The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, February 28, 1902, Image 3
I
I
I
Nine
Days o.i
Careilct
1 Unaided a
Sailor
l Brings Dis-
i mantled
| Ship to
| Port
Nine da.vs Seaman Denis kept watch
alone on the French ship Tourny as
she drifted, a wreck, across the Medi
terranean and at last had the satisfac
tion when nearly dead from hunger
and exhaustion to be sighted by the
steamer Syrian Prince, from New
York, which towed his ship safely Into
the port of Algiers.
The French ship Tourny was pro
ceeding down tne Mediterranean from
Marseilles. When off the Spanish coast
in that part of the Mediterranean
which is eaih-d the bay of Valencia, a
DE.VIS KEFI.SED TO LEAVE THE SUll'.
fierce gale came howling down ui>on
her. It was a storm which lashed the
sea into foam crested waves and made 1
the air thick with the flying scud. The
Tourny was laden heavily, and she la
bored in the seaway until her seams
oi>ened and she began to leak. It was
impossible to keep sail enough on the
ship *o give her steerage way, for as
soon as a sail was set it was blown
from the bolt ropes.
Finally, the gale moderating a little,
the captain got some sail on the vessel,
but hardly had set It when the fore
mast went by the board, carrying with
It the main topmast. She was rolling
frightfully, and to ease her the main
lower mast and the inizzen mast were
cut away, and she lay a helpless dere
lict, while the crew strained their ^es
through the gloom of the storm to catch
sight of some rescuing vessel. All day
and all night the Tourny lay at the
mercy of the sea. The leak was gain
ing slowly, and the crew were ex
hausted by their labors, by the con
stant drenching of the seas and by the
loss of sleep.
On the forenoon of the second day a
ship was sighted. She proved to be the
French steamship Italic, and weeing the
derelict she ran down to her and sig
naled that she would stand by and at
tempt to take off the suffering crew.
The waves were running so high that
It was a work of the greatest danger
to launch a boat, but after waiting
In vain for the sea to moderate the
captain of the Italic determined to
make the attempt. The first boat he
put over the side was stove to pieces
against the side of the steamer, and her
crew were hauled back on board with
difficulty. The captain of the Italic
then called for volunteers to make an
other attempt, and his men responded
nobly, and a boat was successfully
launched.
When the boat approached the dere
lict us near as safety would permit, a
line was thrown from the Tourny to
hold It in position. Then the sailors
Jumped from the deck and partis by
clinging to the line and partl^by
swimming reached the rescuing bo4^
Finally only the captain u*id one sail
or--Denis, the hero of the story—re
mained on the derelict. “Hurry up! (Jo
on!" shouted the captain, who had*tak-
en upon himself the traditional cap
tain's doty of being the lust tAeave
the ship. But Denis refused stir He
declared that be would not leave the
ship; that be would stay by her as long
as a plank of her was afloat The cap
tain threatened and commanded, ‘but
Denis remained unmoved. Finally the
captain gave up trying to make him go
over the side and. Jumping overboard
himself, made his way to the waiting
boat, leaving (he obstinate sailor to his
tlte.
The Italic arrived safely if) port and
reported her rescue. No news came of
the Tourny, and It was supposed that
she had broken up and Denis had met
the fate be bad dared alone with his
Ship. The owners of the Tourny gave
her up as lost, and she was relegated
to the list of ships gone down at sea.
When morning broke, Denis made an
examination of the ship, of which he
was now captain and crew. He found
that she was partly full of water, but
Was not leaking any more, the swelling
of her cargo or some other cause ap
parently having choked up the seams
through which the sea had been com
ing into her bold. He found some food
which had not been ruined by the salt
water, but not much of it, and he put
- himself on short rctloi!-:. He could not
get to the lazaret where the provisions
were stored, for that part of the ship
was flooded, and had be been able to
j do so he would have found little rood
that had not been spoiled by the water.
; The water casks had gone overboard
in the rolling and pitching of the ship,
hut he found one breaker of water
which had been filled for boat use, and
of this he drank sparingly, for he did
rot know how long it would have to
last him.
