Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1897-10-30
MRS. RESCUE.

we were DeIWbeu bIle AZORES ana MA
deira, bound for port in the West In
dies, in the American ship Ben Joyce,
when curious thing happened one
morning about an hour before daylight
The wind had died away soon after mid
night, and by O'Clock the sea was like
a mill pond. The ship was swinging
her head to every point of the compass,
and with the exception of the lookout
man the watch on deck were catching
40 winks of sleep. / was that lookout
man 1t is required on all vessels at sea
that the man on the bows shall be as
wide awake in a calm as when the craft
is moving, and was digging my eyes
and fighting away sleep when curious
sound from over the bows caught my
ear 1t was a dark night, with not a
star visible, and could not see beyond
tho end of the jib boom. AS listened
to the noises the only thing | could
compare it to was the noses Of sharks
humping against a small boat. 1t would
have been ridiculous to call to the mate
and give him any such explanation, but
finally called his attention to the curl
ous noises and left the cause to his own
perception.
There's a raft or boat out there, .
he said after a moment, land the noise
may be made by oars. I'll burn port
fire "
The port fire lighted up the sea for
100 feet around, and the first thing we
saw was ships boat within 40 feet of
us on the port bow In the bottom of
the boat were two human figures and one
Of them woman. and all around the
boat the sea was alive with sharks They
We're diving under the boat, running
their noses against it and seeking to up
set it, and had it been shore boat they
would doubtless have had it over. AS
soon as we caught sight of the boat the
mate ran to call the captain. By the
time the captain had arrived the boat
had drifted right down against us, and
one of the crew lowered himself into
her and made fast the painter. Then
got down to assist him, and we passed
up the bodies the man first. We might
just as well have dropped him into the
sea, for he had been dead for "a hours
at least. As we picked up the woman,
having not doubt that she was also
dead she moved and uttered groan
and gave us great fright We had her
on board after a couple of minutes, and
the small boat, which was a captains
gig, new and without a name, was later
on hoisted up
Captain Clark was n single man 80
years old, and neither of his mates was a
married man They found the woman
greatly exhausted through thirst and
hunger, but with life enough to build
hopes on, and they handled her so well
that at the end Of an hour it was re-
ported on deck that she was asleep and
would probably pull through An hour
after daybreak a breeze came, and we
got on our course, and after careful
inspection of the body of the strange
man it was given a sailors burial His
pockets turned out nothing but some to-
bacco and a few bits of silver, but he
was recognized by all as sailor He
had the dress and general look, and the
initials IS f. w" had been pricked
ON his left arm in india ink The boat
was provided with mast sail and oars;
but, as | said, she was new, freshly
painted and had no name on her. We
didn't do much wondering over it, as
we knew the woman would explain all
when she regained her strength, but all
were glad that it had fallen to our lot
to pick up the boat 1t may surprise you
to learn how long that woman slept. At
intervals the captain raised her head to
administer soup or drink, but not to
actually interrupt her sleep and she
did not open her eyes until 80 hours
had passed. Then sleep had brought her
fully back to life 1t was "a hours later
before we heard her story or, to our I'M
bounded amazement, learned that there
was no story to tell The woman could
remember nothing of the past, not even
her name
If you have ever read Clark Russell,
You will remember two such incidents
in his books. You may have set them
down as sailors yarns, - but such
things have happened on land dozen
times over Every day for the last five
years have occupied desk with "a man
who was practically drowned while
bathing. After two hours hard work
they brought back the spark of life, but
it was weeks before he left his bed He
began new life at that point. All the
previous 20 years were blotted out as if
they had never been.
The woman awoke to find herself
aboard strange ship with strange men
around her. She was handsome, well
formed woman, English in looks and
speech and about 30 years of age Her
apparel was fine and costly. but she
wore no jeweiry and had neither a purse
cardcase. When asked how she
be at sea in the gig, what was
whether she had visited Ma.