The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1903-12-13

! but fails. High up, level with the fore
yard, towers the white crest For one
breathless moment TO those aft it
seems to hesitate, lifts, leans forward,
then falls, crashing down on the whole
ford part of the ship. From rail top
to rail top the main deck fills in an in
slant, each mast the center of whirl-
pool of yeasty foam Then, as the
ridge of the wave passes under the
ship, she lurches, rolls over to wind
ward into the hollow beyond, dumping
her deckIoad of seething water over her
weather bulwarks into the sea.
If you were to put a dry pea into an
empty saucepan and then souse a
bucket of water over it you would un-
derstand what happened to Sam Har-
land, able seaman. His shipmates saw
him struggling in the foam, saw him
slowly sucked toward the bulwarks,
then shot across their top into the re-
fiux Of the sea outside.
What they felt is not part of the
story; such accidents occur often, and
seamen are not prone to describe their
emotions. Man overheard. Sam Har-
land, able seaman, lost at sea October
s." Such notes are common in log
books. There We're few of Sans ship
mates who had not seen this tragedy
enacted before. It was what followed
that was unusual Suddenly the mate
gave a yell, audible even above the
roar Of the tempest.
There he is, boys, away TO wind
ward,"
They crowded together to the weather
rail. Sure enough, there he was, a
black speck far out in the white froth,
his face turned toward them. Then he
rose on the crest of a wave, and sank
out of their sight into the hollow be-
yond. only to reappear again mount
ing another oncoming billow.
Already he had thrown off his SOU
wester and oilsixin coat. and was swim
ming. Hopelessly beyond all human
aid, he struggled still, while his ship
mates could only stand helplessly by,
breathless, watching him fight his last
fight. and then be swallowed.
The ship was drifting. and having so
much surface exposed TO the wind, she
naturally sagged to leeward faster
than the man, leaving him TO wind
ward. The ship was being blown away
from him. They tried TO heave him
liz (CAA. Jul S4E WIN DiCW IL ieANfA
against the rail.
Still Sam fought manfulIy. With
beating hearts they saw him rid him
self of his gum boots, and even his
oilskin trousers-he ripped them off
with his sheath knife. IInpulsivaly
they cheered. He was dying game.
But the odds were against him Fur
Their and further they drifted away
from him, catching only an occasional
glimpse of his naked shoulders. as he
mounted the seas and toppled over
their crests- The skipper had brought
up the log line and tried to heave the
metal fan with its coil of thin cord. but.
strong of arm as he was. it went not
even one-third the distance. He threw
it down on deck and turned away
Again came one of those booming
rollers. They saw the drowning man
mount its slope until he was struggling
in the hollow curve under the combing
top. On it came, he in it. With a
heave the big ship shot upward and
they saw him in the hollow beyond.
He seemed TO have been hurled nearer,
and this caused intense excitement
Swim. Sam. swiml' they yelled
/ Keep it up, Sam, Hang on, SAM
They howled and gesticulated, and
once more the skipper tried to heave