The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-08-15
The DERELICT.

BY REV. FRANCIS CLARK D D
President of the United Society of Christian En-
dedUOT.
sail on the starboard bowl" sang
out the Waterman to the officer on the
bridge.
Soon the little speck came into range,
and we noticed that the craft was act
ing very strangely.
AS we drew nearer we saw that, al
though her masts we're intact, her sails
were literally blown to shreds, that
her decks were almost even with the
waters edge, that she was evidently
waterlogged, and perhaps abandoned.
For the sake of finding out if any
suffering men were still on board, the
Captain bore down upon the ship until
one could almost throw q biscuit on
her deck. But it was evident that
there was not a sign of life about her.
The last sailor had deserted her.
1t was indeed a pathetic sight to see
this once proud and trim craft, built
to buffet the waves, at the mercy Of
the least of them; to see this once beau
tiful ship, with her fac lines and her
shGpely prov, built to pursue a straight
and undertaking course from port to
port, staggering and Keeling like a
drunken mar under every puff Of wind
or tidal current.
The story needs only to be told to
teach its own truth. The photograph
of the derelict tells It's own tale, and it
tells the tale Of many a fair, young
life that is drifting, rudderIess and
pilotless-a derelict upon life's ocean.
ALI ships may be divided into two
Classes-the ore class plying the ocean
with ONE pert in view answering to
their helms, guided By some master
mind, following the direction which
the magnetic needle points out, never
far from the course laid down in the
chart; and the other class, battered
and beaten by wind and wave, deserted
apparently by God and man, drifting
aimlessly, q menace to every other
vessel, but with no possibility of reach
ing a homo port,
So, alas! may all lives be classified
There is the purposeful, res )urcetul
life, that has an end in view, the life
that is guided by great principles, and
that has a home port beyond the stars
a life with a rudder, and a man at the
helm; a life with a chart and com
pase to show no its c0ursa should be
steered.
There is too, the other class Of lives
represented by the derelict, drifting
on the trackless OCEAN; lives that are
swayed this way and that by every
passing breeze of circumstance; lives
that apparently have no master mind
at the wheel, and no definite object in
view, AMI no home port.
This derelict which our Captain
o~verhauled started out from some
home port. Her owners foresaW no
disaster. Her crew expected no ship
wreck. This dismantled ocean war
derer came from the shipyard as trim
and beautiful a craft as any. She was
chartered and loaded, and she sailed
with full expectation OF reaching port
But the storm overlook her and she
could not stand the stress of weather.
The saddest thing about the human
derelict is that it, too, Us Tally leaves
the home poIt with high hopes and ex
pectatioI s. 1t is built to buff3s the
wave of adversely and temptation
It is provided by God with all neces
sary appliances for a successful voy
age. It's MISS commonly are stout
and its sails are strong. Its charity
correct and its compass true. There
is no need of shipWrack or disaster
but the tempest of temptation arises
The storm and stress Of untowarC
circumstance beat upon the human
bark. Reason, prudence, and finally