San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-12-26

the wind, nice and steady, but she
wasn't blowing much more than
enough to keep good Roadway. There
was just a nice, easy sea on and it
wasn't cold either. 1t was about 10
o'clock in the evening and they were
all tired and sleepy. One of the men
remarked that they must be over the
spot where the Idaho went down, and
just then the boat struck something
just back OF the bow on the port side
and there was a grating sound all
along the side of the stern. Something
black was bobbing along in the wake.
1t was too dark to make out what it
was. SO they put ahead and went
back.
when they got up TO it they found
it was cask. They caught hold of il
with a hook and turned a lantern on
it. 1t was a whisky barrel, and by
the way it set down in the water they
knew it was full of something. So
they dragged it into the boat. Just
then man sang out that there was
another barrel just over the side, and
they hauled that aboard too.
well, l don't know whether they
had bit aboard, or whether they
knocked the head, but anyway they
found that the barrels were full of
whisky. The Idaho had a lot of
liquor in her cargo, you know. don't
know how long ii was after that, for
| the fellows didn't tell me, when those
Erie fishermen saw some strange
things, and, although as l say, don't
believe in spirits, they swore to me
that they saw it all as plain as if it
was daylight. There wasn't very
much of Il moon, and nothing could
be seen more than a boats length
ahead, and there wasn't any sound but
the swash of the waves against the
boat and the rafting in the rigging.
1T was light over toward Long
Point, first about 100 yards away. 1t
showed just for an instant and pitched
about just as If it was on ship in
an awful gale, and then it went out.
Half of the crew swore that they saw
| il. so | was told. At the same time
they heard the shrek of the wind, and
then everything was silent. The Erie
fishermen didn't dare to move. They
all held fast to the sides of the boat
expecting a sudden squal. But it did
not come. Instead they heard the
sound of voices. They came from over
toward Long Point at first. where they
had seen the light, but pretty soon
they were around them. There We're
faint cries for help, and moaning
sounds that died away in gurgles as
ii some poor fellow had gone beneath
the waves. This last for quite
awhile and then stopped. Just ther
one of the fishermen pointed over the
stern and shouted that he saw mar
in the lake. The all looked, and sure
enough, about yards astern a man.
head and shoulders bobbed up and
down upon the waves. Then they saw
another body over the starboard sid'
and pretty soon there We're a dozeI
of them all around the boat The!
didn't make a sound, but seemed to b,
heading as hard as the could toward
the boat.
1.-THE fishermen were so surprised
they didn't do anything for some littl'
time. and then one of them heaved ;
line TO the fellow over the stern.
fell right over his shoulder, but h
didn't touch it, and the fsherma
hauled il in. Then the rest of tn
crew caught up the oars and rowe
;; stern first to the nearest fellow in tn
water. One of them leaned over I
catch him as soon as possible, but the
didn't seem to get any closer to mn
He kept going back as fast as the
|, rowed, and then he suddenly threw u
,, his hands and went down.
: "rhen the fishermen tried anothe
2 fellow. But when they got up clos
: enough to reach him, with an oar b
n wasn't there. When they locke
around for the other men in the waite
4 they had all disappeared.
r '"The next morning the fisherme
h told me they found themselves abcU