The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-05

Not a bit. The Sirdar is the safest
ship afioat. Your father has always
pursued a splendid policy in that re-
spect The London & Hong Hong
company may not possess fast vessels,
but they are seaworthy and vel found
in every respect"
Are there many people i'll on
bOard?"
NO: just the usual number of dis
turber livers. We had nasty acct
dent shortly before dinner"
Good gracious! What happened"
Some Lascars were caught by a
sea forward. One man had mis- leg
broken"
Anything else ?"
The doctor hesitated. He became in
terested in the color of some Burgun-
dy. Il hardly know the exact details
yet" he replied. Tomorrow after
breakfast 1 will tell you all about it. >
An English quartermaster and four
Lascars had been licked from off the
forecastle by the greedy tongue of a
huge wave. The succeeding surge flung
the five men back against the quar-
ter. One Of the black sailors was
pitched overheard, with a fractured
leg and other injuries, The others
were smashed against the iron hull and
disappeared.
lgines slowed. The ship commenced 10
veer off into the path of the cyclone.
Captain Ross set his teeth, and the
telegraph bell tangled Full speed
ahead"
Poor jackson" he murmured. zone
of my best men. I remember seeing
his wife, pretty little woman, and two
children coming TO meet him last
homeward trip. They will be there
again. Good God That Lascar who
was saved has some one to await him
in Bombay village, l suppose"
The gale sang d mad requiem to its
victims. The very surface was torn
from the sea. The ship drove relent-
lessly through sheets of spray
that caused the officers high up on the
bridge TO gasp for breath They held
on by main force, though protected by
strong canvas sheets bound to the
rails. The main deck vas quite i'm
passable. The promenade deck, even
the lofty spar deck, was scourged with
the broken crests of waves that tried
with demOniac energy to smash in the
starboard bow, for the Sirdar was CUT
| ting into the heart Of the cyclone.
The captain fought his way TO the
| charthouse. He wiped the salt water
from his eyes and looked anxiously at
the barometer.
Still falling" he muttered. II will
keep on until o'clock and then bear
three points TO the southwark BY
midnight we should be behind it."
He struggled back into the outside
fury. By comparison the sturdy cita-
del he quilted was Paradise on the
edge Of an inferno
Down in the saloon the harder pas
| sengers were striving to subdue the
ennui of an interval before they
/ sought their cabins. Some talked. One
| hardened reDrObate strUmmed the Dfa-
| no. Others played cards, chess
draughts, anything that would distract
attention.
| The stately apartment offered
| strange contrast to the warning ele-
| ments without Bright lights, costly
| upholstery, soft carpets. carved panels
| and gilded COrnices. with uniformed at
/ tendants passing to and fro carrying
| coffee and glasses-these surroundings
| suggested a floating palace in when
the raging saes were defied. Yet forty
miles away, somewhere in the furious
| depths, four corpses swirled about
/ with horrible uncertainty. !urchiue
through battling currents and per.
chance conveyed by fighting sharks.
The surgeon had been called away
Iris was the only lady left in the sa-
loon. She watched set of whis; play.
ers for time and then essayei nh,
! perilous passage to her stateroom. She
found her maid and a stewardess there
Both women were weeping.
What is the natter" she inquired
| The stewardess tried TO speak. She
| choked with grief and hastily went ont
Inc maid blubbered an exclamation.
| A friend of hers was married. miss
TO the man who is drowned
Drowned What MANI"
Haven't you heard, miss? 1 sun.
pose they are keeping it quiet. Al
English sailor and some natives wer,
swept off the ship by a sea. One ma,
i've was saved, but he is all smashed
up. the others were never see1
again.
Iris BY degrees learned the ss,
chronicles OF the Jackson family. Sh,
was moved to tears. She remembered
the Doctors hesitancy, and her ov,1
idle phrase a huge coffin
outside the roaring waves poun5e,
upon the iron walls.
Were/they not satiated? This trag
| edly had taken all the graduer ont n
the storm. 1t was no longer a mafas
| tic phase Of natures power, but an i'm
placable demon, believing for a saori
flee. And that poor woman, with he
! two children, hopefully scanning tn
shipping lists for news of the grea
steamer, news which, to her. mean
only the safety Of her husband. Oh.
was pitiful
Iris would not be undressed. Tn
maid sniveled a request to be aIIowe
to remain with her mistress. She WouI
lie on a couch until morning.
| Two staterOoms had been converte
! into one to provide Miss Daane Wit
ample accommodation There were n
hunks, but a coy bed was screwed t
the deck. She lay down and strove t
read. 1t was a difficult task Her eye
wandered from the printed page t
mark the absurd antics of her gar
ments swinging on their hooks. A
times the ship rolled so far that sh
felt sure it must topple over. She wa
not afraid; but subdued, rather aston
ished, placidly prepared for vagu
eventualities. Through it all she won
dered why she chung to the belief tina
in another day or two the storm woui
be forgotten, and people playing QUOT
on deck. dancing, singing coon song
in the music room, or grumbling a
the heat.
Things were ridiculous. What nee
was there for all this external fury
Why should poor sailors be cast fort
to instant death in such awful name
If she coud only sleep and forget
kind oblivion would blot out the storr
for a few blissful hours. But hoy
could one sleep with the consciousness
of that watery giant laundering hi