Evening journal., 1912-04-13
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
An Esrie Story
By Holland.

was a guest Of the officers Of the
United States steamer Tallapoosa in
April 1888. The steamer had been used
by President Arthur, Secretary Of the
Navy William w. Chandler, and few
of the Presidents personal friends on
an excursion which he made TO South
ern Florida. The President met the
Tallapoosa at st. Augustine on his
return from the interior of Florida and
was brought by her TO Savannah, Ga,
where he was to be entertained bY the
city. It was the Presidents expecta-
tion to return to Washington by the
Tallapoosa. | was invited TO accom-
pany the party upon tho return trip.
President Arthur, however, was
taken very IN on the night after his
reception at Savannah and just after
he had retired 10 his stateroOm upon
the Tallapoosa. The surgeon, Robert
| Black, who was one of the staff Of the
/ TallapoOsa, would not permit Presi-
dent Arthur to return to Washington
by the steamer. thinking that in view
Of the illness from which the Presi-
dent suffered, it would be safer for
him to return by train. All of the
Presidential party went with him by
rail to Washington. / was, therefore,
the sole guest upon the TallapoOsa.
When in the lower reaches of the
Savannah river in the early evening,
one Of the officers of the steamer said
to Dr. Black, with whom l was con-
versing:
The barometer is falling very rap
idly. It looks to me like squally night
at sea-"
Are you a good sailor?" DR. Black
asked.
told him that / had never been
seasick, not even in stormy weather
on the Atlantic.
well, / will tell You something
which may serve to keep up your
courage if we have a blow tonight,
DR.. Black continued This is a little
vessel; she is built of wood and she is
pretty old; but / can tell you that not
withstanding what the weather may
be she will survive It. ! base that opin-
ion upon a conviction / have had ever
since / joined this vessel that some
the sea in her, but that It will be in
still weather. You may call that pre-
mOnitiOn, a warning, or a superstition
but | am as certain of it being we'll
founded as I am that ] am talking
with you If you are rolled out of your
berth tonight by the storm just re-
member that | told you this ship is
not going to the bottom on this trip"
Ia ,frrI q "a
true West Indian hurricane came ca
reening up the coast. The wind was
terrific. The waves were mountainous.
The darkness was intense. I could
hear the officers as they with difficulty
passed back and forth upon the deck,
Occasionally, when there was mo-
mentary lull in the storm, ! heard a
singsong voice shouting some words
which / did not understand
IL was impossible to keep i'm the
berth, so I arose and dressed Peepina
from my door, ] saw vaguely outlined
the figure Of a seaman standing be.
hind the paddleboX and heaving the
lead. II was his voice announcing the
number of fathoms that he found
which / had heard
Suddenly. the engineer appeared
I ltNNi Ai' ilhlli lNONi III n state Ol
great excitement. I heard him say &c
the officers that the engine bearing.
had become hot so great was tho
strain, and ] heard the officers tel
him tu see To IL that cold water was
constantly poured over tho bearings
Then ! heard ono of the officers say
we are going TO put about ant
head straight cast We arc not goinl
to take the chance of being driver
ashore
As soon as it was daylight I wen
out upon the deck The wind had sub
sided somewhat-it came occasional,
i'm puifs-but there was trcmendoul
sea running I saw Dr. Black IN IN,
saloon ana he beckoned to me to join
him
~ told you the ship wouldn't. g,
down ia the storm" he said quietly
Her time hasn't come We don't know
where we are; we may be half way I,
Bermuda. The officers thought tn
only safety was in heading the vesse
due east, and they have lost thei
reckoniags completely"
What arc they going to do?"
asked
Coast up and down until they hal
q vessel Perhaps in the way they car
get their bearings"
I'm a little while a schooner hove II
sight and after much skllful navigaf
ing and the display of a signal show
ing that tho Tallapoosa wished 10 com
municate with the schooner. the tw
vessels came near enough together TO
voices TO be heard from one TO tn
other The captain of the schoone
gave the desired information. whic
showed that The lighthouse of Cap
Charles bore i'm nOrthwcsterly direC
tion.
In the evening of that day the Talla
poosa made Fortress Monroe and th
sea was quiet I was TO be lande
there, the TallapoOsa making her wa
to Washington. AS 7 bade Dr Blac
I goodbye he said again:
i told YOU this ship would not g
down in rough water Some dav sh
will go down in still water and I sha
, so down with her"
About five years later tho Tall,
poosa, on a bright. moonlight nigh
perfectly still. was in collision with
sailing vessel near Buzzard's Bay. 81
, went down a few moments after III
q collision and DR. Robert Black wei
down with her
Copyright 1912 by 4. J. Edward
All rights reserved }
= EVENING SERMONS IN