The Hero of the Humber Part 4

For acts of pure, unselfish daring, in rescuing human life, the annals of our friend need not shun comparison with those of any other man within Her Majesty's dominion. It appears that, amid his wicked and wayward career, he had a 'deep and unaccountable impression' that one part of his mission into the world was to save human life. Beyond dispute, one of the best swimmers of his time, he was never, after his boyhood, satisfied with swimming as a mere art. It was naught to him if it did not help to make his fellow men better, safer, and braver. It will be seen that the first person he rescued from drowning _was his own father_, and that event ever afterwards nerved him to do his best to save his fellow-creatures. Indeed the desire to rescue the drowning burnt in his soul with all the ardour of an absorbing pa.s.sion. It was the spring of his ready thoughts; it controlled his feelings and guided his actions; it prompted him to face the greatest difficulties without the least fear, and when in the midst of the most threatening dangers, it enabled him to summon up a calmness and resolution that never failed.

[Sidenote: HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE WATER.]

The writer in _The Shipwrecked Mariners' Magazine_ says, 'Ellerthorpe's exploits in saving life date from the year 1820, and from that time to the present it may be safely a.s.serted that he has never _hesitated_ to risk his own life to save that of a fellow-creature. The danger incurred in jumping overboard to rescue a drowning person is very great. Many expert swimmers shrink from it. Ellerthorpe has encountered this risk under almost every variety of circ.u.mstance. He has followed the drowning, unseen in the darkness of the night, in the depth of winter, under rafts of timber, under vessels at anchor or in docks, from great heights, and often to the bottom in great depths of water, and what is very remarkable, never in vain. _Fortuna fortes favet_ (fortune favours the brave), is an adage true in his case. He never risked his life to save another without success.'

Even to an experienced swimmer and diver, like our friend, the task of saving a drowning person is not easy, and the grip and grapple of some of those whom he rescued, had well nigh proved a fatal embrace, and it was only by the utmost coolness, skill, bravery, and self-control that he escaped.

[Sidenote: HE CARRIES THE DROWNING IN HIS ARMS.]

But he shall tell _his own_ simple, n.o.ble tale. 'During the last forty-eight years I have done all that lay in my power to rescue my fellow-creatures, when in drowning circ.u.mstances. By night and by day, in darkness or in light, in winter or in summer, I was always ready to obey the summons when the cry, "a man overboard," fell on my ears. And I have had to rescue the drowning in widely different ways. Sometimes I seized them tightly by the right arm, and then, hold them at arm's length, soon reached the land. In some instances they seized me by my shoulder or arm, when, leaving hold of them, and, throwing both my hands into the water, I managed to reach the sh.o.r.e. In other instances I found them so exhausted that they were incapable of taking hold of me, and in these cases, I had to carry them as a mother would carry her child. And in two or three instances, I thought they were dead, and, with feelings easier imagined than expressed, I bore them up in my arms; when suddenly, and with great strength, they sprang upon my head, and oftener than once, under these circ.u.mstances, I was on the point of being drowned. Some of those whom I saved were much heavier and stronger than myself, and when they got hold of me I found it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to shake them off. When I rescued Robert Brown, the night was pitchy dark, and for some time I could not see him; and when I got to him he clutched me in such a manner as to prevent my swimming. When I seized the young Woodman, I thought he was dead, but, after a few moments, he made a great spring at me, and clutched hold of my head in such a way as to prevent me swimming for some seconds. When pinioned closely, I generally adopted this plan, which proved to be the best under the circ.u.mstances:--I threw myself on my back and pushed the drowning person on before me, and in this way I managed to keep them up for a time, and with comparative ease to myself. I often said to persons in a drowning state, "Now, hold fast by me, and don't exert yourself, and I'll make you all right." It was not often I could persuade them to act thus, but whenever they could, they got upon me; for "a drowning person will catch at a straw." I believe I have fetched out of the water not fewer than fifty drowning persons, and, with scarce an exception, they tried to seize me, and thus rendered their deliverance a matter of great difficulty. In fact, it would be comparatively easy to fetch a drowning man out of water if he would just take hold of one's arm, and thus keep himself from sinking, and let one tow him ash.o.r.e.

[Sidenote: HE SEARCHES FOR THE DROWNING.]

