The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-09
The Mental and Physical Ex-
perienceS of Charles H.
Gushing Jr.
DRAWN DOWN WITH THE SHIP.
A Welcome Sunrise After Night of
Suspense on the Cabin Roof
In Mid-Ocean.

would surely find resting place on the
floor of the ocean. could hold my breath
no longer, and the salt water began rush
ing into my lungs. was tired and would
have liked to reach the bottom so that |
could lie down and rest. 1 had struggled
so hard to rise. But always the swirling
debris of the wreck held me down, and the
maelstrom of the sinking hull drew me
down with it. l knew should never see
the earth again. l was as certain of that
as i am now of sitting in this room and
telling you all this. l knew was going to
die, and it occurred to me to try to calcu-
late how many centuries my bones might
lie at the bottom of the sea before some
upheaval of nature should make dry land
ofmy resting place; wondered what strata
they might find my bones in; wondered
whether they ever would be found But,
above all, was tired and longed to be free
of the struggle with the timbers and hiss
ing waters that sounded like thunder in
my ears"
1t was very quiet, rather phlegmatic-
natured man who sat in a soft plush chair
in his parlor at so Adeline street, Oak
land, yesterday afternoon, and told these
things. He was Charles II. Cushing Jr.,
one of the survivors of the wrecked Colima,
probably the only living man who staid
on the ship until she sank and sank with
her. The story of his Sufferings and most
strange adventures have already been told
in brief, but now ne was trying to tell
what he felt and thought during those ire
mendous twenty-four hours-every one of
which was an eternity to him = that
elapsed from the time the Colima made
her last list to starboard until the San
Juan's small boat was lowered and he
knew that life still held promise for him.
You would not take Mr.. Cushing for a
man gifted Tor cursed) with an extraordi-
nary imagination. Indeed, he disclaims
the attribute and declares that his sensa-
tons were nothing remarkable.
II had almost forgotten what / thought
and felt at that time, aside from the physi-
cal sensations, he said yesterday. NO
one had spoken to me about that part OF it.
usual, for, of course, the experience is not
d common one"
Mr.. Cushing said this in about the same
tone of voice and same degree of-stolidity
was it, or only GOODNESS? Certainly he
spoke in a most impersonal manner, as
though he did not realize the dramatic
value of the words he uttered. He is q
years DID, not taller than the average man.
but much thicker set. You would Judge
him to be a good swimmer, and he admits
as much.
Nevertheless had a hfe-preserver
strapped about NE before the ship went
down." he said. Il fastened one on nv
brother George, and he fastened one on
me. This was perhaps half an hour before
the Colima sank. We ate a good dinner
Sunday evening and slept soundly
most of the night, though the ship did ron
good deal. Neither of Us was afraid in
the least. Our cabin was on the port side.
In the morning we did not go to break
fast. We were not sick, but we scarcely
felt like eating. The storm was getting
worse and worse, and we concluded we
could weather il better on empty stomachs.
We slept late and then lay awake in our
hunks a while listening to the creaking
timbers of the ship and the noise of the
wind and rain. Then she listed away over
and stayed there for some moments. She
listed twice, l think, before she sank, and
l looked out of the transom over our cabin
door and could see the waves washing
away the starboard cabins. The first thing
l saw through the transom was streak Of
blue water. l could hardly believe 1 had
seen Alright at first, for l should have seen
the opposite saloon cabins instead OF the
streak of blue.
"My brother and / said nothing to each
other, but we both reached up to the cell
ing and took down the life-preservers. We
could not fasten them on ourselves very
well, so told George to let me fasten his
and he could fasten mine. don't know
thinking, j wonder if we will get on deck
in timer ! wondered. too, whether every
body else on board had hfe-preservers
Then felt a shock and heard great noise,
and said to my brother:
" She's struck a rock, George. We had
better be getting out of this
THAT must have been her cargo shift
ing. heard the noise as plainly as ever
heard anything, and the Jar it gave the
ship, that sent her still more to the star
board. We were dressed only in our
trousers and undershirts. We did not
put anything more on for we knew that
we were going into the water, Both
OF US were certain of that. Neither of
US spoke much. We crawled on to the
deck as quickly as possible and stood there
holding fast to the footrail, waiting for her
to sink. | think we intended to secure a
piece OF the wreckage and plunge into the
sea before she sank; I am not sure about
that. We were not excited, but rather
dazed. Already the waves were washing
pieces of wreckage about.
suddenly was struck full in the chest
by huge wave. 1t knocked me UP against
the cabin ana blinded me for the moment.
That is the last / saw of my brother. The
next thing remember distinctly is escan-
ing steam from the stern deck. Then 7
was being sucked down IN the maelstrom
of the water, following the Colima. Per
haps went down hundred feet-I can't
even guess. AT nrSt L struggled desper-
ately and used both my hands and feet to
force my way up. But the suction of the
water was powerful and the water was also
thick with whirling timbers and debris
from the wreck. And then, when had
about given up the struggle, something
forced me to rise. Maybe it was a huge
bubble in the water. You know how an
empty bottle gives out bubbles when sink
ing in the water.
Perhaps it was bubble like this from
the hold of the sinking ship that caught
me and fairly shot me up. 1t seemed to
part the debris, and l went straight up like
a shot without my head touching solid
substance. When my head came above
the water drew a long breath and felt the
blood tingling all over me. In an instant
/ lost all feeling of WEAKNESS, and the in
stinct of representation was as keen in
me as ever. l wanted to live. / almost
believed there was chance for me to live.
1 will make an awful struggle for it, /
thought to myself.
1.-The sea was thick with floating wreck
age and timbers from the deckload, and |
easily caught a small piece. It was not
large enough to have sustained any weight,
but caught it with both hands and it
gave me all the support 1 needed. I felt
~ l. II Il =. l.