The Saint Paul globe., 1900-11-25
grim TRAGEDY OF THE SEA
ED IN A MUSTY LEGAL
TOME
RELATED BY DEAN PATTEE
He Tells His Law Students the story
to illustrate KnOtty Point
in Law. and They
Listen.

! students at the university have q dry,
tedious time Of it. Some people even go
so far as to think that life in the law
building is lone dead, horrid grind" as
MIR. McCaWber would put it.
To the nOn-legal mind, law is always
dry, nonsensical stuff, calculated to put
dust on the brain, and not gold dust
either, except in the case of the stray
| genius here and there. A few days un-
der the guidance of the imposing portly,
all-around big man, Dean Pattee, would,
in a measure, drive this idea away from
| any one. The dean has a taking person
ality in spite OF the fact that he is as
fond of delivering a Sunday school ser
mon as eXpoundiug the law, facts and de-
clSlon of an intricate case. TOrtS, con =
tracts, domestic relations, real estate,
pleading, all are simple to the dean, and
he can reel off stories by the yard, ca
the side, as it were.
1t is a common saying of the dean that
there are certain cases in law no lawyer
should forget. 1t would be next to sacri-
igious. What the dean says goes. He
can pound facts into a dense skull quick
er than any man in the university It
happens, however, that he does the work
up brown and students remember cases
that are not worth giving q. second
thought, just because the dean told ''the
facts first
facts and in detail, and, what Is more,
largely true, the substance, stripped OF
all imaginative frills, being mostly taken
from volume IA, Queens Bench Division
The dean tells the story every year, and
If he sees this will smile.
It's one of those cases that students do
not forget, could not If they wanted to-
and there is no necessity for remember
ing it. The story is interesting because
of the facts pure and simple, not be-
cause of the decision or any point Of law
involved.
A great many years ago there were
seven Englishmen in the beautiful town
Of Basse-Terre, on the island of 81.
Christopher, or st. Kits. as mariners
sometimes call it, who one day decided
to take a cruise on the briny deep. They
had neat, little yawl and forthwith
made haste to prepare for the trip. Ow-
ing to some unlocked for delays the men
did not get launched until late In the aft
ernoOn.
They set their sails and out to sea. ST
Christopher is one of the Leeward group
of the West Indies. Tt is trayersed
through the central portion by a ridge
OF mountains When the yaw1 got out
a sufficient distance the island looked
to the Englishmen. like a huge iceberg
floating in the midst of a perfectly blue
IN all directions in the BACKGROUND
This was because of the sinking sun
AS for the town Of Basse=Terre all that
could be distinguished were the red and
white roofs of the houses not hidden by
the palm trees
The cruisers, If that term may be used
had a goodly supply of wet goods along
and smoking tobacco, and they did not
hesitate to enjoy themselves in a man
nef beftting the occasion. AS the hours
passed on and the island grew fainter
Ill the waning twilight, corks popped
quickly, and song followed song The
breeze at the time was toward the town
and the natives of that ordinarily Quiet
place said after the eventful cruise that
the last heard from the Englishman was
faint echo Of God Save the Queen
However that may be, it is certain that
the cruisers enjoyed themselves the
evening they started out; it goes without
saying they had no thought of danger
Who could harm them on the wild sea?
They did not notice the ominious clouds
back of the southwest corner of the
island. They did not give second
thought to the fact that the breeze pro-
pelling their yawl was fitfuI, fretful
They were out for a good time and were
going to have it.
Any one who knows anything about the
sea in the West Indies. and particu-
larly around the Leeward group, knows
that storms are not long in coming up
there. A great gust of wind, panorama
Of On-rushing clouds, and the trouble
is at hand. So it happened with the Eng
lishmen. It didn't take them long to
realize the situation when the wind be-
gan to blow In earnest. minute the
sails were reefed. Another minute the
yawl was facing a storm that was des-
tined to give the passengers an exper-
1ence never to be forgotten. The whole
sky blackened in almost less time than ii
takes to tell 1t. Lurid flashes of fight
ming now and then lit up the scene The
frail yawl would rise up on a mountain
wave and then sink into a deep abyss,
and each time it seemed as If destrue-
ton was at hand.
1t was all the crew could do to keen
the boat hove-to, and half the ran We're
kept busy bailingSout the water thEt was
being shipped. Hour after hour the men
fought, and still the storm kept UP. It
even seemed to increase in fury. When
the boat sank down in between the waves
the hollows looked like deep moving val
leys and the lightning only served to in
crease the dismay.
Tt is safe to say that never before had
3
night. and such an aging night, for the
experience was really enough to age a
man. 1t seemed as If morning would new
er come, but it finally did, In a gray
sickly dawn; as the light increased the
storm decreased. A few more weary
hours and the remaining signs of the bat
tie of the clements were driven away
by the powerful tropical sun. which IS
not often hid in that climate.
IN A WATERY WASTE.
No land anywhere. When the fact
dawned upon the yachtsmen 1t seemed
to stun them. They had not had time
to think of that during the night. They
could hardly realize that such was the
case. The effect of the storm was still
upon them. Where was the island
Where was Mount Misery that they had
seen looming up in the sky like an ice
berg the night before? Nothing bnt
water and a comparatively quiet sea.
The men had no nautical instruments
and were powerless. The could not
think of any means of locating land. The
only thing to do was to drift-and think.
CoMMIssARIAT WAS LOW.
There was nothing to eat in the boat
| but four one-pound tin cans of tur-
nips. All OF the men were hungry by this
IlIhe ana one or TWO were IN Tor eattn 3
| them right away, but it was finally de-
c.ded to use them bit by bit, in case a
| ship should not be sighted. There was
| no drinking water In the yawl The men
| had oil-skin capes, however, with wich
| to catch rain. Neither ship nor land was
! sighted on the first day, or on the sec
ond or third day. At sunset OF the third
! day all the turnips were gone and the
! yawl was stifl drifting, drifting, only
/ Cod knew whittier ApOfhn,. yre.o ~ -