The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-04-18

Is a lifeboat in such sea, after all the
toll and peril Of reaching the wreck?
But while there Is life there is hope for
the sailor; the coxswain, Jarman. stands
ready with life buoy, and when the
sheer OF the boat and the sweep Of the
sea bring the boat and the drowning
man for moment near each other he
makes skillful throw and lands the
buoy within the captains reaoh Seiz-
Ing it, the captain soon gets head and
arms through, and beckoning the boat
men to follow is swept away again be-
yond their reach.
With little hope that they would find
him alive should they reach him after a
long chase they wish him silent good
by and turn again to the sufferers on the
wreck. AT the moment terrible crash
close at hand startles them, and, looking
up, they see the tall mainmast Of the
ship come down with power that seems
to wrench the hull loose from the sand.
An appalling cry reaches their cars, and
they see another Of the desperate men
leap into the sea with rope fastened
around his waist It is the chief mate
young man and a powerful swimmer
But he is only sport Of the waves and
is tossed violently up and down and car
ried to the end Of his rope only to be
brought up at last with a jerk that near
ly strangles him. The boatmen try in
vain to sheer their craft within his
reach. Finally the poor fellow, despair
ing Of reaching the boat, tries to climb
back to the ship up the rope which still
holds him. But that. too is impossible.
His strength is gone, and after two or
three failures, during which his cries
are most pitiful, he falls back helpless
dead.
The second mate and cabin boy wit
ness these horrors, unable to give a
hand to save or to do anything for them
selves. In beating about near the wreck
with their boat the lifeboatmen have
seized the rope fastened to the ship,
Which Was torn from it's fastenings, and
once moro the craft is holding onto the
vessel. The wrecked hull is rapidly
breaking up, and the gunwale is only
few feet out of water. A big wave
strikes with force that seems likely to
make an end of her, and the mate, in
desperation, leaps toward the rope lead
ing to the lifeboat Fortunately he
lands across it, catches a firm hold and
works his way to the high Prov, which
is leaping and falling and tearing vio-
lently upon the hawser under the force
Of the waves. The boatman in the bow
cries out to his fellows: "Hold mel Hold
me?' and throws himself across the
foredeck. With his body half stretched
over the side Of the boat he grasps the
collar of the struggling sailor, who
twines an arm around the neck Of the
life saver, and sinking back buries his
head under water. Two lives are now
in the extremity of peril
The boatmen dare not move to the aid
of their comrade for fear of overweight
ing the craft at that point and capsizing
her; but, lying in the bottom, they
form line holding onto one another's
legs and the first to those Of the man
struggling in the water. So in life
and death clutch the boat and all hands
are tossed up and down by the pitiless
sea for few moments that seem like
hours. Once while tho men are all in
tent on saving the two in the water the
large boat Of the ship comes driving
down upon their little craft, threaten
ing to stave it to pieces, but luckily a
cross wave lifts it and sweeps it one
side. Finally the boatmen drag their
comrade and his burden along to the
waist Of the boat, where the gunwale is
low, and the two are hauled on board
Meanwhile the wreck has been cleared
Of everything but the gunwale, and to
that the cabin boy clings, calling out in
agony: "Save me! Oh, do save me!'
Great waves dash over him, but he
madly keeps his hold. Struggle as they
will the boatmen cannot drive their
craft against the tide and through the
floating wreckage up to the ship. At
last the boy is torn loose, and apparently
lifeless floats on the driving waves out
and back, out and back, from the buried
hull, past the lifeboat. By skillful
cast Of the boathook with a line one Of
the men catches him by the jacket flap
and slowly lows him in. He is placed
in the stern sheets apparently dead.
Nov, my men, shouts Coxswain
Jarman. 'Stations all and look sharp,
or we shall be driven upon the wreck
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