'In many instances, as will be seen, I had to run a great distance, and when almost out of breath, I have plunged into the water, and in that state had to struggle with those on the point of drowning. I remember that, on one occasion, when staying at a public house in America, the landlord came running into the room, and cried out, "a man overboard." I ran 200 yards, and on reaching the spot I was out of breath, when in I plunged, but soon found I could not stay under the water for more than a few seconds. The water was clear and fresh, with long gra.s.s at the bottom; but alas! I could not find the young man, and he was drowned. I arrived too late to be of any service, for it was found afterwards that he had pulled himself on the bottom of the river with the long gra.s.s to a distance of fifty yards from the spot where he fell in.

'My first object, after I had plunged into the water, was to catch a sight of the drowning person, and if I could once do that, I always felt confident I should soon have him in my grasp. It is a most difficult thing to search for a drowning person, especially in muddy water. I had to make this attempt again and again, and sometimes the fear has crept over me that my exertions would be in vain, when I made the most prodigious and exhausting efforts. And that I have never failed, in a single instance, is to me a source of great grat.i.tude to G.o.d, "in whose hand my breath is, and whose are all my ways."'

[Sidenote: AN INSTANCE OF HIS PLUCK.]

'I remember once I had my leg crushed between our packet and the pier, and for some days after I could not walk without the aid of crutches.

One day I got down to the South End, but soon felt tired, and returned home; but after a short rest, I again went to the pier, when I was told that, during my short absence, a cabman, named Sharpe, had fallen into the harbour and was drowned. I was filled with indescribable distress at the news, and said, "If I had been here I would have saved him, despite my broken leg. At least I would have tried." A man, who professed to be a great swimmer, was present, and he answered, "O, I can swim as well as you can," when my muscles began to quiver, and my blood to throb, and I replied, in no very good temper, I a.s.sure you. "I dispute that, unless you mean now that I have my broken leg. Why did'nt you try to save him?"

I always felt that I would much rather have the satisfaction of having tried to save a drowning person and fail, than have the miserable satisfaction of shaking my head and shrugging my shoulders and saying, "Oh, I knew it would be of no use trying to save him; it was foolish to try." "I could have done it," never saved a drowning man. "I will try,"

has enabled me, under G.o.d, to save fifty of my fellow creatures.

'I do not wish to intimate that every man who sees a fellow creature drowning, ought to plunge into the water to rescue that person. Indeed, I have seen two or three instances where men, who could not swim themselves, have jumped into the water to save the drowning, and in every instance the consequences have nearly been fatal. Before a person makes such an attempt, he should have tested his own ability to swim. If he can float himself and believes he can save the drowning person, he ought to make the attempt, and G.o.d will help him. This is not mere theory, but what I have felt again and again. Ever after my conversion to G.o.d, I used to pray, when plunging into the water, "Lord help me,"

and knowing as I did, that prayer melts the heart and moves the arm of Jehovah, I felt confident he would help me; and so he did; for I often, when in the water, felt a sweet consciousness that G.o.d was with me. He taught my hands to war with the waters, and my fingers to grasp my precious freight. When struggling with the boy Woodman, these words came forcibly into my mind, and I repeated them in the water:--

"When all thy mercies, O my G.o.d, My rising soul surveys, Transported with the view, I'm lost In wonder, love, and praise."

[Sidenote: HIS GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF G.o.d.]

'I always felt it my duty, after rescuing a drowning person, to go to the house of G.o.d at night, and return public thanks to the Almighty.

Ministers in the town, and especially the Wesleyan ministers, have often returned thanks to G.o.d from the pulpit, on the following Sabbath. On the morning following the deliverance, I generally went to see the rescued person, and sought to improve the event by impressing their mind with the uncertainty of life and with the importance of being prepared for death.

[Sidenote: JOHN'S STATEMENT.]

