The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter., 1960-08-12
Gallant Deeds Of By-Gone
Years in The Walter
Raieiss Coasiland.
By CAPTAIN c. S. BRAGG

violent winds seemed TO haV'
reached their peak. The Falcon:
crew were now confident She
would ride out the storm, but moth
er nature, on rampage and in dire
wrath, did not agree. She was benz
upon destruction.
How dare this man-made thing
of iron defy her and toss and pitch
on the bosom of her ocean? Sha
would choose another element OF
her terrible might to vent against
the valiant freighter.
High overhead she assembled
black turmoil of seething clouds,
from which, wriggling, darting
twisting streaks of lightning be-
gan to branch out, gathering
strength and size by joining to-
gether, until the heavens looked
like a doctors picture of veins IN
a human body.
And now that pulsing artery
pulled in to its center the snap
ping forks of liquid fire, forming
one mighty bolt, which it hurled
at the ships foremast in ethereal
beauty, but also in pent-up fury
The biting smell of chlorine-pre-
meated-O Ozone stung the noses OF
the Falcons crew, and their ears
almost split from the terrific eX-
plosion. Down came the mast. Bur-
dened by the heavy cargo booms,
it crashed through the forward
hatch, opening the innards of the
stricken ship to the turbulent seas
that flooded her decks.
The gallant old hulk seemed
doomed. Loaded with unslacked
lime, each barrel expanded several
times its bulk when the water
penetrated the slaves. She would
burst in minutes. Even now, her
deck plates were buckling, rip
ping open with hurt cry. Steam
| ing. milk-white-water gushing out
from the Stacking lime made her
look like the ghost she might soon
become.
Her bulging plates on each side
of her forward hold, fifty feet
aft of her bow showed the strain
of the pressure. She had the ap-
pearance of a chipmunk's cheeks
ct,,ffad with nutS.
Rivets began to snap loose and
fill the air like shrapnel. Hell
swollen belly regurgitated like 8
pelican's. Spewing out the cargo
it could no longer retain. Each
reich of bursting barrels made her
swallow more of the sea to swell
/ the thirsty lime that in moments
now could rend her from stem to
stern.
If that happened, an attempt
would have to be made to launch
the life boats and abandon ship
Rafe Clasen, acting captain, but
really the Falcons mate, didn't
want that to become necessary. He
must not lose the ship. He'd lei
her go though, to save the crew
And right now the sea was run
ming so high he couldn't launch q
boat without smashing it beyond
repair. He would have to take 9
desperate chance and wait to mar
the boats until the old hooker
sank level, with her decks awash
With everyone pulling hard on the
oars he believed they could ge'
clear of the sinking suction.
Why wasn't the Falcon settling
lower? Was he wishing it or wa'
she riding higher? If she was
belching out the lime fast enough
from her forward hold it would
tighten her. The bulkhead of TIN
main hatch would not give way.
Shades of Davey Jones! Ther'
was a good chance of him saving
the first vessel he had ever com
lmanded. Now he would really fight
hard with the old girl.
i No sooner had the captains hope
scared when they were suddenly
sent crashing. The bulge on thu
'starboard side of her forward hole
blew out with a crunching rendine
"whoof." Dry lime blasted fortf
in a dense white cloud and scuddee
!, off to leward. A thick doughy mass
oozed from the ships side, thin
ming to pouring stream as ton!
of watery weight erupted into th'
, sea.
The captain realized at once thai
, the hole in the ships side was {
lucky break instead of a catas
! trophe. The pressure on the bulk
head was now released. The mair
and after hold would remain dry
He already had the engine room
gang at their post and extra pump
were throwing the water back in
to the ocean.
The dreaded order: Abandon
shipl would not be given. The man
made thing of iron wallowed will
a water-logged forward hold, bu
she would live.
j Nature had often tempered hel
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