Tuesday, June 3, 2008

"At first only a few went overboard, but as the decks got hot the men saw their only chance was in the water..."

"Standing near the stern were two small boys, huddled up in a corner and too frightened to move. The flames were almost upon them, but they did not seem to realize their danger."

A thrilling account of the fire on The Bremen.

"Every man turned into a devil. We ran fighting and clawing and scratching and swearing for the ladder leading up to the deck. We found the hatches battened down. Great God, how the men did curse!... They pounded against the iron hatch. They pounded until the blood ran. Through the iron grating we saw flames...

"It was like hell down there. The men tore their clothes off... The men down at the bottom did not fight any more. One by one they just fell down and lay still. A big man near me said we ought to pray. Near me a fellow who had done a lot of fighting and cursing began to cry. Then he prayed."
THE YEAR THAT BLOG FORGOT IS: 1900.

1 comment:

rhhardin said...

The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled


Thurber: ``If Fowler was right, then the lady meant to say: `The boy stood on the burning deck whence all had fled, but he had not.' ''

Confusing prepositional ``but him'' with conjunctive ``but he had.''