The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1897-08-19
THE PORT OF MISSING SHIPS.
BY JOHN Il. SPEARS.

loaded with a miscellaneous cargo Tor
Portland, Oregon. \ line OF trucks with
goods Tor tie big ship reached from the
ships gangway across South street and
nearly half way up to Front street. The
engineer in the little coop that covered
the hosting engine on the pier was red
in the tace from his extra exertions with
throttle and coal shovel, for the stevedore
up on the ships rail was making things
jump, in the hopes OF completing the cargo
before t o clock that night. The long
sholemen On the pier, about the deck,
and in the hold OF the ship worked with
unwUnted zeal, while the ships mate,
having set young man tom the agent $
office 10 checking oil the goods that We're
hoistcd from the pier to the tune Of the
steyedole 5 whistle, was trying to see how
near he could come to standing in two
parts OF the ship at once without splitting
Himself, and at the same time keep his
two eyes alOtt Cn the IiggeIs at work on
all thlee masts. The riggeIs were stretch
ln9 tie sails, ntsl from an uVelnaullng III
the sail lott, along The Aalds and making
them fast there, ana The mate was taking
his oath that he never see such a gang
OF lubUeIs as them llggels, and o1ielinS
to BET his soul against WON out chew OF
tobacco that the inst c&ptul OF wind that
stuck the slip Would strip The canvas off
her. tone and aft. i he ships MASTER
Captain Walter ", Allen OF New buryport
was not in sight, having gone to the office
u the agents to settle some accounts and
sign the papers, but What with the moving
OF the Trucks, under the shouts OF noisy
uuckmen, and the hosting OF the cargo
with the noise OF the whistle and steam
engine, and the hosting aud stretching OF
sails to the orders OF mate and IggelS
there was no end OF animation about the
Governor George I, Oglesby: a landsman
would have said there was 4 babel OF con-
fusion, but to the eye OF the sailorman
every ching was working with a smooth
ness and regularity seldom to be found
under like circumstances except on the
deck of ankee clipper.
just after 3 O clock - SIX bells, the
stevedore called the hour-when the stir
and noise, as he would have said, had
reached Hood tide, there was splash i'll
the water alongside the big clipper Half
south side, became suddenly animated
with the appearance of life, and hurried
10 the string piece, oven W Inch they leaned
and pointed excitedly toward something
that was struggling and splashing about
in the water,
1t a woman said one, excitedly; Il
see Ler har
Nv hat 5 Yer givin' us? It's a dog off n
the Guv ner Ojesby,H said another.
Ell stuff; it $ man. Why ii hell
don some OF yous run for cop?' said
third.
Nobody 1a1, but every one knew just
what was the matter and what some one
else ought TO do. There was a man drown
ing III the water close alongside the big
black hull; that was plain enough. One
big. dirty hand was clawing at the smooth
clipper III vain effort to reach up 50 that
the ends OF the fingers could catch in the
seam between two of the wooden plauks.
Although unable to reach the seam. the
efforts, somehow, kept the man tr0u going
under tor GOOD, but he was last getting
weaker when the mate OF the bio ship
heard enough of the disturbance on the
adjoining pier to cause him to give one
impatient glance in THAI direction. That
glance was enough. To his eye il was
pldm that some one Was overheard: moth
III else ever eNeites the dock louugers
enough to make them gather excitedly
together at the string piece of the pier.
Nlaspln9 a coil OF rope that hung on a
Delaying pin under the main rigging, he
gave II throw that sent it flying, laliat
fashion, out over the water As the end
Nhizzed down lie climbed over the rail
ana IL moment was up to his waist in
TIp ,.lfI,f,j,,tr
hand and holding the drowning man S
head by the hair above water. Finding
the man docile, the mate supported him
by twining his legs under his arms and
then made the loose end of the rope fast
to him and bawled to the men on deck to
hist away, keerful like which was
done.
The mate himself scrambled up hand
over list and lent hand, as he said. in
getting the man on deck, where he was
soon stretched out in the sun. The ship S
boy was sent to ask a policeman to call an
ambulance, while the mate tore the man S
SHIRT open, wiped his face, neck and chest
dry with towel and then, finding that he
bfeathed regularly, poured a liberal dose
OF whisky, which the ship S steward had
brought from the cabin with the towel.
down the man S throat, ''jest to take the
wire edge off the salt water he's been a
sWatlerln', as he said.
Under this treatment the man revived
quite little, but he was loony vet" as
the mate said afterward.
Did they both snk?' asked the man.
WAS there more on ye??" said the mate.
AYE. Did the collision sink either YES
sel?'
What ye givin' u.s. The man looked
around as if bewildered, and then said:
u say, matey, what ship is ths?''
The Governor George T. Oglesby of
Bath, said the mate.
II seed she was Yankee said the
man, glancing with admiring eyes aloft.
Then he noticed the Triggers and the tackle
by which the cargo was hoisted in. He
looked perplexed at this.
Did ye have to jettison the cargo?
Carried away every rag, eh, matey9 Bend
in on new sails, eh?''
The mate looked puzzled. "What ever
is he talking about?' he said
What did We make yer longitude, to-
day" continued the man. The mate
turned to the stevedore and said:
He thinks he's at sea. Crazy as a
loom
Just then the pilot of Wall street
ferry boat, starting to leave the adjoining
slip, blew long blast on the steam whis-
tie he man raised himself on one elbow.