On the stump of one of the masts
Denis managed to set sail. It took
him two da.vs to cut from the mass of
rigging lying about the deck the ropes [
needed to select from the wreckage i
u suitable spar and to get cut from
the hold a piece of spare canvas and
make his Kail. Finally, when he had
rigged it, he found that it would draw
when he kept his craft dead before
the wind and that with his sail set,
the derelict had something almost like ,
steerage way. Far toward the south
the hulk went pitching, the solitary sail
catching the wind and the solitary
man never leaving the wheel except
when exhausted nature could stand no
more, and he would lash his wheel
and drop down for a brief spell of for
getfulness.
Carefully as Denis had husbanded
his small supply of food and water,
after awhile It gave out and his ex
haustion so Increased that he could
stand at the wheel only by supporting
himself by holding on to the spokes, j
When he relaxed his grip, he would
fall to the deck and struggle to his feet
again with pain and difficulty. If he
only could have lain down on the deck
and gone to sleep! But he did not dare
to do that for at any moment the
longed for sail or smoke pennant,
which was to be to him the signal of
relief from his wear}’ bondage, might
come up from below the rim of the
world, and he could not afford to be
asleep when that happened. He must
watch and endure while any spark of
life remained In his battered body,
while any hope could struggle in his
tortured breast.
Nine da.vs the lonely man and the
lonely derelict drifted and sailed south
ward before they struck the path of
the steamers. In all that time Denis
had had but a scant six hours’ sleep.
On the ninth day he could stand it no
longer and sank down upon the deck
to die alone upon the ocean whereon
he had made his bread. As he lay
there unconscious the steamer Syrian
Prince, from New York, came steam
ing along and sighted the derelict. The
canvas rag fluttering from the pole for
ward and the sail which had been rig
ged on the stump of the mainmast told
the captain of the Syrian Prince that
there was probably life on board the
floating bulk, though he could see no
man about the decks with his glasses.
At any rate, the port of Algiers was not
far off, and it might be a paying In
vestment of time and coal to tow the
derelict In there.
So u boat was sent off from the
steamer In charge of the mate, and
when the men came scrambling over
the side of the dismasted snip they saw
the body of Denis lying apparently
dead beside the wheel, whose spokes
his nervous fingers could no longer
grasp. They revived him partially and
carried him tenderly aboard the steam
er, where after awhile he was able to
tell his story. The Syrian Prince got
out a hawser and sent It aboard the
derelict. Then, placing a few men on
board of her as a salvage crew, the
captain of the steamer headed his ves
sel for Algiers and anchored what was
left of the Tourny safely in that i>o!t.
Denis was sent to the hospital, where
he now Is recovering from the effects
of his strange and lonely voyage.
The Tourny hailed from Marseilles,
and her owners there probably will see
BESCUK OV HAILOHME'KXIS.
to It that the faithful Denis, who so no
bly stood by bis ship. Is furnished with
some comfortable berth ashore, though
the reward of a faithful sailer ne^rr
can be depended upon to be according
to his deserts. Perhaps Demis will have
to go to sea again when be Is able; but.
whatever his future fate la, he certain
ly has deserved the praise which Is
now being bestowed upon him and Is
deservedly now a hero In Algiers. In
the nine days during which Denis sail
ed and drifted alone upon the mastless
wreck of his vessel he made over a
hundred miles almost due south,
thoughflt Is probable that be actually
covered a much greater distance, for he
must have zigzagged al>out In the
winds and currents which finally
brought him Into the tiack of the Syri
an Prince.
^ - i ■ mfmi —
Fierce | Terr:£!c
\ Between a
Beasts i Nubian Lion
I And a. Big
Battle i Polar Bear
A battle between a five hundred pound
Nubian non anu u polar tH-ar weighing
nearly «»00 pounds took place in Mun-
dy’s animal show at Jacksonville a few
days ago. The lion had become Incens
ed at the bear and broke the iron bars
that separated the two big beasts, and
the fight was on.
The lion Is known by the name of
Roosevelt, while the representative of
the arctic region rejoices in the name
of Peary.
Roosevelt started the fighting by
landing with the left paw on bruin’s
right shoulder. Owing to the enor
mously thick fur on the bear the blow
did little damage, although the fur
flew.
