The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-03-15

ing that IL had been torn apart, either
when the mast fell or 10y the chatting of q
mass OF wrCckH2g lying upon Il in the Wa
| ter. The silence az death rCigncd over the
wreck, and the zurinen feared that the
| last cr;i-h they had heard meant the end
for NJ! on board. II was nearly 4 o'clocI;
in the morning, but so thick that further
attempts 10 ger q line OF would only be a
/ waste Of strt myth and ammunition. Keep
| er Green decided 10 wait for daylight and
placed all the beach apparatus in readiness,
| with the mortar loaded, ready for the first
| break in the wall Of fog and darkness. Oc-
| casionally a slight breeze would lift n
| bank Of the fog near shore, and at every
| such tightening q Coston signal was
burned in hopes that it would be answered
by the wrecked men if any were alive
Several were burned without effect. The
surfmen thought surely that the rcmorse-
less sea had stifled the voices OF the mid
night and 'paralyZcd the arms that had
hauled away CALAMITY on the line shot
athwart tho wreck. But suddenly the
faint notes Jf single throat singing busk-
lily were heard above the roaring surf.
Slowly and rlaintively ut first the song
arose from tho lips of an old negro, tho
steward Of the ship, half submerged il the
water and clinging for life to q swayins
rope. As the singing progressed the voice
grew stronger and more hearty, so that
the people on shore distinguished the last
line of a verse which told them their sig
nal had been seen and It's meaning under
stood. The words continued:
Who wept with joyful tears
When they saw the honOrcd nag they hadn't
Hardly could they be restrained from burst
ing into cheers
While We were marching through Georgia.
The Burning Of the Coston light betok-
encd to the old slave Of the Santec rice
fields another day OF dcliverance," and
when he reached the chorus a dozen voices
around him joinr.: IN with an energy that
dispelled all doubt as to there being life
on board the wreck:
Hurrah, hurrah, well sound the Jubilee!
Hurrah, hurrsh, the flag that makes you free!
The hearty outburst rising rs q climax
to tho faint voice which preceded it acted
like magic upon the anxious surfmen, dis
Polling their fear and their wonder
Spurrod with n fresh desire TO save the IN
fortuna:Cs they ran out in TO the surf and
shouted hack words OF encouragement
that were no longer wasted, because the
sea had driven the wreck, little by little,
nearer shore. At daybreak tho poor fell |
lows could lie seen from the beach us they !
lay struggling I'm the water, with wreck. |
age pounding about and threatening TO |
tear them loose from their holds Many |
had lost hat their clothing and wero |
bruised and bleeding from their contact |
with broken tim bers, the blows of falling |
or fioating rigging and the bammering of |
the great waves. With daybrcak the fog |
dissolved so that the surfmen could bring
their line gun to bear. The first shot |
broke the line, but the second carried it
within reach Of the sailors, who quickly
hauled ont the gearing for the breeches
buoy. In half an hour from the time the
wreck was sighted 13 survivors had been
landed on their way to the station, where
a hot breakfast and dry clothing awaited
them. GEORGE L. KILMER.