'In the following list I have given, as far as my memory and knowledge enabled me, a true and faithful account of the persons whom I have rescued from drowning. Extracts from newspapers, and letters from the parties themselves, and also from many who were eye-witnesses of their deliverance, have been freely used. There are several whom I have, at different times, saved from a watery grave, not included in this list, but as these events produced but little impression on my mind at the time of their occurrence, and as I am utterly unable to give either the names of the parties, or the time when I saved them, I can make no reliable mention of them at present, _though I hope_ to be able to do so at some future time. I sincerely believe, however, that if I had kept a strict account of all these deliverances, instead of having to record thirty-nine cases, I should have been able to have recorded upwards of fifty. I regret now that I did not keep such a record. Every now and then I meet with persons who greet me as their deliverer. Two young men have done so within the last four months. And very pleasant to my mind it is to meet a fellow creature whom I have been the means, in the hands of a wonder-working Providence, of saving from a watery grave. But all the cases mentioned in the following chapter, except William Earnshaw and Captain Clegg, have been signed by living witnesses, and most of them were reported in the local newspapers, at the time of their occurrence. Many of these persons are still living; some of them I see almost daily, and _they_ can speak for themselves. If I have made a mistake in spelling their names, or in relating the time when, or the circ.u.mstances under which, I saved them, I shall be glad to be corrected. And if I have offered an unkind reflection on any of my fellow creatures, or recorded a boastful sentence respecting what my fellow townsmen have been pleased to call my "deeds of daring," I hope to be forgiven by G.o.d, whose I am and whom I serve. Finally: as a large circle of my friends are anxious to have a true record of all the lives I have saved, I shall be highly pleased if any whom I have rescued, but whose names I have not recorded, will send me a few lines that may add to the interest of this little book, should a second edition be called for.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: Signature of John Ellerthorpe]

CHAPTER VII.

HIS GALLANT AND HUMANE CONDUCT IN RESCUING THE DROWNING.

_First._--JOHN ELLERTHORPE.[1] (1820.)

He was my father, and I was not more than fourteen years of age when I saved him. At the time he managed the ferry boat from Hessle to Barton.

It required two persons to conduct the boat across the Humber, and as it cost my father a shilling each time he employed a man to a.s.sist him across, he often took me with him instead of a man, and thus saved the shilling. One morning, he took Mr. Thompson, corn miller, to Barton, and engaged to fetch him back at night; and there was this agreement between them, that my father was to receive the fare whether Mr. T---- returned or not. He did not return that night, though we waited for him until nine o'clock. The snow was then thick on the ground, the wind was blowing strong, and the waves were beginning to rise high in the Humber, and I was sitting, half-asleep, at the corner of a comfortable hearth, before a bright fire, when my father called out, 'Come, my boy, we'll be off.' We were soon in the boat, but had not got many yards, when my father fell overboard. I remember crying out most piteously, 'Oh, my father is overboard,' when I instantly plunged into the water and soon had fast hold of him. He had sunk to the bottom, a depth of sixteen feet, for when he came up he was covered with mud. We came up close to the boat's side, and, making a tremendous spring, I got hold of the boat's gunnel, and after a few moments my father also got hold of it with both his hands. He was a heavy man, weighing about fifteen stones, and could not swim. I said to him, 'Now, father, can you keep hold while I fetch the Hull horse-boatmen?' whom we had left at the water-side house, when he replied, 'Yes, but be very sharp, my lad.' I then swam to the house, and called out, 'My father is overboard;' and when I returned with the men, I was glad to hear him shout, 'I'm here.'

John Thrush, captain of the horse-boat, and Luke Dixon, soon got him into the boat, while Mr. Wood, the landlord, brought him a gla.s.s of brandy, which he drank. We could not persuade him to leave the boat, so we again started for home, and as a brisk wind was blowing at the time, in about fifteen minutes, we were safe in Hessle harbour. My mother met us there, and I said, 'Mother, my father has been overboard, fetch somebody to help him out of the boat.' He was stiff and cold, but with the aid of Mr. Wright we got him ash.o.r.e. Mr. W. brought him some mulled ale and a gla.s.s of rum, which I then thought very good. We then wrapped him in several thicknesses of warm clothing. I was much perished at the time, but soon felt all right. Not long before this, my mother had given me a severe flogging for bathing so often; so I looked into her face and said, 'Mother, I think you won't flog me for bathing again, will you?'

to which she replied, 'Oh, my lad, it was a good job that thou was there;'[2] when my father faintly added, 'Yes, if he had not been there I should never have come to the top of the water.' And if he had he would have been drowned, for he could not swim a yard; and had he shouted, no one was near to render him a.s.sistance. But, thank G.o.d, I was there, and answered the end of a gracious Providence, and that was enough. Now, my father never liked to have this circ.u.mstance named, though I have often heard him say, 'That lad saved my life.' Afterwards, my mother never liked him to cross the Humber after dark, unless I was with him; so I often had to accompany him when I would much rather have been at a warm fireside, or asleep in bed. _Witnesses_--John Thrush, Luke Dixon.

[Footnote 1: Those marked with a star distinguish the cases for which Mr. Ellerthorpe received the special medal of the Royal Humane Society.]

