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$too a Year, in Advance. " ,. " FOR OOP, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUTH." Sfn2le Copy, s CcnU.
VOL. XV. PLYMOUTH., N, C.PRIDAYy MARCH -:y 1905, ' -'. 0.50
j&'&j&jz? MY -
Tcld fay KBS. WESTWOOD, and Set Dcwn fcy MM FAHRAH-
zy ? . . -
r . "The exciting experience that befell a sailor's wife while making a voyage with
, her ijusbarid. j As Mrs. Westwood remarks, the happenings of that disastrous trip
-J&r ' where quite enough to satisfy any reasonable woman's thirst for perilous adventure.
HIS., adventure happened
5 )l some tli irty years ago, ay hen
' I had nor beeiiiong married.
J ;MyJnisbandwnspart owner
aii'dcaptafn of a little coast
in schooners' 'the Tavo Brothers', of
Hull, which nsctl to'' trade up and down
-. the coast between Loudon and various
''eastern or northern parts. Her . car
Wgoes were of all kinds, and not always
particularly clean. Sometimes she car
ried coals' to Lohdon and brought back
. Tjone . manure,! which, of course, smelt
liorribly; or it might be a "clean" cargo
pi graiirpr machinery. I 'didn't appre
ciate very lengthy partings from my
husband, so occasionally, w hen there
was nothing disagreeable about the
cargo, l!ie would take ine Avith him on
a summer trip for four br fivedays at
a time, and I soon got to be a firs t
ra te sailor; 1 and'- enjoyed the little
cruises- immensely.
-- At the timoof this story I had gone
'on board the Two Brothers for one of
these; little trips. We sailed from Hull
to Newcastle, in order to ship a cargo
of fire-bricks and coke to carry to Lon
don,- where, so far as I was concerned,
the . voyage would; end.; for I was to
istay a few days there with some cous
ins, and then'-go-home by train.
We set sail from -Newcastle one
vmorning with , a strong wind blowing
nnd a rough sea, but as it was still
-arly In September, and we had been
having splendid weather for some
time, we expected at the most nothing
worse than n little delay. But what
ever the cause inay ha ve been aud I'm
not' clever enough about such matters
to be afele to' explain ' tiwt our little
vessel was fated, to Encounter one of
the severest gales known on that coast
Jor many years. .
Long before r.oo: we were in tlie
"uidst of it. The wave?., dashed right
over the schooner, and the wind
shrieked and howled around us like n
-devouring nYonVfe'rV Of course, all sail
" was furled, and I had to stay down in
our'liuy cabin, where I sat shivering
with the. sudden intense cold and with
":fear of, the dreadful storm.
Occasionally'' .Tack, my husband,
would, coine to cheer me up with a few
.encouraging words. He was always
. -one to HMt at the bright side of things,
...sind he said if only he .could keep well
-out to sea. away "from the cruel York
shire cossthe belitved the Two .Broth'
-crs -would yet weather the storm. '
"If only you were safe at home, dar
ling," he said, more than once, '"I
should have nothing to trouble about."
..And all that day and through the ter
rible night that followed I believe the
lu-ave fellow's one thought was for
mie; he would have felt little cr no
smxiety on his own account.
. v All at: once, as I;at listening down
1elow. there-ws; u sharp rending,
crashing sound, and-the vessel heeled
over until the floor, of the cabin was
. Jike the side of a mountain, and I made
,-sure we were going straight to the bot
tom,. I held on to :a.v seat, as well as
'1 could, hut,;if was ferribJy frightened
too frighterfecl eYcii. to scream.
' After a short time; the vessel gradtt--nliy
'righted- herself.' and presently . I
l.ieard my hu'i.haiid'.s voice, and knew
ihat he was coming down to find out
what effect the crash had had on my
"jierves. " ' At ; the fir t, glance" I "saw by
tiis grave expression that .something
serious was the matter, and braced
myself to hoar bad .news'. '
"WlKifis it, JackT' Tasked. T)ease
tell me at once." ' .
