Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 September 1890 — What a Cigar Did. [ARTICLE]

What a Cigar Did.

Here is a story that is not altogether new, but some of you may find it so. It is told of a sea captain, who commanded a ship sailing from New York. On one occasion the ship caught fire, and the passengers and crew were compelled to take hurriedly to the boats. The captain remained perfectly cool throughout all the confusion and fright of the embarkation, and at last every one except himself was got safely into the boats. By the time he was ready to follow the passengers were almost wild with fear and excitement. Instead of hurrying down the ladder, the captain called out to the sailors to hold on a minute, and, taking a cigar from his pocket, coolly lighted it with a bit of burning shroud that had fallen from the rigging at his feet. Then he descended with deliberation and gave the order to push off. “How could you stop to light a cigar at such a moment?” he was asked afterward, when some of the passengers were talking over their escape. “Because,” he answered. “I saw that if I did not do something to divert the minds of those in the boat there was likely to be a panic, and overcrowded as it was, there was danger of its being upset. The act took but a moment, but it attracted the attention of everybody. You all forgot yourselves because you were thinking about my curious behavior, and we got off safely. —Philadelphia Times. Hoed* will kill as surely as bullets.