Peary showed a desire to get to close
quarters. Roosevelt preferred to use
his agile feet, delivering quick, vicious
blows and hopirlng aside with light
ning swiftness.
At first the keepers tried long poles
and iron rods on the raging beasts, but
these were utterly disregarded.. They
smashed the poles like matches and
knocked the iron rods back so that t ie
men holding them were injured.
The lion now appeared a little groggy
as the result of his furious and breath
less lighting. lie panted heavily ami
trembled as he hit out at Peary. The
latter pressed his opponent steadily. He
tore large patches of skin from his
body and seemed very nearly victor.
HUGE ANIMALS IN’ BATTLE.
Suddenly the lion roused himself and
gave tlx* bear a fearful blow on his al
ready much damaged nose.
Then the lioh fixed his teeth in Pea
ry’s left hind leg. The liear trUni to
shake him off, but without avail.
One of the ke<*|>ers here Intervened by
Jabbing a redhot iron against the lion’s
muzzle. A fearful stench of burning
flesh and hair filled the air. The lion
was at last compelled to let go of the
bear. He jumped back, snarling horri
bly at the human Intruder. The liear
seized the opportunity to throw himself
on the lion and bury his teeth In the
latter’s back. The keeper then turned
the Iron on the bear, and the fight was
stopped for a few moments.
Roosevelt quickly recovered from the
weakness he had shown and began
again with a groat rush. He*tore Pea
ry’s coat until he was nothing but a
shapeless mass of bloody, tattered fur.
The unfortunate hear tried to hug the
lion, thinking no doubt that would stop
his Jabs, but the lion did not care for
this method of fighting. Peary rose up
on his hind h*gs, and Roosevelt dealt
him a right paw smash that tore most
of the fur off his chest.
The two fighters danced around and
rolled over one another so rapidly that
the keepers were unable for the time to
make any attempt to separate them.
The ninth round began with both
fighters groggy, hot still in the ring.
The lion had had his right paw bltt**n
through, ills mane was nearly all
torn away. His byck and hind quar
ters were badly dfeinagi-d. His left
leg was nearly useless. He could not
see out of hta right eye.
The bear was mud! r/o-se off. There
was not u space on him as large as r.
man’s hand tlmt was not torh and
bloody.f His head was In such a de
ploruble condition *hat his nose and
eyes were unrecognizable. All Ids
paws were bitten through. His back
was literally plowed by the lion’s
<^aws. Still they kept on fighting.
They growled, roared, shrieked, moan
ed and muttered as they did so./
At last they parted for a few mo
ments as If by mutual consent. The
keepers had now grit a supply of shot
guns to try If these would serve to
keep the enraged beasts apart
As the lion struggled to bis feet <ore
more to make another attack on the
bear Keeper Johnson thought tb&t his
opportunity to use the shotgun bad
come. He discharged IP straight at
Roosevelt’s chest. •
Instead of cowing the fearless beast
It filled him with renewed rage and
strength. He sprang desperately upon
Peary, attempting no longer to use
strategy with him.
The bear now accomplished what he
had been trying all along to do. He
got the lion 1c his deadly embrace. He
got a fair grip. Imt this move proved,
after all, to be Peary’s ruin.
The hear hugged the lion until the
bystanders could bear the feline fight
er’s bones croak aixl groan. The lion
gasped, almost breathless, but still be
managed to get his teeth into the un-
| der sielt* ol the bear’s throat, one of the
most vulneral le pa. t s of his body.
In this deadly embrace the tenth
round was fought out The bear kept
on squeezing, the lion kept on gripping
vi»1i his teeth. The throat grip was
moie than the bear could stand. Slow
ly he relaxed his hold and sank on his
! back, beaten and half dead.
The lion stood over him snarling as if
! b< meant to oat him. At this moment a
courageous keeper stopped up and
1 smote Roosevelt between the eyes with
1 an iron bar. He then seemed to think
he had had enough and dragged him
self back to his cage quietly, where he
was barred in.
Rescue at Sea by
England’s Future King
The recent visit of the heir apparent
t<> the Britisli throne, the Duke of
Cornwall, has been made the occasion
j of printing anecdotes of the young
prince. Many of them are of tales of
1 pranks while a sailor in the royal navy.
