, 1898-09-03
unpleasant conditions and u%nquestion-
ing performance Of arduous or danger
Gus duties.-Chicago Inter Ocean.
LIFE SAVED BY A JACKKNIFE.
Escape Made by a Passen.
ger on the Vile de Havre.

BY the sinking of the La Bourgogne
and the awful loss of life is recalled the
accident to the Vile de Havre Of the
same line in 1872, when the latter nam
ed ship was struck at night and went
down at once. carrying almost all on
board. Pitifully few were those who
were saved from the Havre, but among
them was the prominent New York
lawyer Witthaus, and the way in which
he escaped is so extraordinary that it
sounds like a well-concocted tale, in
stead Of the plain fact that Mr.. Witt
haus vouches it to be.
The afternoon preceding the accident
to the Havre, Mr.. Witthaus, with an
other man, was on deck, and MI. Witt
haus was leaning against the taffrail
under the Flagstaff in the stern. AS
the two men stood there talking the
friend put his hand on the large life
buoy that was hanging over the side
and called Mr.. Witthaus' attention to
it.
Look" he said, these life buoys
are simply screaming farces. This one
here is so stiff and hard with coats of
paint that you couldn't get it free ex-
cept by cutting it with a knife"
Mr.. Witthaus attempted to move it,
but found it glued hard and fast. The
friend took ont his knife and began
idly sticking 1t into the soft pine Of the
Flagstaff, and amusing himself so the
rest Of the time that they talked before
they were interrupted by the dinner
gong. Then they both went below.
Early the next morning while the
passengers were still asleep the COL
lission occurred, and in the mad panic
that at once followed Mr.. Witthaus did
what he could to get the women and
children into the lifeboats. From the
first he regarded himself as doomed, for
there were not nearly boats enough
for all the passengers. and 1t was evil
dent the ship would float only a few
minutes. Several women whom he
knew on board he found places for at
once. only to see the boat overturn as
soon as it was launched, and all go
down, one OF them with her two little
children in her arms.
Horrified ard sickened by the sight,
he went back to the stern OF the ship,
which was higher out of the water than
the bow. to wait until he too went
down, and stood leaning on the taft
rail. AS he did 80 in a flash he recol.
|lected the conversation OF the afternoon
before. and looked over the rail. There
still hung the life buoy, stiff and i'm
movable, and the instinct OF self-pre-
servation sprang to life once more. A
knife to free the buoy and he might be
saved. But he had hone with him,
and to find one was impossible with
the ship liable to go down at any Sec
ond.
At the same moment his eye caught
the Flagstaff, and there, where his friend
had evidently forgotten it the afternoon
before, stuck the knife. With the haste
Of life and death Mr.. Wdtthaus pulled
it out and began to saw away the buoy,
and he freed it and threw himself of
the deck into the sea just in time to
get beyond the vortex that came as the
great ship went down, sucking hun
dreds Of victims with 1t. Mr.. Witthaus
foated about for some time, and was at
last picked up by a small boat that was
waiting about for chance survivors, and
was brought back to New York to tell
Of one OF the most awful ca%tastrophes
that ever happened alt sea.-New York
Press.