""The'mast'K oveiijoard," he replied,
speaking rapidly, r;.s if every moment
were precious,- "istit that's not the
worst troiibI.''."''.Sht',.-spri4hg ,a leak
with .the. straining of the storm, and
for the last hour we've been hoping
.thQrSea would '-.qtiiet- down enough to
let us" Hunclf the' Vvxrt', but, of course,
in 'such a sea as -this We couldn't keep
jtllQat two minutes. Now, don't be
friifh tened, deai:' There's a big schoon
er chse to us, and we're trying to get
-ear '.chough to heave- yqu aboard as
we pass. ' You must come just as you
; are; there's no time to thiuk about any
thing v7$?." .: '" '
t--WI;:a he was speaking he, was all
the timti'genUy drawingme np to the
deck.' Once there, tho roar of wind
and' sea was "great that I knew it
vwas no use Pii'1 nttehipting to talk or
ask questions. Besides, I didn't want
, to add to his troubles at such a time
Iy n.y fears .and protestations. I
: Iiad not hat or wrap or sha'wl of any
SJlIPWRECil.
1 . 1 - 1
I description, and I had to stand shiver
ing and terrified by the sight of the
mountainous waves and the howling
of the gale.
We were sailing short handed, with
only two men oh board besides my hus
band. The first hand, or mate, Tom
Hudson, stood ready to help in lifting
or throwing me on to the strange ship
as she passed us. The second hand, a
young fellow1 called Will Gledhill, was
at the helm, aud, as even I could plain
ly see, wore an unmistakable look of
fear on his anxious face. ...
But I '.hadn't much chance to notice
anything, for by this time the big
schooner was not more than a dozen
yards away. My. husband was holding
one of my arms in a firm grip, while
Hudson took the other, and told me to
spring forward with all my might
when they gave the word, -trusting to
them and the sailors on the schooner
to do the rest.
Half a dozen men on the other ves
sel were leaning far over her side, their
arms forming a sort of cradle to catch
me. They had understood my bus
band's signals, and with ready kind
ness, unable to help us in any other
way, had steered thus dangerously
near in the attempt to rescue a woman
in danger.
My knees trembled under me, but 1
tried to nerve myself to the thought of
that dreadful spring, though it seemed
to me the schooner would never get
close enough to keep me from falling
into the. boiling waves.
In one way I was right. Just as she
swirled past Hudson looked sharply
at my husband,-who as quickly shook
his head; muttering, "Not hear enough
by a yard," and let go my arm with a
despairing gesture. Before I had time
to realize the sudden revulsion of feel
ing. out attention was drawn by a
shouts from the group of sailors, and
wre saw Gledhill, as the big schooner
passed him, make a flying leap toward
her. With the help of strong arms
outstretched with a sailor's prompti
tude he was landed safely on her deck.
It was a magnificent jump, one that I
think only the madness of panic could
have made,, for when the schooner
passed our stern she was considerably
farther off than when she passed us
standing in the bows. '
"Coward!" shouted my husband,
shaking his fist at tile fast-disappearing
vessel, and 'Hudson used stronger
words still, though I couldn't myself
blame the lad overmuch for trying to
save his life when he believed nothing
but swift death awaited all those on
board our sinking ship.
I told Jack so, and. putting my arms
around his heck, told him how truly
glad. I was, even in that moment of
despair, to stay with him instead of
being unwillingly forced on to the
strange ship,' leaving bin; to face death
alone. It was only for his sake, I said,
that I had consented to go. He bright
ened up a little after that, though he
couldn't long allow himself to forget
the peril he had brought me into.
By this time the waves were wash
ing continuously over the dck, and the
little schooner was plainly settling
rapidly.' It was impossible to launch
our one small boat, but my husband
and Hudson dragged it to the middle
of the deck and made me get in and
sit in the stern, while Hudson sat in
-the bow and Jack occupied the middle
seat. In, a calm sea it would easily
have accommodated four or five peo
ple, but in such a tempest even one
less was a mercy, though we scarcely
thought of that until afterward.
One of the strangest things to -roe
was the way in which the big schooner
had' completely - disappvared within a
few minutes of passing us just as if
she had been swallowed up in the
waves. I felt sure she must have gone
down,' and, indeed, Jack and Hudson
were inclined to the same opinion,
though, as Ave afterward discovered,
we were mistaken. . -
I shall never forget the horror of sit
ting in that little boat waiting for the
Two Brothers to go down beneath us.
As I sitt there 7. prayed silently that
the-wind and wa-ves might go down
and enable us to keep afloat on that
rough, tumbling sea. . '
The mate and my .husband had each
a pair "of oars, and at last, when our
tiny craft was Avell afloat above the
submerged deck, Jack gave the word,
and we literally rowed off the sinking
vessel as she went down into the
depths of the ocean. In a few minutes
more the last trace of ner had' van
ished, and we were alone in our frail
boat on that wide, stormy sea.
