The Cairo bulletin., 1904-09-12

ON THE SEA
TN ONE of the cabins Of lie For
midahle lay Captoin Philil
IL Grafton. He had been badl,
wounded by the splinter &
piece of timber six feet long
which had hurled him to the deck O
the Torbay just as she went on th
rocks. The moment in which he ha,
been thrown overheard would hav,
been his last had it not been for tn,
heroic devotion OF old Slocum.
Seeing the helpless condition of hi:
commander he had plunged into the
water after him, and with superhumar
strength, skill and courage had sup.
ported him until he had been able tC
lay hold of one OF the floating spars
Of the Torbay. Slocum had lashed
Grafton to the spar and had clune
desperately to it himself during halt
the night. After being tossed about
in sickening way for hours, the
piece of timber, with its two exhausted
occupants, had been washed athwart
LIE Formidable's cLhles. Slocum g
cries had attracted the attention of
Midshipman La Perouse, afterward The
celebrated navigator and discoverer. on
board her and the two Englishmen
had finally gained her decks.
The old man was not much the worse
for his adventure. but Grafton was in
a frightful condition. The blow, the
shock, the strain Of the combat. the
mental agony he had suffered over the
loss of his wife, had reduced him to
pitiable Sate. He was delirious with
fever AS he lay in the berth he
fought over the battle, heard once
more the roar of the guns, witnessed
the sinking OF lie Thesec again. saw
once more his white-clad wife
lie Formidable was a veritable char
nel-house. The surgeon and his mates
were utterly overwhelmed by the un-
heard-of demand upon their services.
Nearly every officer on the ship had
been killed or wounded. and five hun
dred men in addition, before she had
struck her flag. She had, indeed, been
fought gallantly-nay terribly! The !
ward-rooms and cabins were filled with |
groaning. raving men, many of whom |
had suffered amputation the day be- |
fore, and had the tourniquets still |
screwed on the stumps! In some cases
the blood vessels were not taken up
until the third day after the battle.
The gun-room. the steerage, and every
available space between the guns on
the lower deck, even the cradles in
the hold, to say nothing Of the cock
pit, were filled with men in every
stage of wound and agony. The ships
medical staff were entirely unable to
cope with the situation. They worked
like heroes, nor eating, nor sleeping. I
nor taking any rest. doing their best.
The chaplain had been killed, and
the suffering and dying We're without
the consultations and comfort OF their
religion even. With every plunge Of
provided with cots or hammocks (for
here were SO many that there was no
place 10 lay them except upon the
bare decks. were rolled about and
thrown against each other with re-
sults too sickening to dwell upon. One
lideous yell from every part of the
ship mingled with the scream of the
empest. The men. prayed TO die, and
Iome OF the unwounded broke down
md became crazsd by the awful sights
md SOUNDS.
The officer who commanded the
1rQp.la arfY har Cfo nd ~ hn |
english prize lieutenant that every
nan of his detachment had been killed
II wounded. that he had served in the
rmy for thirty years, and had been
resent on the bloody field Of Fonte-
oy, but he had never witnessed such
scene of carnage. In fact, all the
urgeons could do in capital opera
Ions for hours during and after the
attic had been to ''amputate, smooth
Jumps and apply torniquets."
Surely never on any ship was ex-
ibited so much of the finished horror
warfare as on this uniucky vessel.
he 500 men who had gone down
n lie Thesee and LIE Superbe were to
e envied in comparison with the fate Q
this unfortunate crew. 1t seems :.
} be a modern phrase to say that "
war is hell" but lie Formidable pre- te
snted an ancient example Of its eter- Nj
al truth. Her captors gazed upon the
elancholy ruin they had wrought, se
nd to them came an old saying with n,
new force:
Blessed are the peacemakersl ="
(To ha continual II