Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1904-02-11
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Surely never was there more gal
liant skipper than Captain William
Innss of the rakish freighter British
Prince and never harder boatswain
than Charles L. Lastadius. The
skpper il from Newcastle-on-T Tyne
and has followed the sea thirty
three years, or since he was sixteen
years old. He has q fine brown
beard, and the resonant voice that
comes through il might be heard
above the strongest gale that sssz
thrummed on the British Princes
rigging. The boatswain is 9 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 o fellow sailor man with q 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 4e0 miles east of
Sandy Hook. A gale came howling
out of the southwest, combing up
seas that, in the picturesque Ian
guage Of the skipper, looked like
granite cliffs" Darkness was Just
setting in. The cook wanted some
fresh water, and, IKE most cooks,
being q 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 un-
der the forecastle head. It was haz-
ardous to attempt to get at it while
the seas were boiling as they were,
but water must be had, and sailor
man and Boatswain Lastadius de-
termined to get il. 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
ofered-that 10, when there was lit
tie probability of a sea coming i'm
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, "to take the bucket when
the ship gave a plunge. ] looked up,
and there over the port bow I saw
such sea as hope ! may never
see again. / knew it was coming
aboard, and ! knew / had no chance
to get ont of its way. II ran aft,
! thought, it would Iick me up be-
fore I got of the bridge and carry
me away. So l thought the best
thing to do was to make fast to Q
stanchion of the flying bridge. So
I wound my arms and legs around
it, hugged as hard as / knew how
and lowered my head to take the
sea.
Everything seemed to give way
when the sea hit me. I might Just
as well have caught hold Of a rope
yarn as that stanchion. / thought
it was all mp with me and the Brit
ish Prince until / found myself on
the crest of a wave striking out for
the ship, which was riding as If she
had shipped only a bucketful. i
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 Iae. It was
a good shot. or ! might not be tell
ing about it now. The buoy almost
ringed my head. l grabbed it and
forced it over my shoulders and un-
der my arms.
"As ! was swept aft along the
starboard side of the ship / saw Cap
tain Innes running forward. he
saw me, too, for be shouted: Keep
up stout hearti Wen save you If
we canp But it was getting very
dark, and I was three ships lengths
estern before anything could be
done aboard the ship. My heart
sank, and / gave myself up for lost.
1 had been striking out for the
ship, but when ! saw her going
ahead / stopped all effort to save
myself. But it takes a long time In