rescued died
in a few days. but the Others were
brought TO America and were most
kindly cared for on the way over. 1t
appears that they had been away from
home a month and were due in the
presence of their wives and mothers on
the morning we struck them. The
steamer cut the smack in twain as
clearly as it could have been done with
a monStrous knife. and there were only
small pieces of timber left 10 tell the
tale. We gave q benefit in the cabin
for the unfortunates. and a handsome
sum was realized. They we're sent back
to England in good shape"
Corbett's third story. while it partook
somewhat of the humorous, was never
theless thrilling, told as it was with
all the champions enthusiasm and