I shuddered involuntarily and hid my
face in my hands. It all looked so
much more terrifying to me now we
were so close to the waves, and at first
I expected that ery roller that bore
down upon us would overwhelm us.
"Heart up, little woman!" said Jack,
speaking more cheerfully now we were
fairly afloat and there was something
he could do. "The sea's gone down
wonderfully In the last quarter of an
hour, and I think wo can easily keep
this cockleshell moving if you'll help
by bailing her out with this tin pail."
It was a fact, as he said, that the
waves had gone down considerably,
and the gale showed distinct signs of
abating. When we first got into the
boat, in spite of all I couid say, Jack
insisted on taking off his coat and
making me put it on over ray thin
dress. He now set me to work baling
out with a small tin pail the water that
washed over the sides. I was glad
enough, you may be sure, of something
to do, and after a while the exercise
put some degree of warmth into my
frozen limbs. Jack said that his work
at the oars kept him warm, but, of
course, all of us were soaked to the
skin, for 'we were without the least
shelter from the heavy spray that con
tinually broke over us. Sometimes it
was all the two men could do to keep
the tiny boat's head to the waves, for,
though the tumult was much less than
before, we were still in danger of in
stant destruction if she once got broad
side on or a wave broke over the gun
wale. However, they toiled on brave
ly," and occasionally one of them took
a short spell of rest, while all of us
kept a constant lookout for a vessel
each time Ave rose to the summit of a
big wave. x '
This went on for several long, anx
ious hours, and my arras and back so
ached with stooping that I could hard
ly go on baling, and even .the stern,
white faces of the two men began to
sho-.y signs of exhaustion.
If only I could have given them a
drink or a morsel of food! But there
we Avere in our little boat, absolutely
without food or drink of any descrip
tion, and Avhat we suffered from thirst
I think only those Avho have felt the
same can understand. It wasn't hun
ger so much; I 'felt as if food Avonld
have choked me, though, of course, I
had tasted nothing since our early
breakfast. It Avas the awfuj thirst
brought on by excitement and nervous
exhaustion, and Hudson said after
ward he believed he should have gone
mad if it had lasted much longer.
The afternoon had passed and it was
beginning to grow dusk, but we still
kept on baling and rowing mechan
ically, until suddenly my husband gave
a low moan and dropped forward into
the bottom of the boat in a dead faint.
I Avas on my knee3 beside him iu a
moment, trying to lift his head as
much as possible out of the water and
to bring him back to consciousness by
rubbing his stiff, frozen hands. But I
could make no impression, and, fearing
he was dead or dying, I clung to him
Avikily and implored the mate to tell
me what I should do.
"po, mum?" said H.idson. "If yer
don't want us all to be drowned you
must take to that there baling again,
an' pretty quick, too! The captain Ml
soon come round all right if yer leave
him to hisself." The man's manner
was rough, but he showed that he
meant well, for he managed with some
difficulty to slip off his own coat, which
he gruffly bade me put arund my hus
band. I could do nothing else for him
in our helpless condition, and, of
course, it would be Avorse than useless
to neglect the only means of. .saving
the lives of any of us.
So Avith aching heart I seized my pail
again and tried to lessen the amount
of Avater that had rapiily come in over
the sides of the boat. To our dismay
the wind had s'i'fced slightly, and the
sea Avas growing more aud more tem
pestuous. The next half hour was one of hor
ror, and the agony of aching muscles
and exhausted strength. I toiled on
Avith mind and body numb with mis
ery, and fearing every moment that
the poor mate Avould collapse like my
husband. One cause for thankfulness
Avas that Jack had opened his eyes and
Avas able to regain his seat, but one of
his oars had gone OA'erboard, and Hud
son Avould not hear of relinquishing
iiis and taking a spell of rest.
In spite of all our efforts the Avaves
that broke over the boat left more
water behind than either Jack or 1
could bale out, and in almost apathetic
despair I Avatehed it gradually rise, un
til we all felt that nope AAas over and
the end very near." i .'
Just at this terrible moment, through
the darkening night, a black shadow
suddeuly rose before us, and Ave saw
a A-essel so close that at first it seemed
as if she .Avould inevitably run us
down. We all shouted at the top of
our voices, and to our joy we Avere
heard. A rope Avas flung to us and
Avas cleverly caught and made fast by
my husband, aud in a short time they,
had drawn us up to the side of the A'os
sel, though our little boat was already
half swamped and Ave Avere in great
danger of being drowned before they
could get us on board. Once safely on
deck, our' boat was cut adrift, and ia
a feAV minutes we .saw it fill with
Avater and sink like the Tavo Brothers
beneath the surface. ..-".
