Year: 1877

were what might be called rough
Every vessel arriving at New York
has brought news of disaster. The
Norwegian bark Faro, which reach
ed New York Sunday, Apri! 22d,
brought Captain Thompson and the
crow of the schooner Laura A. Webb,
of Deer Isle, Me-, which was aban-
doned on the 18th, after five days
effort to save. her. Captain Thomp-
son says:


"You see, I've been on blue water
for thirty years, but that storm lay
away over anything I ever got into
before. We left New York on the
9TH of April, and worked along all
right until the 9TH, when we ran into
tho edge of the storm of Cape Henry.
The wind came from E. S. E. all
around to E. N. E., and the sea seem.
ed to roll up from almost anywhere.
| conc uded to heave to, 80 we made
everything snug and tossed for TWEEN
ty hours with all sail furled. This
would have been all we'll enough it
the sea had been all regular running
afore the wind. That's what it want;
it seemed to come from everywhere.
One minute her bows would go clean
under a wave, and before she got
fairly strengthened again another
would strike her abeam or astern.-
Well, we stood this for twenty hours,
and then determined to run out OF
the gale. For six hours we scuddled
along under closeoreefed foresail.-
Then heavy cross sea struck her,
and another followed 30 quick that
she hove clean on her beam ends to
starboard; and the ballast SHIFTED. ]
saw right away that we we're wreck
ed sures and it would take mighty
lively work to cut away the ligging
in time TO save life.


"Ihere was nothing easy about it
just then, | can tell you. Every sea
swept her from stem to stern, and
the men had to lash themselves to
the casheads and do the best they
could between waves. When the
mainmast fell, Abner Newman got
his leg caught and was badly crGsh>
ed. He was sent below, and lie did
ut have no easy timo either, for there
was plenty of water in both forecas-
tie and cabin.


"Well, even after stick and spar
was overboorG except the bowsprit
and mainboon, she wouldn't right
because the ballast was 80 badly
shifted. So we had to open the hold
and the men were set to beaving the
ballast back. Four or five hours
work trimmed the craft enough to
give us the use Of the cabins. The
men wore pretty well exhausted, and
there did not seem much to be done
during tho night. / saw we were
drifting to the eastward, and toward
morning | got anxious lest we should
drift out Of the track of the coast
traders. In the morning we rugged
little jury masts, and tried to get up
sail enough to give us some steerage-
way. We could not do much, for
all the canvass We had left was lit>
tie of the forcsail.


81 never see such sky as broke on
us next morning. 1t was streaked
all over, brassy, and looked a threat
in every rift. All our small stores
was in the cabin, badly damaged
with salt water and hardly fit to eat.
There was no chance to cook any
thing, not even a cup of coffee. The
rain, although it wasn't froze, cut
where it struck like shot, and was
just about as cold. On deck or bes
low deck it was all the same for wa
ter, and all OF us were drenched
through. We didn't see a sail all
day, and when night closed in with
the storm and sea wilder than ever.
a. I;InJt onoCA - -