Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-06-05

|luu[ keEOSSu0. $ SvuCu LILO v0'cSA -,
ed latitude Al south. longitude. Is
east, on Cape Of Good Hope, on Sep
TENDER 1T encountered cyclonic
storm Of such unabating fury that Tor
days the> Thornliebank threatened to
go under. .S
AS the storm worked its havoc, the
men were compelled to- lash them.
selves to one another, after the fashion
of Alpine climbers, to prevent their be-
ing sent overheard.
81 Let us quote now from the plain,
5unvarnished record of the Thornlie-
banks perilous trip. y .ss4 .3.;,
I'm the evening the ship gave a sud
Cen lurch, plunged into the seas and
for moment was submerged from
stem to stern Every one on board
thought she was found ering and the
sailors dropped on their knees and
prayed. While the vessef was sub
merged, everything movable was wash
ed overheard. % Z
5..;$i" After a fine struggle on the part OF,
the men, Captain Smith succeeded IN
keeping the ship Oh before the gale
for safety. using oil from port and star
board and thus, diminishing the force
Of the gigantic waves. After a day
filled with awful dread, the weather be-
gan to moderate and the ship was put
on her course again. The officers no
ticed sooE after she had resumed her
course that she was moving sluggish
$ly, so the wells were sounde and It
~ 4, %o,,r 4 - IN rro u, Gro ID o1ovon
inches of water below. "a
After successfully battling with q
terrific hurricane, to realize that death
by drowning was still q matter of pos.
sibility nerved the crew to redouble
their efforts to bring the vessel, to a
safe harbor. Slowly but surely the
water was gaining. When the ship
took the heavy plunge that carried
away her deck-house and smashed sew
eral skylights, she started some of her
rivets, T. ith the donkey-engine gone
there was no other alternative than to
use the hand pumps. and from that
day, September 10, to November 20,
they were kept going night and day
two and "a half months Of incessant
pumping. Al & q s5s.s II
mot for an instant were the pun ps
allowed to remain idle. With half the
crew below decks working to keep the
water down, the other half was labor.
ing above decks to bring the vessel
to safe hafbor. On November 6 the
Thornliebank round ed the South Cape
and fthe course was shaped for New
Zealand. y a ~ 81 "
In other words. the sieve-like Thorn
sliebank was brought by tireless and
lighting sseamanship to her destination
after an eight thousand mile struggle
with death. Is, III |. vi
Here Is: another real tale OF the sea.
In actual sailor lore. they characterize
the story as that OF The Fire Wom-
an Of lthe Sea-" The latter. concretely,
was or rather is. for they say she is
still alive at the age Of eighty-four and
living in Massachuse Mrs. ID, B.
Bates, the widow Of I a well-known
American sea captain. Sheslater mar.
ried Lieutenant James Hyde. Of the
United States army. For years there
was superstition among American
seamen that whenever Mrs. Bates
went to sea a hoodoo fire was sure to
break out on the vessel that carried
herr #, KS S sS.;l " iss iii
According ito the chronicles OF the
American Seamen's society. Mrs Bates
had more narrow escapes from the
hoodoo fires that pursued her than
Kate Claxtont ever dreamed of. Mrs,
Bates always went to- sea with her
captain-husband. s.
Their first trip was made in 1850,
when her husband was In command
OF the Boston ship Nonantum On
July a Mrs Bates left Baltimore on
the Nonantum forSan Francisco The
ships cargo was thousand tons sof
coal and a huge quantity Of provisions
listed forl Panama. When the Nonan-
tum reached the latitude Of the Rio de
la Plata flames broke out In the hold
and for twelve whole days Mrs. Bates,
herNhusband and the rest of the crew
stuck to the burning hulk and, by
i fighting desperately with the fire, final
" managed to bring the vessel to the
Falkland islands before the flames ate
through Its sides. Vi 4; +.
A mile from shore the fire conquered
the fighters and the Nonantum began
to fall apart as all hands got clear in
the small boats. s.s " "
After weeks of waiting, the party ,on
the barren island we're picked up by