Notes by the Way in A Sailors Life | Page 6

time we got into
conversation, and when my companion found that I was a "seafaring
man," no one could have been more astonished than he was.
He looked at me and said, "My dear sir, you look to be an intelligent
sort of man, and you tell me that you go to sea."
I said, "Yes, and why not?"
"Well," said he, "I don't see how any man possessed with any common
sense and reason could ever be such a fool as to go to sea."

I said that possibly that was the reason for my going to sea - just simply
a want of good sense on my part. But it suited me very well, and I
should like to know what objections he had against a sea life.
"Why, sir, supposing you are in a gale and a fire breaks out on board,
what are you going to do? You have no back door to escape through?"
"Well, we may be able to leave in the boats."
"But you can't do it in a terrible storm."
"Well, then, we will do the best we can, and do as sailors often are
compelled to do, trust in Providence. But for my part, I don't see that
we run more risks in a gale at sea than you do in the cities or than we
do now on the rail. What is to prevent us from having a smash-up
before morning?"
"Well, now, my good sir, I beg of you don't go to sea any more, but just
come out to Iowa and buy a nice farm and settle down ashore. You can
buy a nice farm with all improvements at from three thousand to five
thousand dollars."
I asked him what was the matter with the other man, that he wanted to
sell his farm and all improvements. I did not get any satisfactory
answer to this, as we had something more serious to attend to. Just at
this time I felt a peculiar motion in the car, like a horse cantering. I
clapped my hand on my friend and said, "Sit still," and in a few
moments I felt my heels grinding on some one - and the next thing was,
that we were landed bottom up down twenty-five feet of embankment,
and terrible shrieks on all sides.
Three cars were capsized. One in front of us went down on its side,
endways. Ours went a side-somersault, and the next one endways, on
its wheels. En route we had gathered a number of soldiers who had
been drafted and were on their way South. The cars were jammed full.
The furnace in our car did great damage to some, and altogether about
seventy were more or less hurt. The accident was caused by a rail
breaking, owing to severe frost.
After this I tried to persuade my friend to go to Iowa, sell his store, and
come to sea with me, where he would be safe from any more tricks of
this sort. He still seemed inclined to hold on to the rail.

A Good Record in Life-Saving.

[From the Shanghai Mercury, April 13, 1887.]
The steamship "Kiang-yu," Captain Knights, left the Kin-lee-yuen
Wharf for Hankow, at 2 o'clock on the morning of the 1st instant. On
account of the fog prevailing, she anchored at Halfway Point till 6 A.
M., when she got under way and ran as far as Lin-ho Point, where she
anchored again until 11 o'clock. The wind had been fresh from the
south, but at noon it changed in a squall to north, and continued very
strong all day. At 4 P. M., when about 75 miles up the Yangtse, a junk
that had been capsized was seen. A boat was lowered and six men, two
women, and two children were taken off, who were all got safely on
board the "Kiang-yu." A change of clothes was raised for them among
the Chinese passengers, and over thirty dollars were subscribed for the
unfortunates, who were landed at Kiang-yin. Their home was about
five miles lower down the river. They had left there in the morning, and
were capsized in the sudden change of wind. The poor creatures
appeared to be very grateful for their rescue.
This is not the first time that Captain Knights has been instrumental in
saving life. During the last six years, he has picked up over thirty
people on the Yangtse, and in November, 1858, when second officer of
the tea-clipper "Northfleet," he performed a gallant action in going in
charge of a boat during a cyclone to the rescue of the crew of the brig
"Hebe." This happened about four hundred and fifty miles southwest of
the Scilly Islands, Land's End. The "Northfleet" was bound for
Portsmouth with some