Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-10-01
THE SKIPPER.

The last half hour Of the steamship
/ Saraband had come. All day she had
lain in the pitiless bay, crouching I'm
4 der the fierce blast Of the northeast gale,
/ the seas sweeping her decks, and now
all on board knew that she had but
/ short time to live
She had had her day. Built to carry
1870 passengers, she had once been one
Of the popular boats going through the
newly opened canal to the east, and her
! long flush deck had been the scene Of
many a gay gathering when her passen-
/ gers had assembled under the awnings
/ to laugh, firt and talk after dinner.
/ But larger and faster boats had come,
and her glory had departed, so that
after many vicissitudes here she lay,
her passenger accommodation taken out
and the space filled with grain from the
Black sea ports, sinking.
Her decks were slanting at an angle
of 45 degrees, for the wheat had shifted,
and she lay nearly on her beam ends.
Every movable thing had long been
washed away, and one structure which
should have been immoyable-the en-
| CINE hatch-had also been smashed in.
That was the immediate reason why
she was going to founder. The engine
room plates were awash, and the fires in
the stokehole were out, and for the last
two hours she had only been kept head
to sea by means of q sea anchor made of
the derricks and spars. A portion of ev-
cry sea that came on board found its
way through the makeshift continuance
of spars and tarpaulins nailed over the
gaping chasm i'll her deck that marked
the former position of the engine hatch,
and each found her little lower in the
water.
In the shelter of the bridge deck the
only structure which had been strong
enough to resist the remorseless violence
of the seas, clustered her crew, some
! 30 hands, hard faced sailors and grimy
firemen, the former quiet, apathetic,
almost careless; the others, save for a
/ few, dead white with fear, spending
their last moments in cursing, with
foolish, meaningless repetitions of the
same words, the ship, their luck III
coming in her and the skipper for not
making use Of the two remaining boats
which hung from their davits at the lee
/ side of the bridge deck, and which from
their elevated position had not gone
when the other boats had been swept
away. On the bridge stood the skipper
and the mate, bearded elderly men
both straining their despairing eyes
| into the wall Of mist and spray which
relentlessly rushed down upon them, in
the faint hope that some passing vessel
might appear through the gloom of the
gale.
At length the skipper turned and
scrambled down the sloping bridge to
where the mate crouched on the lee rail.
"We shall have to try the boats, Mr..
Smith. She'll not last much longer"
ne shouted, the wind picking up each
word as he uttered it and sweeping them
away to Ieeward, as if jealous of the
mate hearing them.
Its very poor chance " said the
mate, but | suppose it's our only one.
How long do You give her?'
Half an hour at the outside. Are
the boats all ready"
"They've been ready since morning, "
said the mate, "but can we get them in
/ the water unsmashed, and won't the
tiremen rush themE"
! Il don't think so, )" replied the skip
! per. "Thcre's time enough and room
enough for all to get away.
But his face took a grimmer look as
he led the way down from the bridge to
4 F,.I
Inside they could hear each other with
greater ease, and the skipper, while
taking his revolver from a drawer, gave
the mate his final instructions.
wen lower the forward lifeboat
first Us she's the biggest. You will take
! charge Of her, get your crew aboard and
have every one in his place before we
start to lower, so that you can shove off
as soon as She touches the water. If
those patents act you ought to be all
right. The boats were fitted with a
patent continuance bywhich the tackles
holding them are automatically released
the moment the boat is water borne, so
that there is no unlocking of blocks to
be done while the boat is getting dashed
to pieces against the ships side
IL shall be all right " said the mate,
"but what about you? Who's going to
lower the falls of the after boat? You
can't manage it from the boat itself,
with all the crowd you will have on
board. "
I'm lower her from the deck, =" said
the skipper eff they have a long
painter mado fast TO the snip, they can
easily pull up again under the counter,
and I'll make a jump for it.
mind you don't jump short. You'd
have a poor chance with those boots
and oilskins ON, said the mate
"Oh, I'll manage" replied the skip
per. Call the men up
The men came up in a body, and tho
skipper came out ON the deck, revolver
in hand.
"'rLe ships sinking, he said, land