The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-12-26

the foresail, which was also nearly lost.
BY this time welcome daylight had
dawned, and, what was more welcome,
the hurricane had begun to abate, so that
in a few hours, after bending a new
maintopsail and foretopmast staysail and
repairing other damages, the ship was
able again to proceed on her course.
"a few days later, when we were bowl
ing along with fair wind, steering a
southeasterly course well to the eastward,
we sighted the trim little Spanish brigan-
tine Imanuela, hove to and flying sig
nal of distress. We ran down to her.
In answering our hail negro, who l
think was passenger on the brigantine,
standing on the taffrail, replied: we
are IL days out from st. JagO de Cuba,
bound for Cadiz, and have yellow fever
on board. The captain is dead, the mate
is dead, and we don't know where we
are. For Gods sake, send us a navi-
gator! The only others on board were
Il Spanish sailor and boy. One of our
foremost hands, Familiarity known as
old Mike, who had formerly been mate
of a packet ship, volunteered to go on
board the fever-stricken brigantine and
sail her into Baltimore. Accordingly the
captain gave him his position and course,
and he was placed on board in a boat
manned by a volunteer crew from our
ship, each of whom carried in his
trousers pockets raw onions, cut in
halves, as sailors safeguard against
yellow jack
sour boat returned laden with choice
Havana cigars, which our captain gem
erously distributed among the crew. We
all expected to get good salvage from
T,N,, ,,1, bud
after filling away his little craft and po-
litely dOffing his greasy old cap to our
skipper, was never seen by any of us
again, nor was the little brig. On re-
turning from our voyage we were in
formed that Mike safely piloted the YES
sci into Baltimore, and was there bam-
boozled out of his and our salvage by
the Spanish consul.
'The rest of the voyage to the mouth
of the La Plata was comparatively I'M
eventful.
ON FIRE AT SEA.
'"The most exciting incident after that
was the ship taking fire on the passage
from Buenos Ayres to Savannah, in bal
last to load with cotton for Boston. She
started homeward with very little ballast.
Her light sparS were sent down and stow
ed in the lower hold, as also were all spare
spars and anchors, with view to increas-
ing her stability. But she was still very
tender Some loose and intlammable dun
mage was stored in the between decks
when about 300 miles off the coast
of Brazil, just after the captain had TAX
en- his monday observation, smoke was
seen curling up through the matches, and
rapidly increasing in volume. All the
matches were open, as were also the ships
big, OldfaShiOned stern ports. Everyone
but the captains wife knew that the be
tween decks was full of shavings from
the carpenters bench and other infamma-
BILE material. The captain rushed from
his cabin, followed by his beautiful wife,
who was shrieking Historically. FLAMES
were soon shooting upward through the
hatchways.
',The mainsail was promptly hauled up
clear of the flames, and the captain, with
some of the officers and men, jumped be-
low to fight the fire. A little old-fashiOn-
ed head-pump, which could throw a
steam scarcely over an inch in diameter
and barely Il foot beyond its antiquated
nozzle, was quickly started. A bucket
brigade drew water from over the side
and passed it below to the fire fighters,
while the cook and steward, with large
bread pans, passed water along from the
feeble little head-pump. The flames
were not subdued until they had consum-
ed nearly all of the inflammabe material
between decks. When the fire was put
out it was found that the skin of the ship,
for a long distance in the vicinity of the
bench, was badly charred
while the paint was all burned from the
deckbeams overhead. The faces and
hands of those who fought the fire be-
low were badly blistered, and in many in
their hair and whiskers COM
pletely burned off. But we got in safely
at last New York Tribune