The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-08
ESCAPE WIS 4 NIRHCLE.
Clinging to a Rocking Spar in Mid-Lake Through
Long, Cold Night Covered With a Sheet
of Ice, They Were Helpless When Sighted
Their Thrilling Rescue.

men they were forced to take one last
chance for their lives.
AT the word the anchor dropped
from the bow, and the chain began
TO pay out, but the sea was too heavy.
and, instead of the anchor catching
with firm grip and bringing the
ships head up to the storm with a
jerk, it went too slow and simply tunn-
bled into the trough of the sea, which
broke over her in torrents.
In an instant she was helpless as
log, and she was tossed here and
there, taking every wave aboard.
From port to starboard the great
mountains of foaming water poured.
rolling into the hold and adding to the
quantity already weighing her down.
Inc load was too much, and, after n
moment, when we all felt that we
were lost, the ship keeled over to the
starboard and went down stern first
What became of my mates l don't
Know. l remember that the boats
had been lOosened, and that SOME gf
the men were ready to take to them, If
the vessel went under, but no boat
could have lived for minute in that
terrible sea, and, if any of them did
get in boat, it was simply
swamped as soon as the first wave
struck it. May be they did not leave
the ship at all. L was near
the spar when the stern
of the vessel began to go
under L went for the rigging, and went
up as fast as 1 could Another man
went with me-the second mate-and
1 thank the Lord that he was with me.
or l would have gone mad during ali
the long hours that I was up there
hanging on and trying to keep off the
frightful cold that was slowly killing
us both.
There was n rolling to and fro. as
the vessel struck the bottom and slow
ly righted to an even keel, and then
a second later she rolled over to one
side. 1 thought She was going all the
way over, but she did not She settled
on the bottom, and. though the waves
rolled her from port to starboard. the
spar remained out of the water with
my mate and myself clinging to it.
"All this time the hail and sleet was
coming down in a cutting sheet, and
we were covered with ice in a few
minutes, for, though the top of the
| spar on which we were hanging was
| twenty-five feet above the |ater, the
big waves struck us and broke over
us, and the hail cut us like shot.
Il knew 1t was about o'clock when
| we went down, and it seemed to me
that daylight would never come. When
| daylight did come, we could not see
a sail anywhere near us, and the sea
was as bad as ever. Hour after hour
we waited there, and then we saw the
Mariposa coming. For a long time
we did not know whether she would
sight US.
When she finally sighted us and we
saw her head for us, l tried to tell my
mate, but 1 could not and he looked
at me with a happy look on his face.
1t was a terrible time to us before she
came up, and then l knew we were
| not safe yet, for the sea was running
! mountain high, and the big steel boat
was rolling like q slIiff Every wave
sent her up in the air until we could
see her white bottom under her water
line. We knew at once that her cap
tain would not attempt to lower a boat
for it would have been chewed up.
when the Mariposa got within a
cable length of US a man with strong
voice yelled to us to hang on.
Don't give up he yelled, and weII
get you off soon The boat circIed
around us, coming as near as she
could, but when she was within few
rods a big roller swept her far out, and
she went off to starboard, rolling heav-
lily when she got in the trough of the
sea. Then she came back again, and
again she missed us, and we could not
have taken a line had one been thrown
US. Again she went around, and we
watched her and watched the men on
her rail waiting to give us a lift when
they could. On the third trip around
she ran right along side our spar, and
as she went past a dozen men reached
for us. L don't know who got the
mate, but Mr.. Smith, the engineer, got
hold Of me, and he dragged me from
the spar over the rail Of the Mariposa.
An instant later we had passed the lit
tie stick which the mate and I
had been holding onto for a day, al.
though 1t seemed a week"