St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-05-03
and loaded full with freight-boxes

wood which for weeks had lain DIR,
ing upon the docks. until it was ll
matchwood; she was as ready to bur
as a powder string. Capt. Willis kne
1T. He peercd down among the freigI
upon the lower deck, and saw tn
curling smoke and the little spurts
flame; he looked up at the dec
above, beyond which were the DIR
woodwork of the cabin and the il
fammable upper works; and h
knew that his best hope was to beac
the st. Clair before the fire ha
stopped his engines.
Are they out from below?" b
asked.
Not yet, sir"
"Is Van Clede in the engine-room?
eyes, sir"
"TeH him to stick. Tell them a.
to stick. I'm going to run for Bron
sons. We must keep it under a
much as we can"
The steward went through the cab
in, knocking at the doors and calm,
the passengers. They came by two
and threes, little groups of white
faced people half-dressed. About then
was the blackness of the night, GU
of which came the lines of choppy
off-shore seas-that and nothin,
more; as yet they had seen no flame
had hardly smelled the smoke. Will.
called Van Clcde to the speaking-tube
"We're afire over the boilers" h,
said.
Eyes, sir"
I'm going to run for Bronson's
Stick to it as long as you can, ana
give us everything you've got"
Eyes, sir"
Then the head of the St. Clair was
turned into the wind. The passengers
silent and nervous, gathered on the
forward deck. There was no turmoil
no confusion of words; but below, the
crew of the St. Clair, and Shocky
larson with them, wet and scorched
and choked with smoke, YER fighting
the enemy they did not hope to over.
come. And the St. Clair, shaking all
over with a steady tremble. split the
water away before her bluff bow, and
a half-hour licked itself off on the
pilot-house clock.
The head wind drove the flames
steadily back upon the freehold and
engine-room. Fifteen minutes more
and the stokers, burned and blinded,
were dragged through the fire to the
deck. There was steam enough for all
the miles that the St. Clair would
ever travel upon any waters.
In the engine-room Van Clede, out
wardly calm, trembled inwardly with
a kind of ecstasy. A hundred times he
had pressed these engines-pressed
them notch by notch until he thought
that they yer doing their utmost;
but had he pressed them as
now. He knew them, nut and bolt,
through every fraction of their steady
revolution, but now in the swirling
smoke they seemed like mad giants
rushing through their movements.
Yet their music was as e as before,
and the throw which shook the St.
Clair was as regular as a pendulum.
The engine-room was like a furnace;
the paint dropped in scales from the
woodwork, and Van Clede tore a strip
from his shirt, wet it, and tied it
his mouth and nostrils. His
flesh ached with the heat, and he
stood stoop-shouldered and childish
eyed, and was proud of his engines.
Twice Willis called Van Clede to the
speaking tube.
"Are you there yet?" he asked.
"All right so far, SIR" said Van
Capt. Willis had begun to feel the
nearness of the land, although in the
darkness there was neither signal
light o shore line to tell him where
he was. A quarter of a mile one way
or the other made a difference of reef
Or beach, or safety or destruction.
Aft, the flames were licking the edges
Of the upper deck, but Willis signaled
reduced speed, and the St. Clair
with two men at her wheel, came in
as a cat, ready to jump
way.
At B%ronson's they had seen her
coming, and the red light flashed out
1t the end of the dock. The light
came too late. AS it met their eyes,
suddenly a tremendous shock shook
The St. Clair from stem to stern; out
vent the lamps in the cabin, loose
furniture, loose things upon the deck
capped toward the bow. From below
,ame the crash of shifting freight,
md passengers and crew, wherever
hey stood, were dashed to the deck
md hurled forward.
The st. Clair had struck the reef;
as if the shock had been a signal
he whole boat aft Of her funnel be-
anne a flaming torch. The fire seemed
move along the edges of the deck
IS fast as a man could walk. The
,oats were gone, the funnel trembled
the %loosening stays.
Willis, who had been thrown from
lis feet by the shock, leaped again to
40 PAoSS, IL "Iuc SuSH dCloSS Ills lOIe-
lead where he had struck the railing,
nd signaled for reversed engines.
SACK in the swirl of fire which was
IL the after part of the ST. Clair the
ignal was heard and obeyed, but a
thousand horsepower more could not
ave dragged the steamer free again.
For ten seconds after the shock
here had been utter silence on the
vater, broken only by the dry rush
f the flames, the cracking of tor
ured planks and the useless churn-
ny of the screw. Now there burst
rom so threats shrill shrieks and
ries and frightened agony.
Have you ever e a panic in a
heater or in a mOb-hOw from one