■ But the son of the king of England is
i by no means the frivolous person these
stories might lead one to believe.
Every one who served with him In
the navy declared that, whatever his
birth, he would
have risen high
in his profes
sion. Here is
an instance. In
18811 his high
ness was in
command of a
torpedo boat
during the ma
neuvers. Now,
any one who
has been to sea
on a torpedo
boat knows
that its motion
will try the old
est seam e n.
And the duke
Is and always
has been, like
Nelson, a terri
ble sufferer
from mal de
mer. Well, a
gale came up when the fleet was off the
Irish coast, and another torpedo boat
was disabled. Prince George was sig
naled to her rescue. It was two hours'
hard work In a most ugly sea to get a
wire hawser aboard her. and all the
operations were conducted from the
bridge by the prince.
Strange Reptile
Killed In Everglades
For many years there has been a tra
dition among the Seminole Indians,
who live In the Florida everglades,
that an Immense serpent made its
home In that region, and they affirm
that two Indians had been carried off
by the monster.
Recently Buster Ferrol. one of the
boldest and most noted hunters at Oke-
chobee, who for twenty years has
made the border of the lake and the
everglades his home, on one of his i>e-
rlodical expeditions Into one of these
lonesome wilds noted what he suppos
ed to be the pathway of an immense
alligator. For several days he visited
the locality for the purpose of killing
the saurian, but was unsuccessful In
finding him.
Finally he decided to take a stand In
a large cypress tree and await tlie
coming of the alligator, taking provi
sions to last him several days.
For two days be stood on *vatch,
with his rifle ready, but without the
desired success. He
was becoming dis
couraged. but deter-
Diined to give one
more day to the ef
fort. On the third
day, before be had
tieen on his perch an
hour, he was almost
paralyzed by what
looked to him like
an immense serpent
gliding along the
supposed alllgator|
truck. UtftesUinutcd
It to be anywhere 1
from twenty to thir
ty feet long and fully
fen to twelve Inchest
in diameter wherel
the head joined the
body and as large
around as a barrel
ten feet farther
back. The snake
irt>.pp«*d within easy
reach of Ids gun and raised its head to
take u precautionary view oi Its sur-
roundings. As It dkl Ferrel opened fire
on It, shooting at Its bead. Taken by
surprise, the serpent dashed Into the
marsh at railroad speed, while Ferrel
kept up fire on It until be had emptied
the magazine of his rifle, but failed to
stop it.
About four days afterward He ven-
tured back Into the neighborhood to
see how things were, and about a mile
from where be first saw the snake he
saw a large flock of buzzards and went
to see what they were after, and there
he found the creature dead and Its
IkmI}’ so badly torn by the buzzards
that It was lin|K>HHlhle to save the skin.
He, however. s«*eur«*d Its head and has
It now In his home on the Kissimmee
river. It Is truly a frightful looking ob
ject, fully ten Inches fron: Jaw to Jaw,
with ugly, razorlike teeth.
Men tmd
I once had a trainer, an old Irish
man, who had served in a British regi
ment In India and who knew the ways
of tigers in every detail. He taught
three of them to do more work in the
show arena than 1 have ever seen done
by tigers. ! have seen him sitting
down between two of them at rest
times during rehearsals a:.d examining,
their daws to see if any of them were
tore or split. Any one w5k> has .ever
tried that with even a house eat knows
that it strikes the feline nature as an
unwarrantable familiarity, but they
never did more than show their teeth
and whine, and that in half playful
ness.
One day he got very drunk. 1 had
never known him to transgress before.
Before he was noticed on his return to
the cage he had gone in with his ti
gers and fallen in a heap on the floor.
The other keepers tried to take him
out of the cage, but to have done so
would have meant a bitter and bloody
fight with the three striped ones. They
guarded him all night in his drunken
slumber. The next time he put them
to work, however, they balked, and he
could neither persuade nor drive them.
They had ceased to trust him. or some
thing of that sort, and his usefulness
with them was at an end completely.—
F. Bostock in Frank Leslie’s.
Tronhle For the Tuarlstn.
