Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1907-01-24
4 Yarn from Jim Bennett
az }. c. pLumMER.

Il don't often tell tins here yarn,
rnid Jim, for the reason that !
nDn't ike being thought liar. If a
man calls me one l know what to do,
hnt when he thinks I'm one ! can't
have a reason for pluggin' i'm.
Nov, in telling this here yarn Pve
NO cause to lie for | don't fgger
rery big in it and besides if anyone
of you ever meet Paul Snowman
he'll tell the same yarn; for why :
Because he was on the bark, too.
But here's the yarn: The Phoebe
element was bound, in ballast, from
Boston to Savannah where she
would load lumber for the La Plata.
when we made our last squint at
Cape Cod the wind was fair nor
Pgest and it kept in that quarter I'M
Oil we were off Long Island then it
came out strong from the nor'-east.
It kept gettin' wuss all the way
down and Jest as we had got past
Rhe Virginia capes it fairly split it.
self. Capt. Snow made big mis-
take in not putin into Hampton
Roads when he'd a chance and |
guess he knew it, too, but it was too
late. Work as we did, and man
works spry when he's tryin' to live
. little longer, we found the wind
and the drift was surely pushin' us
on them bloody Diamond Shoals.
Capt. Snow was a good navigator
and he handled that bark under
close reefed tops'ls as well as
any man could, but he had a most
unreasonable craft in the Phoebe
Clement. She never wanted to do
anything that was asked of her and
then when a man has a square rig
ger on to a lee shore he has job
on his hands to get her off. When
1T comes to coastwise tradin' give
me a fore and after
The skipper had brought his little
son with him on this voyage. He
was a taut little kid and all of us
we're fond of him. The captain had
lost his wife and this little boy was
the apple of his eye.
When 1 heard the, skipper mutt
ter, "poor little fellow, only ten
years DID," then | knew he was
thinlIin' of the little boy down in the
cabin and that he'd given up hope.
1t was just at dusk and things
were desprit with us when | saw a
great green wave rolling down on
us from win'ard | shouts warnin'
7,and jumps into the fore rigging
THE men in the waist saved them
selves by grabbing whatever'd hold
'em fast, but the man at the wheel
went over the rail as the bark heeled
down the shock of that mighty
wave. The skipper was clinglrg TO
the backstay but when he saw the
man at the wheel 90 over he sprang
for the spokcs Somehow he missed
his hold and in minute he was
banged against the cabin house and
swept over it into the sea.
had given up all hope and eX-
pected to 90 plumb down with the
bark, but she commenced to right
slowly. Her fore and main top
masts had snapped like pipestems
and that eascd her although the
spars were a sIammin' against her
side. Snowman ran to the wheel and
we slid down from the rigging and
began cutting and sIashing at the
mess of tmgIe Of ropes which held
the spars TO the vessels side.
where's the skipper?" whispered
the mate, to me.
Hes gone overheard" | replied
in low voice
wonder why it is that a man al
ways speaks low when he's in danger
of death suppose he's saving OF
his voice for excuses TO God
Almighty about the kind O. life he's
led.
We were in an awful shape.
There wasn't enough Of the lee rail
left to make decent fire and both
boats were smashed TO pieces
What in Gods name are we goin'
to do?" muttered the mate.
"Why rig storm sail in the
main" sung out Snowman; "for
Gods sake do something TO try save
our lives"
The mate gave the order. ITS
no good,' he muttered, "the drift
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