For the second time that day we had
been rescued from a watery grave, and
it was with very mingled feelings that
Ave looked about us to see what our
new shelter was like.
' We. were almost too stupefied with
cold and fatigue to care much when
we learned that luck was still against
us, and that Ave had practically jumped
from the frying pan into the fire. We
had been picked up by Captain'ay
lor, of the small collier brig-Susannah,
which had been blown out -of her
course by the storm and had sprung a
leak. She Avas a stout-built vessel', but
Avas now very old and weather beaten;
still her captain' hoped to be able to
make Yarmouth Harbor before she
foundered. t . r"
Hudson and my husband insisted on
turning to AA'ith the men in -their work
at the pumps, for the creAV of 'the lirig
needed all the help they could-possibly
get.-.. . ., '' .-.'.'
As for myself, I went' below to the
little cabin, where ' the rising water
Avas already a foot deep,; and sat.down
with my feet oh a chair'.' to keep thorn
out of the Aver. Jack and one of the
sailors did the 'best they :could for me.;
I took off Jack's coat and f lie" soaked
bodice of my dress, and they fastened
them up on one of the yards to dry in
the AA'ind, and covered my shoulders1
with a coarse blanket. I dared not-at-tempt
to take off toy bocJts. for I knew
if I did I should neve?.; get them on
again,Nso I had to bear,fhe. discomfort
of my poor, aching, swollen feet
Avell as I could. , .
I Avas so woni out-that even in that
constrained position;- still oppressed
with anxiety. as to our ultimate fate,. I"
managed to doze off for a' few. miii-
utes every now and then, to awa'kp
shivering with the cold. By the light
of a greasy oil lamp I could see that
the Avater in" the cabin was still rising,
but A:ery slowly, so that there Avas a
chance, with licky pf the poor old Su
sannah reaching Yarmouth. A ' r
At last, after Avhat seetned to me like
a dozen ordinary nights rolled into one.
my husband .returned with my bodice,
which I. put on Avith difficulty; fbt'. Vf
course, it had dried as stiff as -leather.
He had resumed his' coat, but looked
almost as dfrty and disheveled asthe
crew-of the collier. He told me the
men Avere almost at the last gasp with
fatigue, having had to work the pumps
all night AA'ithout rest, but the captain
kept them going, and was determined
to hold on-if possible, as he had . only
one leaky boat, too smaii in 'any case
to carry us all. Jack said that.'Captain
Naylor Avorked Avith the men himself,
and forced them to respect, him by his
pluck and'endurance. DaAvn AAas just
breaking, as Jack- helped me on deck.
for I could hardly walk, I wits so ""si iff '
and tired. I had. my. blanket folded
for warmth over my dress, and Jack
found a shelfered coiner wheue we par-r;
took of another "meal" of biscuit and 1
water. I
- In' the dawning, light everybody !
showed to the Avorst possible a dvaii-l
tage. A more haggard, unkempt,
grimy set of men I never saAV, and I
have no doubt my own looks were a
good match for theirs. 1 hadn't even
a hat to cover the Avet Avisps of hair
that clung' round my face and fell
down, my back, and all attempts to
fasten them up ended in, failure oav
ing to the fact that, most of my han-'
pins had fallen out during my exer
tions in, the small boat. "'-
However, this- Avas ail forgotten.' in'.
the , sigh of thankfulness aud relief k
that rose from every breast when, the,
cry went up that Yarmouth was- in
sight, and Ave kneAV that , Ave might
soon set foot on land once more.
It A-as even yet doubtful if the wa
ter-logged vessel could roach the har
bor in safety. ,A. .$teant tugiraese;t-.
ly signalled to know if she should
come to our assistance, but Captain
Naylor doggedly refused. He said that
after all his efforts to take the brig in
he wasn't goiS to waste money on a
steam, tug. In spite of our natural
anxiety, we' couldn't but admire the
man's determination, though" I coufess
I didn't feel go much' admiration my
self until we Avere safely ashore.
Well, at last it Deemed a lifetime of
waiting "at last" came; we struggled
into ' Yarmouth Harbor, and Jack
helped, almost carried, me on to the;
quay. A fine sight I. was for the few
onlookers, but fortunately that early-,
hour between' C and G.30 there
Avas hardly v anybody; about. Jack
soon had me.-hi a cab." and Ave' Avere
driven straight to the Sailors' Home.