The poor Saxon “towrist”—what he
may suffer in the Emerald Isle! There
Is a story on record of three Irishmen
rushing away from the race meeting at
Punebestown to catch a train buck to
Dublin. At the moment a train from a
long distance pulled up at the station,
end the three men scrambled In. In
the carriage was seated one other pas
senger. As soon as they had regained
their breath one said:
“Pat have you got th’ tickets?”
“What tickets? I’ve got me lolfe! 1
thought I’d have lost that gettln’ In
th’ thrain. Have you got ’em. Moike?”
“01? Begorrah, 1 haven't!”
“Oh. we’re all done for. thin!” said
the third. “They’ll charge us roight
from th’ other soide of Oireland.”
The old gentleman looked over bis
newspaper and said:
“You are quite safe, gintlemen. Walt
till we get to th’ next station."
As soon as the train pulled up the
little gentleman jumped out and came
back with three first class tickets.
Handing them to the astonished stran
gers, he said: “Whist, I’ll tell you how
I did it! I wint along th’ thrain. ‘Tick
ets, plaze; tickets, plaze.” I called, and
these belong to three Saxon towrlsts in
another carriage.”—Harry Furnlss in
Strand.
St. Paul’s.
“It is curious,” says the London
Chronicle, “how St. Paul’s, although
the first cathedral church in England
that was built actually for the observ
ance of the Anglican ritual, manages
nevertheless to retain something of a
foreign and a Catholic nature in the
way it offers shelter to the tired pas
serby. Apart from the restless groups
of sightseers, there are always plenty
of people there who have gone In sole
ly for the sake of Its wonderful peace
and quiet
“They would have found neither, by
the way. In old St Paul’s of the fif
teenth century, for while mass was
being said In one chapel, a funeral serv
ice In another, and so on. all sorts of
commerce was carried on in the middle
aisle, from the hiring of servants to
the transaction of legal business.
“We have altered all that nowadays,
and St Paul’s Is the quietest spot In
the noisiest city in the world.”
His Half.
An old Maryland colored man was
summoned to court by the controversy
over the ownership of a mule.
“tVbo bought the mule?” demanded
the Judge.
“Clem Smlf aud Ah each bought half
Ob him, sab.” responded the old man.
"Where is Smith now?”
“He ain’t nebber cum down yit, sah.
He went to curry his half when his
half was in a bad humor. Now Clem’s
chlllun wants to get deb fatheh’s half
away from my half, en deb half am
dess half”—
“Stop!” roared the Judge. “Dismiss
the case."—Chicago News.
Pens, Paper and Royalty.
Whenever the signature of an Eng
lish king or queen is required lu a vis
itor’s book or elsewhere it Is custom
ary to provide a new pen. which is not
used by the hosts or the other guests
unices It be handed them by the royal
visitor. Another point of etiquette
connected with pens and paper Is that
a letter to a sovereign is written ou
thick white paper, on one side only,
and ll placed In an envelope large
enough to contain the letter unfolded.
Ahead Thera.
*T hope.” said the drummer, “you
were quite satisfied with my report
for the past mouth.”
"Well,” replied fee head of the firm,
“there was one part of It that really
exceeded our expectations.”
“And what was that?”
“Your expense bUL”—Catholic Stand
ard and Times.
Calling one day on a Miss Ferguson
and observing a floe honeysuckle in
foil blossom over the door, Sir Walter
Scott congratulated his fr*end oo Its
appearance. She spoke of It as trum
pet honeysuckle. ,
“Weel,” said Scott “ye’ll never come
out o’ pour ain door without a flourish
o’ trumpets!"
Spring Humors
1 Come to most people and cause many
troubles,—pimples, boils and other
j eruptions, besides loss of appetite,
! that tired feeling, fits of biliousness,
j indigestion and headache.
The sooner one gets rid of them the
Letter, and the way to get rid o| them
and to build up the system that has
suffered from them is to take
Hood's Sarsaparilla
and Pills
Forming in combination the Spring
Medicine par excellence, of unequalled
strength in purifying the blood as
shown by unequalled, radical an 1 per
manent cures of
Scrofula Salt Rheum
Scald Head Boils, Pimples
All Kinds of Humor Psoriasis
Blood Poisoning Rheumatism
Catarrh Dyspepsia, Etc
Accept no substitute, but be sure to
get Hood’s, and get it today.
