The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1908-04-23
CHAPTER ".

as little yeast leavens much
~ -four, so does the presence of a
few stout hearted men give
strength and courage to a null
titude. Although the rumor soon went
the rounds that giant wave which
popped the ship had carried away two
Of her six boats. there were no visible
signs Of furry in the measures taken
to equip the remaining boats for use.
The men had confidence in their Off
GERS. Every one worked smoothly and
we'll.
All told, there were eighty persons
on board when the Kansas left Val
paraiso. OF these. seventeen. includ-
ing the officers, were of European birth
or lineage. The remaining sixty-three
| were men of mixed nationalities. rang
ing from Spanish speaking Chileans to
negroes. There were eight under
stewards, cook and his assistants
and nearly fifty sailors and frenen.
Unfortunately the explosion of the
stokehold had killed the chief engineer
and one of his juniors, while six stok
,, ers were dead and several injured.
1t was discovered that before he died
the chief had shut off steam and thus
prevented the accident from assuming
far more serious proportions. The sec
ond engineer, a Newcastle man named
Walker. who rushed to the engine
room at the first indication of a mis-
hap, found his chief lying in collapse
on the lever platform. Walker prompt
ly opened certain levers, which allowed
the steam to escape freely; then he
carried his cOmrade out of the spume
to the deck. 1t was too late. Partial
suffocation had placed too great a
strain on diseased heart. By the
brave man was dead.
Courtenay, who had left instructions
that he was to be called when the
Evangelistas light was sighted, was
sound asleep. In the elev quar-
tiers assigned to the captain the noise
of the explosion differed little from the
thunderous blows of the sea. but the
stopping Of the engines awOke him in
stantly. He felt the ship lurch away
from her course and saw the quick
swerve OF the compass indicator oyer
his head. AS he ran down the gang
way leading from the bridge he heard
the officer of the watch say:
"Something given way In the engine
room. sir"
Several minutes elapsed before he or
Walker. aided by willing volunteers.
could penetrate the depths of the
stokehold. The place was q charnel
house, sitting pit, filed with the
charred contents of the furnaces, which
gave of the most noisome fumes ow-
Ing to the rapid condensation of steam
and water escaping from the damaged
pipes. But the gale raging without
served one good purpose in driving
plenty Of air down the ventilating
cowls. Gradually the choking atmos-
phere cleared. Courtenay was the first
to reach the lowermost rung of the
iron ladder, whence he looked with
the eyes of despair on a scene of death
and ruin.
The electric light was uninjured. 1t
revealed the bodies of several men,
either dead or insensible, lying amid
the scattered coal. Shovels, stocking
rods and pieces of iron plate had been
hurled about in wild confusion. The
door Of one furnace was blown clean
out of its bolts, furnace bars ard fire
bricks strewed the iron deck, while
each time the ship rolled the heavy
clank of loose metal somewhere In the
engine room proved that the damage
was not confined solely to the stoke
hold.
If Courtenay could have dropped
quietly into the sea through the stout
hull Of the Kansas he would have well
coined the certain result Of that bitter
moment. But he was the captain, and
men would look to him for salvation.
Well, he would do all that was possible
and, at any rate, die at his post. So,
choking back his misery, he organized
the work Of rescue. Sings were form
ed Of ropes, and those men in whom
any signs Of life were visible were the
first to be lifted to the upper deck.
The stokehold was quickly emptied of
Its tnanimate occupants. Living and
dead alike were carried to the /un-
tenanted second class salon forward.
Then Courtenay left Walker to solve
the puzzle Of the accident and report