There Ave . ay ere treated Avith the ut
most kindness. After a delicious
breakfast of steaming hb't coffee, rolls,
and fish I was assisted by the matroa
into a' warm-bed, and wasn't long in
falling into a sound sleep. Later in
the day some decent clothing was lent
me, so that I could go-out and buy
some neAV things, and my husband,
though not so, badly off as I Avas, re
ceived help bf the same kind.
We went home by train to Hull the
riext 'day, and Jack duly reported the
loss of the Tavo Brothers. Fortunate
ly for, us, his own share.in the loss was
entirely covered by, insurance. .He?
was 'soon, able to get' another berth as
captain, and Hudson once more sailed
with him as mate. ; As for me, after
a few days' rest I felt no ill effects
from my adA-enturous A-oyngc.
I -nfust tell you that the Susannah
was- repaired-and again wrent to sea,
but she foundered in Yarmouth Roads
in the following spring. Captain Nay
lor was not on board, her when she
went 'down,' and we hdard he had Avon
both respect and profit by his brave
handling ;" of' her "dp. ring that famous
September, gal. e". " . '.' ' '.
Many months afterAvard. one day in
the street, I suddenly, .-.came face to
face with Gledhill. We Stared at each
other asvif we--had seen- a ghost, for
each had' thought-the other at the bot
tom of the,sea; It turned out that the
.s4hooer.;jnto ;whicti .jCiledhili had
jHmpQd'was Jdown' out' to sea in the
storm',',' a7nd"fibany ran ashore on the
coast 'of Norway at ;a: barren, desolate
spot far from any to'AV'n: From there?
Gledhill had tramped Avith most of the
ship-wrecked crewuntil at" length they
reached Chris,tiani. Gledhill was
there befriended'by the Seamen's Mis
sion, and after, some time was able to
work his passage 'to .Hirih
, Splends my' true story' Qf the sea. I
think you. Av'ill admit that-my one long
day "and., night;' fit; daitger and ship
wreck was enough to satisfy any rea
sonable AA-omans thirs-fcj for perilous
adventure.. The Wide World Maga
zine.. , . ...... VJ-
lie Sat .Still.
. 'lie - was AAiiat, is 'known, as a "dear
little fell'dw;" Ifial'is Voay, he had
heaven-blue eyes:,' sunjiy-hair, and au
expression ....'.of complete innocence
Avhicii would fit , him . for a soap ad
vertisement Ave re he "hot the son of
respectable- pareirt:?: ' '&
They Avere all at the phbtosTapher's.
but SAveet Cecil,wouldn't remain still
enough for his picture to. be taken.
"rerhap-a,"'; 'suggested-' '.'the urbane
photographer, ...after the- hundredth ef
fort -had;.faiied, "it is-the presence of
his ljiother--which makes the little
darling' restless. ' If w'adam would
AvithuraAv, 'perhaps I should be suc
cessful." .V ; .' .';, -.';
The dotiiig niothei' took 'the hint, and
in a moment or tA-o the operation had
been. -successfully concluded.
. vlIoAvevcr did-youVmanage to sit
still, Cecl?'.'-.asked his mother. "And
Avhat did the nice gentleman say to
you'td make y.o.u uo..it: j
' "The niau; thaid 'If .you don't tint
thtiljj-you ugly, little monkey, I'll thake
the life out of you.'"- Tho 'I that very
thill, mamma." New York News
-The ba-llot law of 'Massachusetts has
Iwon re'eommended for adoption in other
Steles boeauseK -compels the voter to
express, a preference for each candi
date, and thus hi "theory favors "split
ticket" voting. . It lias another curious
q-xra'aty-tlie iiuniber of' . blank ballots
it produces. ''
. - Parker it'or iVesident had plu
rality in. Boston, but about G000 bal
lots cast Avere'not .mat:ked for this
office at, all' Douglass' plurality Aras
o3,07S in the largest A;ote ' cast, but
cy en for Governor there were 4G1"
"blanks. For Lieutenant-Governor
thers were . bjanjes,, for Secretary
i,of-.Staift lo.TJCv-a.ml.o oirin' generally
increasing ratio until 2iV2,"iG blanks
out. of a total vote of only S)G,C34 testi
fied that 24 per cent, of the voters
didn't care a pencil mark Avho was to
be Sberitl. New York World. '