An Avvfnl Disappointment.
“The most disnpi>ointed man I ever
saw.” said a Baltimore financier, “was
a poor wretch who was about to be
hanged in one of the northeastern
counties of Maryland. 1 happened to
be there about the time and accepted
an invitation to witness the execution.
“This fellow’s lawyers had been
working hard to save his neck, and
there seemed to be some possibility
that he might be reprieved. The time
set for the execution arrived, however,
and the sheriff made plans to carry
out the execution. The march to the
scaffold had begun, and the prisoner
was about to mount the steps when a
messenger arrived, waving a telegram
in his hand.
, “The procession was at once stopped,
and the sheriff took the telegram, but
saw that it was addressed to the con
demned man. lie handed It to the fel
low, who. trembling with hope, tore
open the envelope. He cast his eager
glance at the message, paled and let it •
drop from his hand. The sheriff picked
up the paper, read it, and the march
to the scaffold was resumed. In a few
minutes the man who had hoped for a
reprieve was in eternity.
“The message was from some minis
ter who had become Interested in Lis
case. It told him to trust in the Lord
and he would be saved.”—Washington
Post
An Evening' Call.
“I called on Perkins last evening,”
remarked Mr. Brov^r
“Did you have a pleasant time?” In
quired Mrs. Brown.
“Very. Perkins was beating hi;
wife when I went In.”
“What?”
“I say Perkins was beating his wife,
but of course he stopped when 1 came
In.”
“Well. I should hope so.”
"I begged him to go on, but he said
some other time would do just aa
well.”
“You begged him to go on?”
“Why. yes. I didn’t want to spoil
the fun. you know.”
“Oh. you brute! Do you mean to say
that you could have looked calmly on
Jrhile be beat his wife?”
“Certainly. Why not?”
"I thought you had at least a spark
of manhood left 1 suppose yon will
be beating me next”
“Yes; I think I could If yon would
play cribbage with me.”
“Play cribbage?”
“Ycg; that is what Perkins and his
wife were doing."—London Telegraph.
Got Hta Price.
“Away over on the east side of the
elty.” said a New Yorker, "lies the
shop of a well known butcher, who
rejoices In the euphonious and sug
gestive name of ‘Four Cent Miller.’
He sells meat in smallest quantity to
his customers, and. as the coin of the
realm In that locality is principally
conspicuous by its absence, there is
a constant effort to beat him down in
price. The other day Miller and a
would be customer all but came to
blows over a pound or so of pork chops,
and the discussion finally culmmatcd
in Miller irately demanding:
" 'Well, why don’t you go to Smith
(a rival buteben If }ou can get them
cheaper?’
“ ‘Because.’ explained the customer,
‘Smith hasn’t got any.’
“‘Oh!’ said Miller, is that so? Well,
when I haven’t got any my price will
be 4 cents, too, but while I have they
cost 7 cents. See?’
“The customer saw aud purchased.'*
—New York Tribune.
Pope’s Tveenty-fifth Pontificate.
Rome, Feb. 20.—The pope today en
tered on the twenty-fifth year of his
pontificate. Although the main cele
bration of the jubilee is postponed un
til March 3, when the combined festi
vals of the Jubilee and coronation wil]
be observed, today was marked by the
singing of a Te Doum ic St. Vttcra
and other observances. The pontiff
was the recipient of congratulations
from all sides. „
Raynor Will Not Comment.
'Baltimore, Feh. 20.—4sldor Raynor,
counsel fir Rear Admiral Schley, left
for Washington this morning. He de
clined to comment upon President
Roosevelt’s decision In the matter of
Admiral Schley's appeal from the find
ings of the court of inquiry.
A Dtatlncflan.
“I am told.” said the friend, “that
the manager you hare left was paying
you a fabulous salary?"
“No.” as wo rod Mr. Stormlngton
Barnes, “not fabulous; imaginary.”—
Exchange. -
Safe Robbed at Franklin, Gs.
Franklin, Ga., F^i. 20.—Dr. J. W.
Daniel's general merchandise store
has been entered by robbers and his
safe blown open and about $40 in
money taken. There is no clew as to
who the robbers were. It occurred be
tween 12 and 1 o’clock.