The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-05-16
THE REPUBLICAN JOURNAL THURSDAY, MAY Is. 1907
Six days shalt thou work and do all that
thou art able,
And on the seventh holyst0ne the decks and
scrape the chain cable.

i one of those misguided captains who
believed in this ordinance, and on the
first Sunday in the calms, which was
our sixth day in that dismal region, he
had the watches alternately working at
bending new sails and generally getting
ready for the run home. 1t took a
whole Saturday and Sunday, and when
the work was over Bill looked up an
the newly bent sails and cursed them
with solemn eloquence which some
how seemed curiously suitable to the
miserable monotony of our surround
Jugs. But this was not held among us
in the forecastle for good omen. We
had come to know that when Bill cursed
anything it generally came to bad end,
and that is Just what these sails did.
Five days later we drifted out of the
doldrums and on the edge of the north
east trades, and then the good old ship
settled down to her work again, and we
went ripping across the short seas, and
on the second day fell into company
with our long lost sister ship, the Som
ersetshire. Her we raced neck and
neck for two days and nights, and on
the third morning, just as she was lead
ing us by a quarter of mile, we saw
her fore topgallant mast sway forward
with one of her plunges and come down
amidst pillows of smothering canvas,
and so we left her.
Nearly fortnight later | was awak-
ened by the shrek of blast OF wind, a
heave of the ship which swung my
hammock nearly up to the beams, three
distinct bangs, as of great artillery,
then ripping and tearing of shattered
canvas, and then Bills voice just above
the forecastle hatchway, saying in a
tone of grateful regret:
"There go the shippers Sunday sails,
blast them!"
Every man and boy was on deck in
hand struggle for life or death between
human skill and energy and the sud
denly aroused elemental forces which
lasted for Ga hours on end.
For about twelve hours we drove
along to the southwark and eastward
through chaotic mingling of sea and
mist and rain, dominated by the ever
louder bowling wind. The sea was not
rough. 1t had no time to be, for when
a wave upheaved itself its crest was
cut off by the wind as though by some
huge scythe and hurled in blast of
stinging spindrift across the struggling,
staggering ship and then the flashing
storm-driven rain beat it down again.
AT daybreak it was shorten sail and
again heave her to-" Everything came
off her except the close reefed main
lower topsail, and then | was sent with
two others to lash tarpaulin on the
weather mizzen rigging. The object Of
this was to drive her head up into the
wind whenever she paved off before it,;
in other words, to keep her as nearly
stationary as possible.
This heavlng to is a last resort but
one in a sailing ships fight for life out
in mid-ocean. The other is to let her
drive before the gale till it blows itself
out, or she hits something that ends
her career for good and all. Then be-
fore the end of the watch came the
dreaded order, Hands to the pumps
"Blowed if | didn't think sou said
Bill as we waded and hauled ourselves
aft along the swimming deck. "Ihls
old bark'll never see DungeneSs."
To which another old shellback re-
piled with growl.
'I'm Dutchman if l think you will
anyhow"
And then we went at it, the most
back breaking and heart breaking work
that sailor can do. For three hours
out of every four for the next two days
and night those pumps clanked, and
the bilge pump on the lee side, with
which | made much too intimate &C.
quaintance, ratified and squeaked, and
still the carpenters face was longer
every time he took his ominous report
aft. Just before on the morning OF
the third day we heard the most terrible
cry that man ever hears on the high
seas: "Man overboardn'
And then a voice screamed into my
ear:
Its Bill",'
What had happened was this: The
, captain had found that the straining OF
the old ship had opened her seams tt
| such an extent that she was practically
in sinking condition, so he had wisely
decided to make run for it and get he
| on an even keel, so that perchance the
: seams might close and the leaks stop
The watch on deck had been ordered tx
, set the lower mzzentry sail. The shee
: was sodden and swollen, and just TO
one fatal moment it jammed. Tit
men hauling on it let go to get fresl
hold, and then with flap and a bang
the great sail "took charge" and thu
, men were hurled this way ana that al
the heavy rope dashed to and fro along
the deck. When they picked them
, selves up Bill had vanished.
, Those who read this yarn may call it ;
miracle, consequence or coincidence, a
l they please; but it is literal fact tina
| in the very hour of poor Bills death thu
: wind fell away and swung round to thu
2 southwestward. The good old ship wa
2 taken out of irons and got on ever
: keel The leaks closed and by break
3 fast time the Lincolnshire was tearin,
r away before a freshening sou-weste
5 with all her kites out and poor BilP'
. ocean grave far behind her. By mid
5 day the pumps sucked, which mean
3 that she was dry, and after our Ion:
5 weary struggle of over one hundred
r days we never had another stroke OF il
: luck. Off Plymouth we picked up tn,
: Somersetshire again, and the two gal
e liant old crafts raced neck and neck VI
r the channel like a couple of long parte(
, sea chums in friendly rivalry. We wer'
E first up the river and into the South
t west India dock, and when we came t.
compare notes we found that in the 10'
t days voyage from Port Philip Heads
to London docks there was just ont
Y hour and three-quarters' difference be
tween US.
But what took the conceit out of boil
} crews was the fact that there, lying
: comfortably at her berth loading up TO.
: her next trip, was Green's old Renown
, ono nf tho fnact Rlaokwall ShinS tina