Morris tribune., 1903-05-16
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Surely never was there more gal
liant skipper than Captain William
lnnes of the rakish freighter British
Prince and never harder boatswain
than Charles L. Lastadius. The
skipper is from Newcastle-on-Ty
and has followed the sea thirty
three years, or since he was sixteen
years old. He has fine brown
beard, and the resonant voice that
comes through it might be heard
above the strongest gale that ever
thrummed on the British Princes
rigging. The boatswain is young
Swede, who has suffered shipwreck
more than once. But the captain
and all the ships company never
thought Of him as a foreigner, but
as fellow sailor man with big
heart.
The British Prince when laden
has less freeboard than the COM
mon freighter from Mediterranean
ports. So when she breasts the win
try seas she sometimes buries her
fo'castle head in the ferment. She
had rough voyage from Gibraltar,
and her coal got SO low in the
bunkers that Captain Innes decided
to put in to St. Michael, in the
Azores, for fresh supply. There
he found stancher steamships than
his that had lost lifeboats and head
gear and had many inches of water
in their holds.
The British Prince made good
weather of it from the Azores until
she was about 460 miles east of
Sandy Hook. A gale came bowling
out Of the southwest, combing up
seas that, in the picturesque lam
guage of the skipper, looked like
granite cliffs" Darkness was just
setting in. The cook wanted some
fresh water, and, like most cooks,
being a landsman and somewhat
timid, he asked the boatswain to get
it for him. The pump of the fresh
water tank is on the main deck I'M
der the forecastle head. 1t was haz-
ardous to attempt to get at it while
the seas were boiling as they were,
but water must be had, and a sailor
man and Boatswain Lastadius de-
termined to get it. The sailor man
got bucket and, running forward,
lodged under the fo'castle head.
Boatswain Lastadius went out on
the flying bridge to take the bucket
from the sailor man when the chance
offered THAT is, when there was lit
tie probability of a sea coming inn
mediately aboard forward.
The flying bridge is board walk
with rope railing run between two
inch iron stanchions, connecting the
fo'castle head with the forward part
Of the hurricane deck. The main
deck is seven feet below. The boat
swain intended to reach down, grab
the bucket and run aft along the
flying bridge to the hurricane deck,
leaving the sailor man under the
shelter of the fo'castle head to take |
another chance between seas.
81 had just got ready" said the
boatswain, 'Eto take the bucket when
the ship gave a plunge. looked up, |
and there over the port bow / saw
such a sea as ! hope | may never
see again. ] knew it was coming
aboard, and / knew | had no chance |
to get out of its way. If | ran aft,
I thought, it would pick me up be-
fore / got off the bridge and carry
me away. So / thought the best
thing to do was to make fast to a
stanchion of the flying bridge. So
/ wound my arms and legs around
it, Rugged as hard as | knew how
and lowered my head to take the
sea,
Everything seemed to give way
when the sea hit me. / might just
as we'll have caught hold of rope
yarn as that stanchion. [ thought
it was all up with me and the Brit
ish Prince until / found myself on
the crest of wave striking out for
the ship, which was riding as if she
had shipped only bucketful. 1
struck the water maybe five fathoms
off the starboard bow. saw the
form of the second officer, Thomas
Jones, on the bridge as swept
along the ships side. He grabbed a
life buoy from the rack, and | saw
it come sailing toward me. 1t was
q good shot, or I might not be tell
ing about it now. The buoy almost
ringed my head. | grabbed it and
forced it over my shoulders and I'M
der my arms.