Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-03-14
BARRETT SAVED f: THE /: STEAMER


In ito entire length, some third Of
mile or more, IL q wholly undesirable
matter to carry q steamer Into. The
reef Ii abrupt In Its formation. more
like knife blade than to anything
else can compare It. and on either
side Is good watcr.
''Wllen dropped out OF my chair In
the pink Of 4 o'clock dawn Of this de.
llghtfnl morning In August, Instead Of
finding myself two miles from shore !
noted rs glanced through the pilot
house window that the Buffalo was
headed dead onto the fish warehouse at
Fairport. with the apparent Intention
of climbing the roof In n few minutes.
Under tho port bOw--not long way
ahead. but directly under the nose IT
the old stenmcr--wcre the black slime
covered rocks of the limestone reef.
can see them yet. They reminded me
then or the teeth Of the devil, and the
water splashing and ripping over them
was like Ills smile. thought of the
thousand men and more asleep under
my feet and of the homes my cursed
sleep would make desOlate. saw all
this and thought Of 1t all In IN In.
slant. 1 wasn't wasting time In I'm.
shutting comparisons. Jumped ut
the wheel There was a chance, and u
slight one, between safety ana tho
most appalling disaster Of the lakes
p! threw the wheel hard aport--God,
how twisted II! 1t sang. Over It
went like a fly wheel. The handles
made grny streak before me. and
when 1t came down hard and fast tied
1t down with the lasliings. I never
made a series Of such quick motions
before or since. and every mental In.
pulse was prayer-a prayer for the
slumbering passengers and crew and
a curse for my own carelcssncss.
would the steamer ever full Off?
Tho slxtleth part Of a minute. when
that boat and her cargo Of LOO souls
hung over destruction. was longer 10
me than the longest year ever lived.
When l dashed the wheel crn wlcd
through the door out on the rail.
hadn't time TO check her, nnd when
the impulse to do 80 came I figured X
she lost any Of her Roadway she was
surely gone. I stood on the solitary
chance Of her answering instantly. I
didn't believe she would. just pray.
ell for It duly.
"Cnder her Sides the reef grow, but
lighter brown aud more like u mOn-
ster marine devil.
'WOuld the boat ever alter her dead
ahead course? 1t wasn't my own peril
that froze me, ana mt the same time
burned me M. It's paradoxical. but I
felt both sensations. like to live.
was a boy then. and life offered more
than It does now, but rs I am a true
man, l would have given my own exist.
cnce and all 1t promised me for tho
assurance that there was one chance
In hundred that the Buffalo would
bump against her wharf ut Cleveland
that morning. felt that could do
without shake or treMOr, hut tho
thought ] WINS taking hundreds with
me rs the result Of my own negligence
was intescrlbably hOrrid.
"NOw. all this passed In two seconds.
ImperceptIbly almost the jackstaf fell
away from the chimney on the HIN.
and lined up with the little. squat.
whltewasled lighthouse on the Fair.
port government pier. ~ slowly the
steamer bent away It seemed like tho
dragging Of years In eternity. But
she replied to the ruddcr as honestly
and sincerely as the honest and sin.
cere creature she was, and shot away
for the open lake at her race.horsc
speed. could feel her keel rasp over
a submerged rock, and those nearer the
top nicked and raked along the swell
Of her sides. Under her stern the
mud and sand cliurncd up rs black ~
a thunder.cloud. The tension Oh my
nerves gave way.
II staggered blindly up the ladder to
the pllot.h0use and fell against tho
wheel like drunkard. ! noted tllcil
that ! was as cold as Ice, and yet my
shirt. my waistcoat, ana even my Goa
were wrInglng wet with persplratlon.
II clumsily threw of the lashing OF
the wheel--my fingers were numbe,l
with cold on an August mOrnlng--and
headed the City OF Buffalo for VIII
loughby Point, the next steering mark
OH the Cleveland course.
met a person aboard the boat had
been awakened by the changing of
the course. SO far as ! could ever
Learnt wasn't making many inquiries
there was no one awake but myself
and the engineers and tlremcn and
one or two others. After had pulled
myself together l looked out OF the
front window Of the wheelh0use. d.
rectly below me sat the mate tipped
back In an armchair asleep. He had
dOzed within an inch OF death. After
we had passed the Mentor headlands,
seven or eight miles up the lake, IN
Oiler, who had been projecting around
below cleaning up the machinery, came
up and climbed out on tho walking
beam to administer the lubricant.
saw him look astern of the boat will
every evidence Of establishment.
looked astern, too. 1t was a bright
golden morning then, the sun was Jus
looking over the rim Of the lake righ
after us. The wake we made wal
visible for ten miles back on the smooth
CLASSY blue OF Erie. There It lay a,
twisted and erratic and uncertain a,
the trail Of an intoxicated person. ]
was succession OF letter SIS Until
had got the wheel by tho neck ant
Strengthened away on the course. Thcl