The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1895-01-31

vessel, where the imperiled sailors had
congregated, broke off just forward Of
the mizzen rigging leaving the hull in
two entirely severed parts. The stern was
listed offshore, with the port rail in the
water and the sailors clinging to the
starboard rail. All of this was invisible
! then to the life savers on the beach, but
in q short time they learned that there
was life on board the wreck, which they
knew, by, the fearful sounds coming
from it, must be a perilous refuge. The
line they had shot athwart her masts
was being hauled on board The unfor-
tunates on the wreck understood the
meaning of the shot line and hauled
away until they got the tailblocl, which
they fastened securely, and shouted to
the people OH shore. Keeper Green then
prepared to send out the hawser which
carries the life buoy, when, to the dis
may of those on shore, the sound of an
other crash came from the wreck, fol-
lowed by deathly stiffness. The fog had
again become SO thick that the life saw
ers could no longer see the wreck.
The last falling of the masts had been
fatal to one soul on board and the en-
tire party of 13 remaining had barely
escaped. The mizzenmast had fallen
over the side causing the stern where
the men We're to careen suddenly and
throw all hands into the water. Then
the life lines stretched across deck early
i'll the evening once more came into
play. The sailors caught them and strug
gled through the flood of water to the
opposite rail, which had been thrown
high out of water. 1t was q life and
death battle, and some of the strongest
cried to their mates for help, but all ex-
cept the cabin boy crossed over and laid
hold Of the safety rail.
A sailor passed a rope to the lad as he
struggled in the water; but, weakened
from long exposure, he soon let go and
was swept off by wave. But for the
life lines stretched across the decks many
others would have been lost in the catas-
trophe, which increased the peril in
moro ways than one. The whip block
and lines sent off to the wreck by the
life savers had been fastened to the in
shore side of the ships stern, and the
canting Of the vessel when the mizzen-
mast went over buried these under wa
ter beyond the reach of the sailors. This
fact could not be signaled to the men on
the beach, owing to the thick fog, and
they hauled away gallantly to pull the
life buoy hawser off to the wreck In
short timo it worked freely, and a jagged
end soon came in, showing that it had
hapn torn 1na1t p1tI,oT ba,,
fell or by the chatting Of mass of wreck
age lying upon it in the water. The ST.
lence Of death reigned over the wreck,
and the surfmen feared that the last
crash they had heard meant the end for
all on aboard 1t was nearly 4 o'clock
in tho morning, but SO thick that fur
ther attempts to get a line off would only
be waste Of strength and ammunition.
Keeper Green decided to wait for day
light and placed all the beach apparatus
in readiness, with the mortar loaded,
ready for the first break in the wall of
fog and dark-less Occasionally slight
breeze would lift Il bank oil the fog near
shore, and at every such tightening
Coston signal was humsft ia homes shat
1t would be answered by the wrecked
men it any were alive. Several were
burned without effect Tho surfmen
thought surely that the renorseless sea
had stifled the voices Of the midnight
and paralyzed the arms that had hauled
away gallantly on the line shot athwart
the wreck. But suddenly the faint notes
of a single throat singing huskily were
heard above the roaring surf. Slowly
and plaintively at first the song arose
from the lips OF an old negro, the stew
ard Of the ship, half submerged in the
water and clinging for life to a aswaying
rope. AS the singing progressed the voice
grew stronger and more hearty, so that
the people on shore distinguished tho
last line Of a verse which told them their
signal had been seen and it's meaning
understood. The words continued:
Who wcpt with Joyful tears
When they saw the honored flag they hadn't
for years
Hardly could they be restrained from burst
ing 'nto cheers
While we We're marching through Georgia.
The burning of the Coston light be-
tokened to the old slave Of the Santee
ricefields another "day Of deliyerance, y
and when he reached the chorus dozen
voices around him joined in with an
energy that dispelled all doubt as to
there being life on board the wreck:
Hurrah, hurrah, we'll sound the jubilee
Hurrah, hurrah, the flag that makes you freel
The hearty outburst rising as climax
to the faint voice which preceded it act
cd like magic upon the anxious surfmen,
dispelling their fear and their wonder
Continued on cd puge)