Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-30

shore and we had picked up a leaky, rotten
old tub of a schooner which had come
through some heavy weather in the West
Indies. A tearing gale caught us, and the
tow line parted. We tried to beat up to
her, but terrible sea caught her on the
beam, and down she went before our eyes,
with all hands aboard. We saw them
struggling in the water but we could do
nothing. By the time we reached the place
there was nothing left but a few pieces
of wreckage.
There's another bad day 1 well remem-
ber We had cook aboard who was too
fond of whisky. He went crazy with it one
day, and tried to throw himself overheard.
l just managed to lay hold of him as he
was half over the side. and we locked him
up in his bunk. taking away his jackknife
and razor.
Presently, passing by the door, heard
a low groan and went in. There he was,
lying on the floor in a pool of blood with
a horrible cash in his throat. He had
broken the lookingglasS and cut his throat
with piece of it. They tried to tinker him
up at the hospital, but he died Sure enough
the next day.
The Tugboat That Ran Away.
The yarns which the tugboatmen tell are
not all tragedies. One of the queeefest is
the story of the runaway tugboat. 1t is alb
solutely true, and happened in New York
harbor few years ago.
The tugboat, one of the tiniest craft of
its kind in the harbor. had steam up along
side a wharf The engineer stepped ashore
for moment. and when he turned to. look
at the boat he saw that the mooring line
had slipped and she was steaming merrily
away into the middle of the river with
nobody aboard. She had run away just as
if she were a horse, and the engineer had
not even the satisfaction of yelling "Whoa!'
Half a dozen other tugboats chased her,
but she had full steam up and went along
as if there were crew of demons aboard,
zig tagging from one side; of the river to
the other, as her rudder veered with the
current. Whenever her pursuers drew
alongside she would suddenly whizz off at
right angles and make bee line for the
other side of the river, and the chase would
have to begin anew. % :
The whole river was in. eommotion. In
the course of her mad career the tugboat
collided with half dozen small craft and
endangered several lives. AT last when
the patience of the pursuers was exhausted
and her own steam had nearly given out,
she finished up by crashing into canal
boat and sticking hard and fast. She was
| repaired and is plying New York harbor to-
day. Her engineer takes good care not to
let her run away again. 90
"once Tugboatman-"
These are only few of the strange and
thrilling experiences which fall to the lot
Of the tugboatmen of the big harbors. Hard
as nails, Injured to thousand perls, equally
used to buffeting gales far out at sea in
their tiny craft and to sliding under the
bows of an ocean liner, with only a few
feet between them and instant death, these
daredeVils of coast and port are the
sturdiest of the heroes who follow the
sea- They love their adventurous life, and
would not change it for the best billet on
an ocean-going vessel.
once a tugboatman, always a tugboat
| man. said one of them ITS a hard life
and a dangerous life, but there's no other
life on earth that l know of equal to it.
Sometimes one of us goes for a voyage or
TWO on a steamer, but he is always glad to
come back to the tugboat business again.