[Footnote 2: John seems to have loved his mother with a tender, intense affection. In a letter dated October 14th, 1867, he says: 'It is fourteen years this day since my poor (but I trust now rich) mother was buried at Hessle. The Lord knows I was her darling son; but, alas! for many years I was no comfort to her. But years before her death Christ washed me from my sins in his most precious blood, and now I entertain a hope of meeting her in heaven.']

_Second._--WILLIAM EARNSHAW.* (1820.)

There were two brothers, Robert and William, sons of Mr. Earnshaw, of Hessle. They were about my own age, and, like myself, they were very fond of bathing. Their mother used to blame me for taking them into the water so often; but it was less my fault than theirs, for they used to fetch me from school--and I have known them give the schoolmaster a shilling to let me go with them. One day, we went to bathe in the drain, and fearing our parents might see us, we went a long way up the bank and then began to swim; at length I heard some one call out 'William Earnshaw is drowning!' I was then a hundred yards from him, but I hastened to the bank and ran as fast as I could, until I got opposite him, when I again plunged into the drain and swam to my young friend's rescue. His brother was weeping, and said, 'All is over with him,' and I thought so too. I could but just see the hair of his head, when I darted at him and gave him a great push, but he was too far gone to take hold of me, so I shoved him on and on, until his brother could reach him, when we put him on the bank and thought he was dead; but he soon began to breathe, and, after a while, came round. At that time I was in great disgrace with Mrs. Earnshaw, and afraid lest, if we told of William's narrow escape, she would never let us go together again, we vowed to keep the affair a profound secret. Soon after this the two brothers were taken ill, and poor William died, and the doctor said this illness was brought on by their too frequent bathing. They didn't bathe half so often as I did, but it was evident their const.i.tution could not bear the water so well as mine. Mr. Earnshaw was a rich man and very liberal, and, I believe, if he had known the real nature of the case, as I have described it, so far from blaming me, he would have rewarded me for what I did for his son. I kept the promise I made to William for upwards of forty years; but as Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw and their sons are dead, and as a large circle of my friends are wishful to have a list of the lives I have saved, I think I am not doing wrong in recording William's deliverance in this history of my life.

_Third._--ROBERT PINCHBECK.* (1822.)

This case was very similar to the one I have just described. Robert, who was about fifteen years old, was a companion and schoolfellow of mine, and was fond of imitating my exploits in the water. One day he told some boys that he could swim across Hessle Harbour; but, in making the attempt, he nearly lost his life. I was about forty yards ahead of him, when I heard some boys cry 'Bob Pinchbeck is drowning.' He had gone down thrice, and was quite exhausted when I got to him, and he was saved, as it were, by the skin of his teeth. I feared he might seize me, and, therefore, I did not take hold of him, but pushed him before until he reached the long gra.s.s on the harbour bank. He could not use his limbs, and I thought he was dead, but he soon revived a little. We took him to my father's house and sent for his mother and a doctor; but when they arrived, he was breathing nicely, and after a few hours, he walked home.

His father, though vexed by his son's disaster, said to me, 'You must teach him to swim.' I tried hard to do so, but the water always frightened him, and he never made much out at swimming. A few years after this he died of the typhus fever, and I believe his soul went to heaven. _Witnesses_--John Campbell, Francis Pinchbeck.

_Fourth._--HENRY IBOTSON.* (1824.)

Henry, myself, and others had been bathing in Hessle Harbour, and I had just left the water and dressed, when a cry was raised, 'Ibotson is drowning.' I sprang to him, when he seized me so tightly and closely, that we had a narrow escape from being drowned together. At length I got myself clear, and took him to the bank, amid the shouts and cheers of a great many spectators. We had great difficulty in walking home, and when we got there we had to be put to bed. Mr. Booth, gardener, of Hessle, and who was the next person I rescued, says: 'You may have forgotten, but I well remember, that a few days previous to your saving my life, you saved the life of H. Ibotson. It had well-nigh cost you your life, as he closed in upon you, and took you to the bottom.' A few days after Henry came and thanked me most sincerely for what I had done, and wished me to teach him to swim. I began at once, and he soon got that he could swim across the drain; but it was a long time before he durst venture to swim across the harbour, in which he had so nearly been drowned.... Now, I would ask, why did not some of these spectators render help in this time of need? Could nothing have been done when they saw us sink together, again and again? Within fifty yards there was a boat, with boat-hooks and staves, and could no use have been made of these, to lessen, the peril in which myself and the drowning youth were placed? I am convinced that great numbers of people are drowned through spectators not making a little effort at the time. _Witnesses_--George Twiddle, Robert Riplington.

