The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-20
TOLD BY AN OLD PILOT.
What Made Him Hold His Course
When bound for NOwheref


New Orleans Times-Democrat.
MEN in our line of business have plenty
of queer experiences" said veteran par
pilot, 'but 1 think the strangest tnat
ever fell to my lot happened IN 1880 rlsh
after the great hurricane that swept
down the south coast and dro"Heu SO
many poor fisher folks on the little ISL
ands The storm blew itself away on
Sunday" the pilot went on, and next
Sunday morning, having nothing IN par
ticular to do, I decided to take our steam
err which was a handy little tWeIVe-knot
craft and go for a two hours run out
into the gulf from South Point to see
what 1 could see. The water was still
full of driftwood and wreckage from the
f1shermen's cabins, but we noticed moth
ing in particular until we had been out
about an hour. Then one Of the men on
the boat sighted big red can buoy over
to the ou'west. 1t was a government
mark that had drlfted away from its
moorings and he suggested that we 20
and see where it belonged. Ordinarily I
T would have said all right but something
I don't know what or why-made me re-
fuse. No. said I, we won't change our
! course. Keep her head straight for an
hour more, and maybe We'll see some
| thing better than runaway red cans
Il had no idea that my words would
come true, but in half an hour we came
in sight Of a little raft dead ahead Of us
and as we got nearer We made out what
seemed to be a child on top Of it. We ran
to within a couple Of hundred feet be-
fore We stopped and then We saw that
the raft was evidently the floor of some
fisherman's cabin. The child was boy
of fourteen or Whereabouts, and he was
sitting down with his head hanging for
ward on his breast and his arms stretch
ed out clutching the planks. He looked
| for all the world as If he Were dead, but
I -
| bell he Strengthened up all of a sudden
and glared at the ship like a person In a
| dream. All he had on was a little shirt
| And while we lowered a small boat and
| pulled over to him he sat so, staring and
| saying not a word. He had strength
! enough to climb in, but when we reach
ed the ship he tainted.
| 1.-THE poor boy had been on that float
ing floor for seven days and twelve
| hours" continued the pilot. He was the
| son Of a Gascon FISHERMAN who lived on
! Grand Isle, and the hurricane had caught
him alone in their cabin. 1t tore the
ramshaekle hut to pieces and he found
| himself adrift on the floor which had
| hung together. How he lived through the
storm Is one Of those mysteries that can
| never be explained, but he was carried
| far off the coast and next morning was
! out of sight Of land in the open gulf.
Then followed q solid week, spent with
| out food, water or shelter or any KIND.
! have been q seafaring man all my life
and have known Of many wonderful es-
capes from death on the deep waters, but
never of anything to compare with this.
The boy had to lie down on the raft to
keep from falling of, and when he grew
| weak the crawfish bit him until he was a
| mass OF wounds
"Of course, most Of what have relat-
ed we learned afterward, when he was
| strong enough to talk. AS soon as we
| got him aboard, we headed for South
Point, eighteen miles away, for, as bad
! luck would have 1t, there was not a par
ticle of food or liquor on the ship. For
tunately, however, we hailed the fruiter
Breakwater and got little brandy and
| a can of condensed milk and 1t was mar
| velous how a few spoonfuls Of nourIsh-
ment revived the lad. At quarantine /
| turned him over to the doctor. and IN
week he was practically well. Then an
uncle came after him and I have never
! heard from him since.
| st have often wondered" said the old
pilot in conclusion, where the strange
impulse came from that made me insist
| upon holding our course that Sunday
morning II I had turned aside. as the
men on board desired, the castaway
would undoubtedly have been lost. 1t
was not within the limit Of possibility
that he could have lasted another day