The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-01-19

There is n young man in this
city who can raise his hands in hum
81 thankfulness for the fact that the
revenue cutter Seminole was lying at
her dock opposite the custom house on
Monday morning; n also hat aboard
the cutter was a man who was kind
enough to 90 TO what he thought was
a dog that had fallen into the river
Tor the purpose Of getting him out.
VINO the young man was we d. not
know for when taken out of the chilly
waters Of the Cape Fear he was barely
alive and later when he Mad reviv.3
and it daWned over him what had TAX
en- place, he did not care to reveal his
identity. Once he mumbled indis-
tinctly his name. but those who heard
him were not positive what he said.
1t was 3 20 Monday morning and
Quartermaster Joe Hansen. who WAS
on duty, was walking back and forth
Of the deck Of the Seminole. No
sound broke the stiffness Of the night
save the painting Of the cutters Ell
gines, the buzz of the wheels Of the
dynamo and the gently tapping of the
waters Of the Cape Fear against the
sides of the vessel. 1t was that hour of
the night when all men sleep, save the
few whose duty it is to reverse the
general order OF things and toll
through the long hours of night earn
ing an honest living and also the few
who wander forth to spend the night
in revelling and sometimes to meet
their doom. Suddenly the stiffness
was broken by what sounded like the
barking Of Il dog and a very small
dog at that. The sound came from
the stern of the vessel. Quarter
master Hansen stopped to listen
and .again did he hear the same
bark only it sounded more faint. All
sailors are agile and Hansen is no
exception and in a flash he bounded
over the four-fOot rail of the vessel
upon the dock and ran in the direction
of the sound. AS he neared the south
ern end of the wharf he saw the OBJ
ject in the water was not a dog but q
human being. The person vas strug-
sling in the water at the edge OF the
dock and as Hansen leaned over the
edge of the wharf the man begun 70
sink. He grasped the mans clothing
and pulled him upon the wharf. h
muscular sailor then picked him up
and started to carry him upon h ves-
sci, but before he had gone but a few
steps one of the men aboard came to
his assistance. The unknown man
could not speak and to all appearances
he was about gone. His body was al
most perfectly stiff. He was carried
below. where his wet clothing was re-
moved and several blankets were
wrapped around him. By the time the
morning light began to break the
young man had revived sufficiently TO
realize what had happened. Ere the
streets became alive with those enter
ing Upon a new weeks work, the young
man dOnned his clothes and departed
from the vessel.
The sailor who pulled the man out
said he did not know whether he a
gone down once or twice but that IL
he had not pulled him out just when
he did that he had not the slightest
idea that he could have been saved.
The fellows legs, he said, were periecs-
ly stiff when he was pulled out upon
the wharf.
No reason was given by the young
fellow as to why he was on the wharf
at 8 o'clock in the morning. Why is
it, an officer asked of the newspaper
man, that when a man gets full ne Is
so inclined to wander to the WharVes!
1t wa suggested that perhaps he fol-
loved the course of least resistance
INT that was down hill.
Quartermaster Hanson said the man
was barking exactly like a cog and
the way he accounted for it was that
he was so very near gone that ne
could not holler, but ~endeavored TO 40
with no better effort than to make the
short yelps.