_Fifth._--GEORGE BOOTH. (1825.)

He was bathing in the drain at Hessle, when a large tide was being taken in, and he began to sink fast. I was at a great distance when the alarm was given, but I ran to his a.s.sistance, plunged into the water, and soon brought him safe to land. Mr. Booth's grat.i.tude has given me the greatest satisfaction. I had not seen him for many years, and had forgotten the circ.u.mstance altogether, until I met him at the funeral of R. Pease, Esq., when he said, 'I'm glad to see you once more, Mr.

Ellerthorpe. Don't you remember when you leaped into the drain forty years ago, and saved my life?' And in a note I got from him, dated July 31st, 1867, he says, 'Under the blessing of Divine Providence you were instrumental in saving my life. I was sixteen years of age, and in July, 1825, I was bathing in Hessle drain, when a very large tide was being taken in. I shall ever have cause to thank you, as the instrument in G.o.d's hands, of saving me from a watery grave.'--George Booth.

_Sixth._--ROBERT CLEGG. (1825.)

He was both owner and captain of the keel 'Ann Scarborough,' the vessel from which I lost the brush at Clark's Bit. He went one dark night to Moreton, and as he did not return at the time expected, I felt very uneasy about him, and at last I went on the bank of the Trent, in search of him. When I got near Moreton-bite, I thought I heard a groan; and after a long search I found my captain, drunk, half in the water and half on the bank. The tide was half flood, and was then rapidly rising, and had it risen a foot and a half higher, he must have been drowned, as nothing could have saved him. I struggled with him for three quarters of an hour, and after great exertions, I got him fairly on the bank. We were then a mile and a half from our vessel, and did not get on board until three o'clock next morning. A doctor had to be got, and soon the captain began to recover. But the keel was delayed two days. He was afraid lest his wife should get to know the cause of this delay, and he bound me to keep the affair a profound secret. But he often said, afterwards, 'Jack saved my life.' And I am quite sure I did, as no one came near us, and there was no other chance of his being rescued. I never allowed this case to be put in the list of those whom I have saved, but having given a true statement of the case, I think I shall be pardoned for giving it a permanent record here.

_Seventh._--NAME NOT KNOWN.* (1826.)

[Sidenote: THE COACHMAN.]

He was a coachman, but his name I never knew. He was conducting some ladies on board the 'Sir Walter Scott,' when, being drunk, he fell overboard, between the smack and the wharf, Irongate, London. There were but seven feet depth of water, and I had to leap from a height of at least sixteen feet; but I succeeded in preserving him from what seemed certain death. He was covered with mud, but was soon washed, and got on some dry clothes. After I had changed my clothes, and drank a gla.s.s of whisky, I returned to the vessel, and the ladies and gentlemen gave me a thousand thanks. The captain's name was Nisbet, and ever afterwards he would have given me almost anything; whenever I met him in London, he used to call the attention of his pa.s.sengers to me, and tell them what I had done. Many a time has he sent for me on board his vessel, and given me as much drink as I would take, and he used to say to the pa.s.sengers, 'See! this young man jumped over our ship's rail, when there was not more than seven feet of water, and made a rope fast to a man when there was no other way of his being saved. If I had not seen it I could not have believed that any man could have done it.' He often said, 'Whenever you want a berth come to me and I will give you one.'

_Witnesses_--Thomas Macha, Richard Boras.

_Eighth._--CHARLES HIMSWORTH.* (1828.)

At this time, Himsworth and myself belonged to the brig 'Jubilee,' of Hull. We were bosom friends, and very fond of spreeing about, and spent much of our time when ash.o.r.e in dancing parties and in ballrooms.

Whether at Hull or in London, if we could but find a place where there was plenty of noise and a fiddle going, that was the place for us. We have often spent many days' hard earnings in a few hours, amid such scenes. On this occasion he fell from the bows of the 'Jubilee' while a strong ebb tide was running. I jumped in after him, and we both went under a tier of vessels that were hung at the buoy, Battle Bridge, London. We came to the surface, but were soon carried under another tier of vessels, and had not the mate have come to our a.s.sistance we should have gone under a third tier, but he came at the last extremity and saved us. Charles belonged to a very respectable family living at Snaith, where I once called to see his mother, who was a widow. Her son Thomas and I became intimate friends, after I had rescued Charles, and he often said he thought as much of me as he did of his own brother.