The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-18
9'cs'e csFs- % "o' e. 'oeoec"o.e 2'o+ 2 DIR. TAlMAGE'S SERMON .
 
 RE D. D.
T OS ANGELES. cal. August 11.-1n l this sermon the preacher who was

this sermon the preacher who was 1 an eyewitness of the rescue of the | survivors of the appalling Columbia wreck draws an eloquent and timely lesson from the disaster The text of the Psalm Xvi, g. Though the waters there of roar and be troubled
 Under a curtain of one of the public places of amusement in the city of Chi eago is a beautiful picture of the White l City of the nationad exposition of 1895. 1 Underneath this wonderful vision are written these words And should l live ] a thousand years l never can forget 1 it
 This was the sentence which sprang to l my lips when l sat down To write the nor rible experience of the most momentous 1 day of my life. But now. instead of sec | ing beautiful white buildings. with their | columns and domes and minarets and i hearing the sweet notes of the most fa- | nous musicians in the world played in i the gardens and hearing the songs and 1 the merrymaKng or the happy parties which filled the gondolas of that new 1 Venice of the west, l saw a sinking ship crowded with men and women. l saw 1 ifeboats filled to Che gunwales with help | less human beings. l saw the wreckagc l drifting everywhither. And above all, in imagination, l could see the white faces of men, women and children coming to the surface of the mereiless ocean, eager ly looking to see whether their loved ones had been saved and then disappearing into , those depths from which only the arehan- gels resurrection trumpet can now bring them forth. Should l live a thousand years l can never forget it. Perhaps even in heaven 1 shall yet talk over the hor- TOTS of that day with some who won the crown of martyrdom when the Columbia, one of the finest ships on the Pacific ocean, collideI with the lumber boat San Pedro and then blew up and added one more tragedy 10 the long list of marine catastrophes.
 Ii was on a beautiful summer afternoon, July 20 1907, that we set sail from that gem of harbors and passed through the Golden Gate of the Pacific at San Fran cisco. For weeks and months l had been preparing and looking forward to the time when. with my boy and a couple of dear friends. 1 could drop work and camp for a few weeks in the famous forests of northern California. The sea never looked more peaceful, the sky never more bright Hard, grinding work for little while was to be cast aside no telephone no telegraph. no callers. no mail, no engagements to speak, I was just to listen to the music of the woods and hie away to the secret haunts of the der. For hours we paced the deck. Then the sun sank to the west, anr the moon began to pace the crystal paYements of the deep with nuggets of gold. Silently yet relentlessly, the dense fog banks be- gan to shut out the lofty hills to our right. Then the hoarse and reverberat- ing and irritating fog horn began 10 blow. Well" l said to one of my friends, mo sleep tonight 1 have travelled oil around the world. I have been months and months upon the sea- and yet 1 could never understand why the sailors would persist in blowing that fog horn. The sea Is so wide and the ships so
 
 danger of a collision than there is of shooting a deer in the woods if you lift your gun at random and shut your eyes and pull the trigger and know not where the ball may fly" My travelling com panoa said nothing. He always has that rebuking silence when 1 have made any statement which Is in self evident de fance of all the laws of common sense
 The Foehorn's Gall.
 went to bed in disgust Hardly would I get to sleep when l would be awakened with the fog horns call: Look out! There Is danger! Look out!' At o'clock in the morning l arose and went on deck and ate some fruit. Then l re- turned to my stateroom and crawled into bed with my little boy. I had not been there moro than ten minutes when l heard a rapid pattering of feet and the sharp command of the officers. l again arose. As l looked out of the stateroom l said, What is the natter Then the officer, pointing ahead, said, "Lookr 1 looked, and God, l saw the saddest sight of my life There was small lumber boat which semed to be turning turtle" Its decks were simply swarming with people. Wonder were lifeboats. Here were rafts. Here were loose, floating life preservers A collision had clearly taken place. But where was the other ship? With that the men and the women and the children, seeing the relief com ing out of the fog bank, raised cheer of thanksgiving. But for us on the George w. Elder we could raise no cheer. The scene was too tragic.
 Then the work of rescue. As our great ship was rolling this way and that the boats came up. Some Of the poor victims were covered with blood. Some were rescued only with their night garments and some had only a blanket around them. From the time the Columbia was struck to the time she sank it took only ten minutes to lay her broken bones in the bosom of the sea.
 stand back there! Stand back or you will sink their boats"' cried the chief ofh- cer. Here, put that rope around this woman Now lift this old man up. Now. here Is a child. Now for the other boat. Then the empty boats would go back again for their loads of suffering. Poor, poor things! Some of them-delicate wo- men-came up with only a drenched cloak to shield their bodies. Some tainted dead away as they were being hauled up. Some even then were weeping 70 God, my baby!" 70 God, my husband and my childrenr" 70 God, my wife and my two children," It was a scene of pathos pass ing all human description. l saw strong men standing there with the tears run ming down their cheeks; brave women crying like babies.
 Merclless Death
 I have often stood in the presence of death, and never did I witness death so merciless and cruel as on that sad, sad day What is the actual extent of the catastrophe I know not. But at the pres ent writing I am told that there were at least 1O5 lost of the 225 souls which the Columbia carried on board. God pity the broken hearts of that nights awful worK. God pity the children who have been be- reft of their parents love and care! God nitv the wrecked homes and the wrecked lives!
 As pastor and Christian teacher l learned many gospel lessons from this heartrending tragedy. Heroic deeds of self sacrifice were revealed on every hand. With but one or two exceptions 1t did not seem to me as though there was q coward or a mean and contemptible soul among all the three crews and passen- gers of the San Pedro, the Columbia and the George w. Elder, who met in such close and holy association on that fatal